The Ministry of Godly Sorrow

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Ministry of Godly Sorrow

2 Corinthians Chapter 7

What do we know about sorrow?

  1. There is sorrow that leads to repentance.

One of the great examples in the Bible of sorrow that leads to repentance is the story of the prodigal son.

Luk 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

Peter wept because he denied the Lord those three times.

King David had a broken and contrite heart because of his adultery and the murder he committed.

  1. There is sorrow that does not lead to repentance, but we still suffer because of it.

Rom 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

This is the sorrow we may feel because some of our family members are not saved, especially at their passing.

This is the sorrow that Judas had because he had turned against the Lord, and it led to his suicide and not to repentance.

If you understand the meaning of joy in you, then you must realize that sorrow is the opposite of joy.

We cannot wallow in our sorrow; we must do something about it!

For instance: once the twelve disciples realized that the Lord Jesus was going to die when He went to Jerusalem, they were sorrowful.

Joh 16:5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
Joh 16:6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Once these men, all but one, accepted the truth, their sorrow was not as great.

When our sorrow brings us to repentance, then we must repent for that sorrow to become joy in the Lord.

1Th_2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

*****2Co 7:6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

We know from chapter one that the Apostle Paul was in great distress.

In chapter two, Paul wrote how troubled he was and how anxious he was waiting to hear from Titus, who was to bring him the news from Corinth.

Paul was surrounded by hostile people; the love he had for the churches he had planted sometimes wore him down, especially the churches like the church at Corinth.

Titus brought good news: the church at Corinth was having a revival.

The first letter to these Corinthians had been effective to all that had read it.

Titus had brought “good news” from Corinth, and we all know that the “Gospel” is the “Good News” from Heaven.

The Gospel is the true “Good News” from Heaven.

Col 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
Col 1:6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:

Paul had written a stern letter to this church, but it still had shown them his great love for them and the great love that the Lord has for His Church.

We must never feel guilty for proclaiming the truth of God!

The Lord Jesus said: Jhn_8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Jhn_8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

The Lord Jesus is never wrong!

*****2Co 7:7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

The Apostle Paul was not just comforted by the news that Titus had brought to him, but he was also comforted that Titus had been comforted by what he had seen of this church in Corinth.

It is probable that Paul sat down and wrote this letter of 2 Corinthians shortly after he had gotten this good news from Titus.

This church had met this sin head-on and eliminated it without destroying the church nor rejecting the teaching of the Apostle Paul.

When God’s servants are under attack, we should know that God will meet the need of His servants.

We should understand that the Apostle Paul had to first endure heavy trials for a long time before God moved.

We must learn from every trial we face to be better servants of the Lord.

This is not being a slave to God, but it is being a servant.

God has never ordained slavery as the atheists believe He has.

Even when the Jews had slaves, they had to pay them an honest wage and provide food, clothing, and shelter for them and their family until their debt was paid or a certain time had passed.

These slaves were those people who sold themselves to pay the debt that they owed.

A Christian is a servant and not a slave of God because God does not allow us to try to repay Him; His salvation is a free gift.

All He asks of us is to repent and return to Him with love.

Paul learned obedience by the things he had suffered, just as did the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our example in our Christian life.

Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

When the atheist asks why a Perfect God would allow suffering in this world, maybe it is because this world we live in causes all of God’s people to suffer along with that atheist who is always causing problems for God’s people, whom he says he does not even believe exists.

A church that learns from suffering will stand its ground when evil tries to get through the doors to cause problems.

Paul had only written to them the truth of God.

We know that because we have a copy of the exact words that Paul had written.

*****2Co 7:8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.

A church that has begun to believe in false doctrine is a church headed for trouble. It is the duty of that Pastor, that Man of God, to make sure that church gets back to the truth.

There is a great possibility that some members will leave that church because of this.

A Pastor must be very careful with who he allows to share his pulpit.

A church must be very careful about who is allowed to teach any of the classes of adults down to the children.

Once false doctrine gets into any church, it is hard to get rid of.

The answer to this is that every Christian has a good understanding of a proper translation of those Hebrew and Greek Scriptures that never change.

Paul regretted the necessity of having to take such a stern approach, but the Holy Spirit had required him to do so.

It is every soul that brings joy to Heaven, and losing even one is in itself a tragedy.

To give credit to this church in Corinth, they mourned, wept, wailed, and lamented over the sin that was within their midst and over their true minister, the Apostle Paul, and they made the necessary corrections, and then the church began to grow in the “Grace of God”.

*****2Co 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

To cause grief is never a pleasant thing, and no man of God wants to be a cause of grief, but every true man of God must preach the message given to them by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not allow a true man of God to preach against the written word of God.

If that church has been led astray, then that person was not a true man of God, and that person did not have the Holy Spirit living in them.

We are never to intentionally make people feel sorry for their actions; we are to simply give them the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit do His work in them.

We are always to work with the lost or the backslider in a way that God would approve.

The Lord Jesus died for the saved and for the lost, for we were all lost until we met the Lord Jesus Christ and had faith in His work.

It is sin that causes sorrow, but sorrow has no healing power by itself.

Only a change of mind or a turn of life (repentance) can heal the heart of that one suffering from sorrow!

**There is worldly sorrow: Sorrow over doing something wrong or coming up short from what is expected of us.

It can be said to be a violation of one’s values.

It can also be sorrow from being found out for something that you thought was hidden, or suffering the consequences from doing something that was wrong, or even from punishment when you know what you did was wrong.

The sorrow of the world works death!

It eats us up on the inside with guilt and remorse.

Remember Judas who sold out the Lord Jesus: Mat 27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Mat 27:4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
Mat 27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

It can cause bitterness and rebellion: Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

**There is godly sorrow: This is the sorrow we feel from Holy Ghost conviction. Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

The Holy Spirit will go quiet in us: 1Th 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will do His best to lead us in the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we can hinder that work: Mat 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Godly sorrow will always lead to repentance, where worldly sorrow leads to bitterness.

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

*****2Co 7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Repentance and returning to God will always bring the fruits of good living to honor and glorify God with our lives.

We should remember that this church had not at first acknowledged this individual as sin.
They had not immediately corrected this offender nor themselves for ignoring these things, even laughing about it.

Repentance cleared them of God’s displeasure!

When the heart is changed, then life and the actions will change.

We must hate sin, but at the same time not hate the sinner.

We must see the hatefulness of sin!

It is the hatefulness of sin that will bring us to repentance!

Godly sorrow will repair our relationship with the Holy Spirit who lives within us.

*****2Co 7:12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.

The modern church today seems to forget that we are all accountable to God.

We must take our stand on the complete, infallible Word of God and stay the course.

There is no room in the Church to veer to the left or to the right.

God says over and over that He will not and does not change, and we cannot read into the Scriptures hunting for an excuse to say He has changed or that He is not the same God from the beginning.

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

God has a purpose for every word He has given to us, and God has a plan that will be fulfilled just as it is written.

We can accept Him as He is, just as He accepts us as we are.

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

There is nothing that is taught in this world that will ensure our future in God’s New Heaven except the truth of the Scriptures!

It is only the truth of God that will bring comfort to the soul!

*****2Co 7:13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.

We know that the Word of God brings results!

Look at the conversation that Moses had with Jehovah God.

Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

This is the God that I serve. He is not some old grandfather figure that does not care what happens to us.
He is not some wimp of a God who will let us get away with not repenting and returning to Him as our Creator, our Savior, and our Redeemer.
He is the God who gave us His Words to live by, and He expects us to do so.

Titus was comforted by what he saw of the church in Corinth, as they had repented as he had preached the Word of God from the Apostle Paul.

Paul was comforted at knowing that the Word the Holy Spirit had given to him to put in this Epistle had brought that repentance.

Paul was also comforted by the comfort of Titus, as he had been an eyewitness to the truth that the Word of God brings Holy Ghost conviction, Holy Ghost conviction brings repentance because the Word of God brings results.

There was now great joy in the Apostle Paul because the church could have closed its doors but became a powerful church in their community, and the work of the Lord continued its journey all around this world just as it continues today.

Paul was refired up to continue in the work that God had given him to do, and many souls were saved because of it.

Our biggest problem is that we do not listen to what God has to say.

We do not take the time to read and study our own Bibles.

We listen to men who tell us the same thing that the old Serpent told Eve. “Ye shall not surely die”.

That same serpent, the Devil, is still spreading this lie in every church, and far too many of them have strayed from the truth of God.

God is not a tyrant, but He does expect us to obey Him!

God expects every local church to teach the truth!

*****2Co 7:14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.

This church at Corinth had a complete revival as they learned the truth of God.

The Church needs to have a complete revival today and get back on the right track.

The purpose of revival is always to revive the real, inner, spiritual life of each believer!

True revival will cause a dead church to come alive again.

True revival means each church member will come to new life.

God had used Titus as an instrument in His hands to turn this church around.

Titus was full of joy just to be a part of this revival, and so it rubbed off on Paul.

We all need to get caught up in revival!

Psa 85:5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
Psa 85:6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

We need to stir up the gift of God who is within us, which is the Holy Spirit.

Deep on the inside of Paul, he could just feel that these people in the church at Corinth would make the right choices.

In fact, Paul may have bragged about it to other Christians.

A true church will do its best to make the right choices that coincide with the Word of God and the Will of God.

In his heart Paul knew this church would respond to the love of God.

*****2Co 7:15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.
2Co 7:16 I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.

When Titus arrived at the church at Corinth, it was said that he had another letter from the Apostle Paul, and it brought fear and trembling to much of the church.

They were afraid that they had not done enough to rid the church of sin.

We must remember these were babes in Christ and had not fully understood the Word of God, and there is no one who can say that they fully understand the Word of God.

How to be saved is the most important part of the Word of God; then we need to pay particular attention to the Lord Jesus Christ and then the Apostles with us Gentiles, paying particular attention to the Apostle Paul and the Book of Acts, all the New Testament, then all the Old Testament, or we will never understand why God does what He does.

We must go back to the beginning and know that the same God who saved us is the same God who made us!

We must accept our creation and the creation of this world just as it was written in the Book of Genesis.

Church discipline must be exercised for the good of the whole church!

Church discipline must take place in every church to protect spiritual purity and the reputation of the church that is obedient to the Word of God using a proper translation of the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures.

Let it be known that you can change your own translation to say what you want it to say, but the original Greek and Hebrew Scriptures have not ever changed.

2Pe_1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

There are no mistakes in these Scriptures!

The Pope cannot change the Word of God, nor anyone else!

Mal_3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;

We can only have confidence in the Word of God because we know that God will never change.

The Bride of Christ must remain pure, or the Bridegroom will reject her, and our Heavenly Father will never allow His Son to return to get His Bride.

Amen

The Ministry of Godly Living

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Ministry of Godly Living

Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 6

What is living Godly? We could say that Godly living is living in obedience to God’s commands, the Word of God.

We could also say that Godly living is living according to the will of God for us.

We must understand that the decrees of God have been established in eternity past and refer to God’s sovereign control over every realm of His creation and over all events that happen.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

There are two options:

  1. God is sovereign over all His creation with absolute control.
  2. God does not have sovereign control, and He was not our Creator.

“There is no truth” in those who say God has predestined certain people to be saved and the rest to be lost, so keeping God’s commandments is not necessary.

God indeed knows who will accept His Son and who will not because He is omniscient and knows all things.

Eph 1:4 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:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Our salvation depends upon our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

Though many will not accept it, the decision for the Lord Jesus to take on humanity and shed His blood for us was made before we were created by Him.

1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

We will never understand all these things until we meet Jesus in the clouds.

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

God has a plan, and we can be part of it, or we can reject God’s plan and spend eternity in a real Hell.

This is the choice we must make before we die. God will not make this choice for us!

What is God’s purpose for all these things? God’s plan is designed to reveal His glory to us all!

Psa 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Act 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Act 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

God has decreed all these things, yet every individual must be presented the Gospel, and they must believe the Gospel to be saved!

Act 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Godly living begins when we stand in awe of the God of Creation who is wise, powerful, merciful, and loving.

In fact, love may be God’s greatest characteristic.

1Jn_4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

God cannot be other than love!

1Jn_4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

We can entrust our lives to the Almighty Living God.

We should rejoice in the wonder of our salvation.

We can rest in peace now knowing our future eternal life has been secured.

God still holds people responsible for their sin!

The main problem we have as humans is the fact that we want to run our own lives, and pride and self-righteousness become our greatest enemy.

*****2Co 6:11 O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.

Anytime we are speaking to the church or to the lost, our words must come from the heart.

If our thoughts seem to be fake, then we will be seen as fakes.

The Lord Jesus expects a personal relationship with us, and we must have personal relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

This is not kissy, kissy love but a heartfelt love as family, because we have the same Heavenly Father.

Mat 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Mat 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Mat 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

These things must hold as we witness to others and as we live the Christian life.

Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

We must give the Lord Jesus all our heart, all our soul, and all our body, just as Jesus gave us His all.

Our body must truly be the Temple of the Lord.

Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

The Lord Jesus is like His Father; He is jealous in a Godly way and He wants all of our heart not just a part of it.

*****2Co 6:12 Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.
2Co 6:13 Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.

The Apostle Paul is saying his heart was open to them and his affection had grown since he had been sharing the truth with these Corinthians.

The word “straightened” is used of these same Corinthians to say that their hearts were not yet open to grow in the Lord.

We should understand that the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ poured out all of the blood of Christ to make room for the love He has for us.

Now He does not expect us to spill our blood for Him, but He does expect us to make room for Him in our hearts.

If we open our hearts to receive the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we will also open our hearts to receive those who preach the truth of the Gospel.

At the same time, if our hearts are not open to the truth of the Gospel, we will never accept the children of God nor His witnesses.

That word recompense means, open your hearts as the Lord Jesus has opened His heart for all sinners.

  1. Those who preach/teach the truth in the church must be open and honest and have a loving heart toward God’s people.
  2. That church must also be open and honest and have a loving heart toward God and His chosen preachers/teachers.
  3. All those who are to witness of the truth of God must also have a loving heart for those who are lost.

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

A church that does not show the love of God in their hearts is not a true church!

*****2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Many believe that Paul is speaking of marriage here, but in truth believers should never be unequally yoked with unbelievers in any situation.

God gives us such a situation in the Book of Deuteronomy: Deu 22:10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.

Here it was forbidden to plow with an ox and a donkey together.

This represents doing a work together for the Lord.

An ox was a clean animal and a donkey was an unclean animal.

A believer cannot do a work for the Lord together with an unbeliever.

In a marriage, the problems show up immediately, and the believer will suffer serving the Lord, and not many unbelievers in this situation will come to the Lord.

A true believer is radically different from an unbeliever.

  1. How can we expect to have fellowship when there are two opposing views of the things in this world and the things of the church?
    The unbeliever will live and do as they please, and the believer will try to obey the Word of God.
  2. An unbeliever has already rejected the truth of Jesus Christ and will not obey God. That person is their own god.
  3. They are not seeking the Kingdom of God, and they think they are righteous without the laws of God.
  4. They do not hunger and thirst for the truth but say what truth is to them. The truth of the world we know about.

But God says: 1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

The word “fellowship” means sharing and participation.

The word “communion” means to be in union, in partnership, in a bound fellowship, to be closely bound together.

When you take a light into a dark room, darkness will do its best to hide from that light.

It is the same with the Lord Jesus Christ, and we see it in our world today.

When you take the Lord Jesus Christ anywhere in the darkness of this world, that darkness will try to hide its sin, or it will rebel at any sign of Jesus, and hatred will appear.

A believer’s home is Heaven, the unbeliever’s home is Hell, and these two places can never come together.

1Co 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

If we worship the One true God, and are a Temple for God, we will want no part of unrighteousness!

Eze 37:27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Lev 26:11 And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
Lev 26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

*****2Co 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

To be a child of God is to be righteous.

To be a child of Belial(the Devil) is to be lawless.

To be lawless is doing your own will, ignoring the will of God, without recognizing any authority.

To be in “concord” is to be in agreement, have similar opinions, have similar sentiments, similar views, or similar interests.

A believer belongs to Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the world.

A non-believer belongs to the Devil, who is the darkness in our world and worthless. (as useless as a pile of trash)

To be a believer is to be a follower of Christ not only throughout eternity but now in our daily lives.

The unbeliever hates Jesus Christ!

To be a believer is to say, “I completely trust the Lord Jesus Christ”; it’s called faith.

Faith is the sincere and hearty assent and consent of the mind to the belief of the being and promises of God, as especially revealed to the church in the person and redemption, work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith is the believing of the testimony of Jehovah(Yahweh), through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

*****2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Since the Holy Spirit dwells in me, there is no room for idols in my life.

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

As I go about the business of serving the Lord Jesus Christ, I proudly wear the seal of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

As cattle are branded to show ownership, I am branded with a Heavenly branding iron, which is the Holy Spirit.

The Lord has paid my sin debt, and I belong to Him; He owns me!

This seal is permanent: Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

It is the Holy Spirit who is that Seal; God the Father is the Sealer.

The Holy Spirit that gives us the power to show the characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives.

Everything about salvation is about the Triune God, and there is no other such God as He!

1Jn 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

In the Temple of God, God is honored, praised, and served by the true believer.

There is no room for idols of any kind.

The Church, the Body of Christ, is the dwelling place of the One True God.

The God of the Bible has a desire to dwell with His people and walk with us.

God wants to feel at home in His walking, talking temples and move around freely.

Psa 93:5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.

This is only possible when there are no disturbing elements within us.

So-called believers who associate themselves with the world are not walking with God within them.

*****2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

The people of God must be radically separated from the world and everything found in the world.

Yes, we have to work in this world.
Yes, we have to deal with the unbelievers in this world.

But we must remember that any association with unbelievers is what may give us an opportunity to tell them of the Gospel of Jesus Christ so they may have an opportunity to be saved.

God has given us His truth and those denominations that have rejected the truth of God were never saved to begin with.

God warns us about allowing the world into the Church!

Jesus did say to love our enemies, and the best thing we can give to our enemies is the truth of the Word of God.

In the end every believer must break all relationships in which God does not have the first place.

This means relationships that we enter into ourselves.
This means relationships where we have to compromise the Word of God just to remain.
This means the relationships that ruin our testimonies.
This means we must not join ourselves to nonbelievers even in business ventures.

2Ch 20:35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:
2Ch 20:36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber.
2Ch 20:37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

This means a believer should never marry an unbeliever, but once the marriage takes place, there are only certain reasons that this marriage should be broken.

Keep in mind that as Christians, we may be better off than an unbeliever, but we are not better than they are or anyone else.

There has never been, but One who was/is perfect, and He is our Savior.

We are only better off because of the benefits in choosing the Lord Jesus, which He really chose us.

He came searching for me as He did for every Christian. We must want to be found!

We must never participate in worldly, ungodly events with an unbeliever.

We must not even look like we are being sinful.

We must not question, try to rationalize, twist these words to some other meaning, or ignore this command of God.

If we want God to receive us, we must obey all His commandments!

If God is not our Father, then we are not His children.

Joh 1:12 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:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We cannot say we are Christians if we refuse to repent from our old life.

Amen

The Ministry of Spiritual Understanding

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Ministry of Spiritual Understanding

Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 5

Most people look at Christians as a bunch of religious fanatics, but this is true for only a few people who have their doctrine mixed up, and they need to get it straight before the Lord returns.

There is nothing fanatical about preserving our future, and this is what a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ will do; it will preserve your future.

I may get a little off track for just a moment, but I think we need to know these things.

According to those who live by the Marxist movement in our nation today, the greatest enemy of America is the white Christian. They say so without blinking an eye.

The truth is their greatest enemy is Jesus Christ because they are the children of the Devil.

A Marxist is a supporter of the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels:

Marxism, a body of doctrine developed by Karl Marx and, to a lesser extent, by Friedrich Engels in the mid-19th century. It originally consisted of three related ideas:

  1. philosophical anthropology,
  2. a theory of history and evolution.
  3. an economic and political program.

There is also Marxism as it has been understood and practiced by the various socialist movements, particularly before 1914.

Then there is Soviet Marxism as worked out by Vladimir Ilich Lenin and modified by Joseph Stalin, which, under the name of Marxism-Leninism which has become the doctrine of the communist parties set up after the Russian Revolution.

Offshoots of this include Marxism as interpreted by the anti-Stalinist Leon Trotsky and his followers, Mao Zedong’s Chinese variant of Marxism-Leninism, and various Marxists in the developing world.

There were also the post-World War II nondogmatic Marxists who have modified Marx’s thought with borrowings from modern philosophies, principally from those of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger but also from Sigmund Freud and others.

In nations that adopt some version of Marxism, they have started in a way that looks good to many people, but in the end, it turns to socialism, and then some version of communism, and it never works out to be a benefit to the real people who have to give their lives to support such a system and have no say-so in that government.

Marxism has never worked because evil men enforce their version on the people, and the government will then control every aspect of their lives and their economic classes.

There is no home ownership for the people and really no true freedom.

In fact, in Marxism, the government owns everything from land to homes, and all else.

Capitalism, far from perfect, allows freedom to those who are willing to work for it.

The trouble with people today is they do not want to work for anything and expect everything to be free.

Free health care, free education, free life to do as they please, but they do not want to think that someone has to pay for these things, or they are okay with these things as long as someone else is paying for them besides themselves.

Look at how many of them refuse to pay for the education that they borrowed from the taxpayers.

Marxism still uses an anti-supernatural approach to life and its origin and begins with the premise that there is no God and tries to explain a life that is lived without God, which we, as Christians know, is not possible.

We have already tried life without Christ, and found it meaningless.

They all believe in the theory of evolution or some part of it, even if they claim to be liberal Christians.

The term “liberal” has come to mean “my way or the highway”!

Liberal so-called Christians accept the Gap Theory or some form of a gap theory and many of the theories of evolution and try to put them in the Creation Story given to us in the Book of Genesis.

To accept this is to say sin was in the world when God created us and that the death of the Lord Jesus was unnecessary and just a fable.

The truth is, if God created man, then man is a morally responsible being. Responsible for his own actions.

This is not new!

Jdg 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Pro 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Much of this is coming from the younger generation, and God warns them about these things.

Ecc 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
Ecc 11:10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Those without God say they are not morally responsible for themselves or to any god and are free to do as they please.

See if you believe you descended from some animal, you are taught that animals do not have a moral understanding, but even this is a lie.

This is the very reason the world was destroyed in the day of Noah and will be destroyed when the Lord returns.

When the Lord Jesus says, “as in the days of Noah,” this is part of what He was referring to.

In either case, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer, but there is far more corruption in Marxism than in Capitalism, and the people have no real say-so in the government with leaders who put forth their own version of Marxism.

The same ones who teach Marxism made their own millions under Capitalism, so they are hypocrites to begin with.

What many of them seek is the destruction of America and a full-on atheist society.

Every Marxist politician has their own version of Marxism, and none of them are the same.

It is a fact that it was Marxism that began the Liberalism we see in the false church today!

It is Marxism that began liberalism in our government.

It is Marxism that is pushing the Liberal church into social change, which goes against the Word of God.

It is Marxism that pushes liberals to conceive that change is not achieved through individual salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but through the church itself confronting society concerning injustices.

The Church is not to be an object of worship, and it is becoming nothing more than an idol.

The Book of Revelation says the Church has left its first love, who is Christ Jesus.

The only true Church is based upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Co_3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Marxism in itself is humanism, more indebted to liberal theology than it is to Scripture, and Scripture that does not go along with their Marxist liberal thinking is removed from Scripture.
This is why there are so many versions of the Word of God today.

As Christians, we place our hope in the Theocratic government of the Almighty God!

We will answer to God for everything we have done, even for every word that we have spoken.

God says: Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Marxism and liberal theology are all about works, and there is no hope in works!

Where is our hope and the hope of the true church?

*****2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

We must not get discouraged every time our body will not let us do what we want to do.

We will fall into a state of exhaustion and weariness from time to time, and we will suffer for the cause of Christ.

With all our troubles and difficulties, it does not change what we are waiting for. What are we waiting for?

We are waiting on the day we will be with the Lord where we will receive a new body with none of these difficulties.

Through all our uncertainties, we can be certain about this thing that Jesus promised.

For we know it is true!

We will not receive some temporary body when we get to Heaven; we live in our temporary body now as we live upon this earth, but we will receive a glorified body when Jesus Christ returns to take us home.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Much of the world looks upon this as some imaginary fable, but there is more physical proof that the Word of God is true than it is false!

So, what does happen to us when we die?

When we die, we go immediately to Heaven to be with the Lord! Here we will stay until Christ returns to claim this earth as His own on the Day of the Rapture.

Rev_6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

You cannot place a robe on a spirit; there has to be a body to wear a robe.

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

One thing is sure, even if we existed for a time without a body, we would still be more alive than we are today!

Just as our present bodies will be part of our eternal bodies, temporary bodies could be part of our eternal bodies.

That glorified body gets in there somewhere!

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

  1. We will receive immortality!
  2. We will receive a home, an eternal mansion in God’s New Heaven.

As we get older, we all feel the truth of verse 2.

*****2Co 5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
2Co 5:3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
2Co 5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

God never said it would be fun growing old.

One thing I have noticed as I aged is that time seems to fly by.

The years are going so fast that it’s Christmas before you know it and another birthday has taken place and you get to see doctors more than you see some family members.

As Christians the Scriptures give us a picture of our bodies as a tent which houses our spirit.

In fact, our spirit is our conscience, and our heart is our soul, and this is our real self and this sack of flesh that covers them is the thing that is perishing with age.

God is a spirit; the human soul is a spirit.

God made man after His own image and endowed him with attributes which belong to His own nature as a spirit.

Therefore, man is different from all other of God’s creations.

Only man is capable of communion with our Maker.

If we were not like God, we could not know Him; we would be like the animals that God created.

The human spirit was rational, moral, and a free agent before the Devil caused Adam to sin, but we still have those attributes, so we can be saved.

This sack of flesh we wear as a covering will spend some time in the grave unless you are alive at the time of the Rapture, but this flesh must certainly die one way or the other.

2Pe_1:13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
2Pe_1:14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.

Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Job 19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

The body we have now is our means of glorifying God since after salvation the Holy Spirit moves into our heart.

1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Our bodies are not to be our masters; our bodies are to be submitted to God in order that Jesus Christ can be glorified in that body.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Php 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

Once Adam and Eve had sin in their hearts, the first thing they realized was that they were naked.

Noah cursed his grandson because he looked upon Noah while he was drunk and naked.

To the Jew, nakedness was a terrible sin because Adam and Eve knew their nakedness after sin, and they were ashamed.

This is the way Jesus Christ presents to us the modern church.

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Nakedness describes a soul that is uncovered before the Lord.

Our nakedness must be wrapped in the Lord’s righteousness!

A sinner who remains lost has nothing to cover himself against the wrath of God.

Those who know the Lord are now clothed with the robe of righteousness.

This is the robe that we will wear when we first get to Heaven!

Isa_61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

*****2Co 5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Once we understand we will be clothed, which means our bodies will be transformed at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Any underclothing we had on will be swallowed up by our upper clothing until nothing is left of those garments.

The old is completely replaced by the new!

1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Don’t you just love the Word of God that never leaves anything out?

We do not have to guess about our salvation; it is real!

Our salvation is also eternal!

*****2Co 5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
2Co 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
2Co 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

The Holy Spirit is not some influence sent to us from Heaven; the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Triune God.

Believe me when I say there is no order in those three persons of the Triune God except for the order that Jesus gave us.

God is the same no matter what person you are dealing with; He is One God, not three Gods!

The Holy Spirit has characteristics, and He has personality.

He has intellect, knowledge, a mind, and emotions and a genuine personality.

He teaches, He testifies, He guides, He convicts, He regenerates, He intercedes, and He commands.

When He moves into our hearts, we will know it and our transformation will begin.

There is a saying that our youth used to use: “If you are what you were, then you ain’t”.

It’s simple: if you are the same old person you were before your salvation and you just say the Holy Spirit moved in, then you have been deceived, and you are not saved.

2Co 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

That word earnest can be interpreted as “a down payment” on our redemption which will come when the Lord Jesus returns.

We have this confidence when we no longer look at our circumstances, but we only look upward and forward to a future so wonderful that it is hard to imagine the wonderful things God has planned for us.

1Co_2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

When we walk in the faith of the truth of God, then surely, we can put up with this wicked world for a few short years.

The greatest relief we can obtain in this world is to be busy serving the LORD.

No matter what we face, the Holy Spirit will stir up our courage to face it all, if we listen to Him.

We need a refilling of the Holy Spirit daily and sometimes on the same day, and God will provide that refilling if we ask Him, in the name of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit will stir up the faith that is in us, so if you have no faith, the Holy Spirit has nothing to work with.

Now this does not make us blind to the things going on around us; He just gives us the courage to go through them.

This shows up in our power to be a witness for the truth of the Gospel!

*****2Co 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

We must make it our ambition to speak and act in a way that our life pleases the LORD.

If we live only for the LORD, it does not matter if we are still in the body that the Lord gave us or we are absent from that body which is to be at home with the LORD in Heaven.

Wherever we are, our goal is to make the Lord rejoice by living for Him and in His will for us.

If we are not in the will the LORD has for us, we will be miserable even though we may be saved.

The “Judgment Seat of Christ” is the judgment of believers, not unbelievers.

There will be no unbeliever there.

Paul is speaking to the Church, all the ones who have a new nature in Jesus Christ.

Only believers have a new nature in Jesus Christ.

  1. The judgment of believers is a surety; it will happen, and nothing can stop it from happening.
  2. The judge who will judge us will be the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Joh 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

  1. Each believer will be judged for the things we have done in the body we lived in after salvation until that body died.

a.) We will not be judged for sin because the Lord Jesus died for all our sin and our sin is under the blood.
God will never again charge us with any sin. Though we must still ask for forgiveness because it is like a slap in the face to our Lord Jesus Christ.

b) Each believer will be conformed perfectly to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We will receive that perfect, eternal body, a body just like the one that Christ went back to Heaven in.

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

c) When God saved us, He had a purpose for each of us, and He will judge us on how well we have accomplished what He gives us to do.
This judgment will decide on any gifts we may or may not receive.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

  1. This judgment will determine our rewards and the degree of those rewards, whether good(gain) or bad(loss)
    All those who survive the fire of the “Bema Seat Judgment” will be greatly rewarded. So great that it would blow our minds if we knew them today.
    Glory, honor, immortality, part of the inheritance of the Lord Jesus, a mansion, just a few that are mentioned in the Scriptures.
    We will behold the face of God and have a glorified body. We will be treated as kings and priests. The joy of life and pleasures that never end are just a few more of the rewards we could receive.

This is just a taste of the rewards we can receive at the “judgment Seat of Christ,” which will take place at the Rapture of the Church when we meet the Lord Jesus in the clouds.

Only the Church will be at this judgment at that time. Not one lost soul will be there!

*****2Co 5:11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

I know that God will use everyone He saves, but we have to wonder sometimes what keeps that good Pastor from quitting on God.

They are attacked and criticized for the stance they take on the Word of God.
They have to deal with problems on the inside and on the outside of the church.
They have to deal with church members, many who are still babes in Christ and others who think they know it all.

This verse gives us some idea of what keeps good men of God preaching and ministering, and we should take notice of what God says here.

The word “terror” here means fear, reverence, being in awe of the Lord.
It does not mean the kind of fear that trembles and shrinks back from God, though he must be aware of it.

The Lord must be held in the Highest regard and respect; He is God!

These things compel that good Pastor or Evangelist or Missionary to spread the “Good News” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

He will preach the judgment of God:

Rom 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

He will preach the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

He will preach the desperate need for all of us to reconcile our relationship with the One True God:

2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

God knows what kind of person we are, and He will use that to assign us all a ministry.

1Co 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1Co 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

That good man of God will preach faithfulness!

1Ti 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
1Ti 1:13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
1Ti 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Amen

The Ministry of Spiritual Power

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Ministry of Spiritual Power

Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 4

What makes a local church? When is it actually a church according to Scripture?

Is it when people gather to listen to tapes of some so-called Christian leader?

Is it when a group gathers together to hear different Bible conference speakers?

Is it just to fellowship with other people?

A church that is the Bride of Christ is much more than these things!

  1. There must first be worship!

The most important reason we gather is to worship according to the Word of God.

Jhn_4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Jhn_4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

1Co 14:25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

Worship involves presenting ourselves, our entire being, to the Lord.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Many say the church that meets on Sunday violates Scripture.

They also say this was because of some Roman ruler, who said for the church to worship on Sunday.

These same people reject the Word of God, as it reads that we worship on Sunday because the early church decided to commemorate the resurrection of our Savior, who is the foundation of the Church.

Joh 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

Joh 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Joh 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

The Lord’s supper:

Act 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

The offerings were made:

1Co 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Hymns were then incorporated into worship:

Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Eph 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

  1. There must be preaching.

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

This preaching is for instruction so we can avoid false doctrines!

1Ti 1:3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

This preaching should produce spiritual love among believers, along with increased faith.

1Ti 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

There must be spiritual nourishment.

1Ti 4:6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

Teaching godliness:

1Ti 4:8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

Teaching submission:

1Ti 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Teaching a proper focus on life:

1Ti 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
1Ti 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
1Ti 6:19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Passing this work to others called to preach:

2Ti 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

  1. The church must be devoted to the teaching of the original Apostles who were taught by the Lord Jesus:

Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

And Christian Doctrine:

Act 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
Act 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Act 18:11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Teaching in the church and in homes:

Act 20:20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
Act 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

  1. The church must encourage fellowship.

Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

  1. Prayer is to be important because it is powerful.

Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Act 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

1Th_5:17 Pray without ceasing.

  1. Each of these things have their own importance, but they must all be included in a functioning church.

Php 2:1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Php 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

  1. The Church depends on the church members to support these things!

Now this does not mean sending all offerings to Rome. No, it means we must support missionaries, evangelism, witnessing, child evangelism, and discipleship.

Now the world may say that Rome is the home of the Church, but we do not want any part of Rome. The true Church is those who have the Holy Spirit living within them.

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

When these things and more are not found in the local church, then that place is not a church at all nor is it part of the Bride of Christ!

The Bride of Christ has a ministry and so does every member!

2Co 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2Co 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

All these things being true, and they are, if you are a child of God, then you have met the Devil!

*****2Co 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

If you are serving the Lord Jesus Christ as He directed, then you will face trial after trial.

The word trial is used in Scripture in the sense that we will be tested as we serve the LORD.

We will experience fatigue and weariness.
We will suffer strain and pressure.
We will have troubles and doubts.
We will face criticism and opposition.
We will suffer conflict and persecution, and anything else the Devil can throw at us.

If the Devil cannot reach us personally, he will use our families or our friends to get at us.

If you began your reading of the Bible in the Book of Genesis, you would see where the first family that existed was tested, and we live in their failures every day of our lives.

God’s purpose was to give Adam and Eve a knowledge of sin through obedience, not from eating some fruit.

They sought the knowledge of “good and evil,” and they attained that knowledge in the wrong way.

Their temptation came through that Old Serpent, the Devil.

Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Rev_12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Rev_20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

We cannot serve the Lord in His purpose for us under our own power!

It is the power of God that will sustain us in every trial and in every temptation if we let God’s power work within us.

We have the Holy Spirit living within us, and we must allow Him to do His work.

What is His first work?

Jhn_14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Jhn_14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Jhn_15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

Notice more and more we see the Triune God involved in our lives!

Jhn_16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

We may be persecuted, but we will never be forsaken!

The supreme characteristic of the true Christian is not that we do not fall, but every time we fall, we get back up again.

Psa 37:24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

We may be beaten, but we cannot be defeated.

We may lose a battle from time to time, but in the end, Jesus Christ has already won the war.

If we remain with the Lord, He will remain with us, so we are on the “Winning Side”!

*****2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
2Co 4:12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

The Lord will never forsake us!

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Heb 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Yes, the Lord Jesus died, but He gave His life; no one took His life from Him!

We do not serve the Lord in the power of His death!

We are to serve the Lord in the power of His resurrection!

Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

2Ti 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

How many times does the Lord have to say He will never leave us until we understand He means it?

In His physical body, the Lord Jesus was always dying to self!

He was expending enormous energy to share the truth of God, His Father.

He would go without food and water for days at a time.
He would work long, exhausting days.
He would have many sleepless nights.

Someone was always wanting something from Him, and He gave of Himself.

He did these things for the sake of others and not for Himself.

As we serve the Lord to stay mentally sharp, we need to die to self and live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is the truth of our Pastor and every man of God and each one of us.

Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

As human beings, we do not present such a formidable challenge to this world, but when we die to self and live the life of Jesus Christ, then others see the power of the Lord Jesus Christ within us.

To some, this will lead them to turn to the Lord to be able to conquer their own life.

Most people realize that some things they do are not right and that they have wronged many people.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

*****2Co 4:13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;

There is only One Spirit of Faith!

Psa 116:9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
Psa 116:10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:

It is only our faith in the truth of the Lord Jesus that can sustain us!

We must resist all temptation to give up!

It is the power of our faith that will keep us from being discouraged.

Faith means we believe with all our hearts.

Faith means we stand against every opposition to the Word of God.

Faith means we can see the evidence of God in His creation!

I still believe the greatest Scripture in the Word of God is His first words.

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Our world and everything in it was created and sustained by the Holy Trinity.
We are saved by that same Holy Trinity.
We will live in Heaven with that same Holy Trinity.

If we cannot believe this, then we cannot be Christians!

We must believe what we say of the Scriptures!

1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

*****2Co 4:14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

The one thing we can say is that God always has the last word. No one can overrule Him!

God did raise the Lord Jesus from the dead because it was important for Jesus to die.

He died to take our sins to Hell where they belonged.

We must not forget that this death was a separation from His Heavenly Father.

We must do all we can to maintain a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father!

Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

The Lord Jesus Christ had to pay with His life for the testimony He gave.

By His death Jesus saved us from the wrath of His Father and from His Judgment at the White Throne.

There will be no winners at the White Throne Judgment!

We know that Jesus died, but He could not stay dead. With this part of His mission complete, He arose from that death.

When we think on these things, we can be encouraged.

The same God that raised the Lord Jesus from His death will raise each of us from our own death.

The Holy Spirit made sure for us to know this is true!

1Co 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

No matter what purpose God has given to us, serving the Lord has its problems, but knowing that no matter what happens to this body, it will not keep us out of God’s New Heaven.

God can do as He says He will do!
God does not speak just to be speaking; He is all-powerful!

One of the great lessons we learn when serving the Lord is that He is willing and He is also able to do what He says.

Jud 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Jud 1:25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

God will be happy to see us when Jesus lets us through the Door to Heaven.

If we trust the Lord Jesus for our salvation, then we must trust Him in everything He says.

Joh 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

The Bible reveals to us the Will of God through His Son.

The Lord says everything He did was for our sakes.

Rom 8:28 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.

God repeats this here in verse fifteen.

*****2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

We live in a lost world that is on its way to Hell.

God will take care of the world and will rebuild it as it was in the first week of creation.

Our job is the same job Jesus had when He walked upon this earth: to reach out to those who are lost and without Yahweh, the true God.

The God of the Bible is full of “mercy,” and He is willing to show His “Grace” to all who will believe.

Only if we stay in the fight, refuse to be defeated, and glorify God with our lives can we show God’s blessings to this lost world.

  1. We are to meet the needs of the people by showing them the love of God.

Rom 15:1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Rom 15:2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Rom 15:3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

  1. We must lead those who are lost to the only Savior.

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

*****2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

If we are true to the Lord and full of faith, we will never quit on God.

The things we have just read about in the other verses will give us the strength we need.

At the end of every day, we may want to quit, but if we meditate on the truth of the Lord Jesus and get a refilling of the Holy Spirit and do not forget all the benefits of being a child of God, we will be renewed to face another day.

This old body will take a beating, but the death of this old body is the pathway to eternal life, just as verse fourteen reminded us.

The Holy Spirit said in verse 1: Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

We put on the New Man: Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

If you have many years already on this body of flesh, you know for certain that it is wearing out.

People say our bodies, the day we are born, begin the process of growing, but in reality, our bodies begin the processes of aging, wearing out, and wasting away every day.

Once the Holy Spirit moves into our soul, He allows us to draw near to God for strength and growth.

It is this strength that delivers us from the trials, the pressure, and the troubles of this world.

When we draw near to God, He will draw near to us, and it is this power that renews us!

Psa 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

*****2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The troubles we have in this world cannot compare to the glory we shall receive in Heaven!

We should not focus on the temporary things of this world but focus on the eternal things in the glory world.

Our goal is to spend eternity with the Lord in New Heaven and the New Earth and fulfill every purpose He has for now and for every purpose then and forever.

2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
2Ti 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

We will have a purpose in Heaven!

Things that are seen are only temporary things!

The things that are not seen are eternal, everlasting, endless, forever, permanent, immortal, and glorious.

Let’s think on these things and make them our goal!

Amen

The Ministry of the New Covenant

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Ministry of the New Covenant

Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 3

A covenant is a binding agreement between two or more parties.

In the ancient days, this covenant would be sealed by each party by swallowing a drop of each other’s blood.

This soon became distasteful, and they began the sacrifice of animals.

Jehovah settled His covenants with an oath.

Many settled agreements with a handshake.

Pro 6:1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
Pro 6:2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

Pro 17:18 A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.

God does not like for His children to become a surety; God says Do not sign your name to another person’s debt.

Pro 22:26 Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.
Pro 22:27 If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

In our Bible we read of covenants made between men.

A marriage is a covenant between two people.

We can make a covenant with ourselves, and we should: Job 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

We can even make a covenant with animals and with the land we live on: Job 5:23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

The most important covenants we can make are those we make with God, and those God makes with us.

Before we were found by Jesus Christ and adopted into the family of God, we were not a part of the covenants of God.

Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

It is only by the Lord Jesus Christ that we are part of the New Covenant!

The Old Covenant was a covenant of “works”: Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The New Covenant is the covenant of “Grace”: 2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Rom 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Rom 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
Rom 5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Rom 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Rom 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

*****2Co 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

We must clearly understand the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

A covenant is an agreement made between two parties, a contract drawn between two people.

God first made a covenant of works with Adam, promising eternal life for obedience and death for disobedience.

Adam failed, and death entered the human race!

Then God made a covenant with Abraham, also a covenant of works.

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Then there was a covenant called the Palestinian Covenant, also a covenant of works. Remember this area was named Palestine by the Romans just to slander the Jews!

Deu 30:1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
Deu 30:2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

Then there was what is called the Davidic Covenant, the promise of the true Messiah.

2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
2Sa 7:15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
2Sa 7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

The main Old Covenant was between God and His earthly people Israel.

Both parties took upon themselves certain obligations.

Israel vowed to be obedient to the law, and God in His turn should bless them if they were obedient.

This, too, was a covenant of works, which they failed to keep.

God first dealt with His special people, Israel.
God then promised them a land.
God then promised a posterity, the Messiah.
God promised He would be their true King.
God is still working on Israel to bring them to a true blessing.

No human can live by a covenant of works, because we are born sinners; it is in our bloodline that we inherited from Adam.

There would have to be a New Covenant.

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

God had given Israel a conditional covenant we call the Mosaic Covenant, which we can call God’s standard for righteous living.

This covenant in the Book of Jeremiah has not happened yet, because they rejected the Messiah God gave to them.

God gives the world His Covenant of Grace!

God turned His attention to the Gentile world!

The Covenant of Grace is the covenant made by God, which He offers salvation to those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as the true Messiah.

To the believer: 2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
2Co 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

To Israel: Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

God said He would give us His own Son in payment for all the sin of the world and a guarantee for our salvation.

God said by His Grace, His gift of Jesus Christ, He would give the Holy Spirit to live within us.

This is a Trinitarian Covenant:

Eph 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:
Eph 1:4 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:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

  1. This is an eternal and unbreakable covenant.
  2. This covenant only extends to those, the elect of God. The elect are all those who have accepted this gift of God’s “Grace”.
    These are the same ones who have answered the call of the Holy Spirit in faith.
  3. This is the “Good News” from Heaven and the one Gospel by which souls can be saved.

Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

The Apostle Paul was very careful to bring this good news to the Gentile world, knowing that there is a limited time for the Gentiles to come to Christ, and God again begins dealing with Israel with this same New Covenant.

The New Covenant not only introduces us to God’s Messiah, but we can have a personal relationship with God through the Holy Spirit who has sealed us until our Redeemer comes to take us home.

God has called us and equipped us to be ministers of this New Covenant to the world!

*****2Co 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
2Co 3:8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

How can the law be said to be glorious when, if you broke the law, your punishment was death?

There is no glory in eternal death.

The only thing the Laws of Moses did for the children of Israel was to bring them close enough to God where they could get a glimpse of His glory.

The Laws of Moses were glorious only because it was Jehovah, the Almighty, glorious God who gave those laws to Moses face to face.

This is the place we all want to meet God, face to face.

The laws of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, give us a picture of the of the righteousness of our God.

He is Holy, and He is Righteous above His creation.

Those laws have accomplished one thing if we try to live by them. They show us we have need of a Savior!

Those laws prove to us that we are sinners and come far short of the Glory of the Living God.

This is why the world hates the Ten Commandments; they remind them they are sinners.

Moses experienced God’s glory, and it could be seen on his face.

The face of Moses shined with the glory of God.

In fact, the glory of God was so bright that the people could not continuously look upon his face, and he had to cover it with a veil to speak to the people of Israel.

Exo 34:30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

What does Paul say? But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

God has taken His glory away from that Old Covenant! Why? Because no one could keep all those laws, and we know Israel had 613 laws and not just the 10 commandments we are so familiar with.

They had a law for every aspect of their life.

Before you get to asking why God would do this, you must first know that the Muslims have a law for every aspect of their lives, as do the Hindus, and almost every nation, including our own, has laws for every aspect of our lives.

If we could keep all the laws of our nation, there would be no place for courts or lawyers or any so-called legal documents.

God knew these things, but God had also made some promises that He could not keep if there was no one to give those blessings to.

The New Covenant of God came about because of this, and this Covenant of Grace shows that God demands nothing anymore from His people, as He will fulfill all the conditions of this covenant Himself.

Grace means that the Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill all the obligations that God had first given to His people.

Only the Lord Jesus could keep all those old laws, and therefore He took all the sin of the world upon Himself and died in our place.

God the Father did this on His own terms, and He explains that to us:

Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Just notice the “I wills” in this passage of Scripture. There is no contribution expected from these people.

This is Grace brought about by the Mercy of God and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luk 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

The Lord Jesus Christ has done all the work to get us into Heaven as His bride and then wife.

We as the Church are to be servants of this New Covenant just as Apostle Paul was.

The New Covenant is related to the work of the Holy Spirit in our Hearts.

The Old Covenant consisted of letters and stones.

How can the ministry of the Holy Spirit not be glorious when the Holy Spirit is God, and salvation can only come by the Tri-unity of God?

God the Father made the covenant.
The Lord Jesus Christ paid the price with His blood.
The Holy Spirit comes into our hearts to make it all work toward our salvation.

*****2Co 3:9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
2Co 3:10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

That Old Covenant brought condemnation. Anyone who broke the law was condemned and had a broken and severed relationship with the Triune God.

With the New Covenant, and the Holy Spirit, comes righteousness, and the nature of God to us.

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The glory of the New Covenant is permanent because the Holy Spirit will never leave us!

*****2Co 3:11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

The Old Covenant is fading away with Israel the last holdout after the Church Age.

The Lost must believe that the Lord Jesus completed the work God required for the Holy Spirit to move into our hearts and begin His work.

It is really not that hard to understand except for one thing, and it is the Devil.

The Lord Jesus said these “end days” will be full of deception. We are already finding this to be true.

2Co_11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

There is no other way to live with God, and these are His rules and not mine!

Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

The knowledge of these things should settle every Christian and bring hope to those who have yet to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Savior.

*****2Co 3:12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
2Co 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2Co 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

Our hope is not just in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, but our hope is in this New Covenant of God, and God does not lie, and God does not break covenants.

The ministry of God’s people is built upon the truth of God and not some fairy tale or some false doctrine.

The language God uses is plain, and it is simple.

Remember the same Holy Spirit who comes to live in the believer is the same Holy Spirit who gives us the Word of God.

1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

We know that in the time of Moses, Israel withdrew from the veiled glory of God.

The veil would not allow people to see the glory on Moses’ face fading away.

Moses was saying that he was just the messenger and the true glory of the Lord would come later.

Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Rom 10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
Rom 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
Rom 10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Rom 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.

The world hates the Ten Commandments because they feel bound by them in order to please God, when the Ten Commandments just give us an idea of the righteousness of God.

Honoring those commandments and all the laws of this world does please God!

What truly pleases God is the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has paid that sin debt and we are to see Him as our Savior.

Now this does not mean we are not to live as close to those commands as we possibly can; it means that if we fail, it is not the thing that brings death and a separation from our Heavenly Father.

We are not to continue in sin at any time!

The lost do not see the real meaning of those laws which were given to reveal the nature of God’s glory and perfection.
The lost do not see that those laws show us that no one can keep all those laws.
The lost do not see that those laws show us the need of a Savior.

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Even today the children of Israel remain blinded to the truth of the New Covenant of God.

*****2Co 3:15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
2Co 3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Today Moses is already in Heaven, but the veil he put upon his face is now upon the hearts of God’s people.

Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

That veil over their heart prevents them from seeing the disappearance of the Old Covenant.

That old veil will never be removed unless the children of Israel turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Only then will they be able to see as a nation that the Old Testament was written in view of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah.

This is what the Apostles discovered and every true Christian since that day, and we know that the children of Israel will soon see this truth at or just before the Rapture of the Church and the end of the Church Age.

Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

All types and all prophecies of the law will be fully accomplished in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Amen

The Ministry of Forgiveness

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Ministry of Forgiveness

Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 2

Only God can forgive sin!
We are to forgive those who sin against us, but only God can forgive that sin against Him!

Isa 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Mat 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,

God could not forgive sin without a proper payment for that sin.

How do we explain God’s forgiveness? Forgiveness is a legal act of God where He removes the charges against us because the atonement for those sins has been made.

We each have a book of our life written in Heaven, and God will open that book in our name and blot out the sin in that book because the Lord Jesus Christ has made the atonement for the sin we committed against our Heavenly Father.

The Lord Jesus paid our sin debt! Our debts were nailed to His cross!

Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Forgiveness means we have been set free from the burdens of our sin because of the “Grace” of God the Father.

Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

Forgiveness means we have a daily forgiveness of sin as we serve the Lord.

1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The Book of John says: Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

We will never have fellowship with God until we deal with our sin debt! We can only deal with our sin debt through the Lord Jesus Christ, The Word.

We should understand that God’s forgiveness is linked to God’s “Grace”; there is nothing we as humans can do; the Lord Jesus has done all that was needed for us to be forgiven.

Our chains of bondage are broken.
Our debt is cancelled.
We have received a pardon.
Our punishment has been cancelled.
We will not see the wrath of God come upon us.

Because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father has canceled the debt of sin that we could have never paid except by dying and spending eternity in Hell!

Rom_3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

This is what forgiveness means to God!

What does forgiveness mean to each believer?

*****2Co 2:1 But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.
2Co 2:2 For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me?
2Co 2:3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.

We should not doubt that the Apostle Paul loved the people in every church he had planted. Christianity brings Godly love!

We all know the problems in the church at Corinth if we have read 1 Corinthians.

Paul longed to go to minister again to this church but not with controversies and sin surrounding them.

Paul had written to this church urging them to put the Lord Jesus Christ first and end their controversies.

No church will stand very long that does not put the Lord Jesus Christ first; He is the foundation of the Church, of every true church.

In fact, no group that gathers can be a church unless they have accepted the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

No Pastor or Preacher can reach God’s people if the message he preaches causes controversy in that church.

That church would first have to recognize sin, address the problem of sinners, and return to the truth of God; then they would be ready to receive the meat of the Gospel and grow in Christ.

1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

A true Pastor will bring joy to his flock because the Gospel is a message of peace to the soul.

Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

*****2Co 2:4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.

The letter Paul wrote, which is called the Book of 1 Corinthians, was a painful letter for him to write.

Paul did not write to them to cause pain; Paul wrote to them in love, his heart broken for the sin in that church.

Every church needs to understand that God is full of “Grace,” but God has rules that must be followed.

Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

1Pe 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Tit 3:11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

When we reject the truth of the Gospel, we have condemned ourselves, and we can only blame ourselves.

Then once the sin problem is solved, the next step is forgiveness and restoration of those who had committed such sin.

Our forgiveness must be led by the example of forgiveness given to us by God Himself.

We have not forgiven anyone unless that forgiveness comes from the heart!

*****2Co 2:5 But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all.

We have not forgiven unless that forgiveness comes from the heart!

Certain offenders had caused grief for the whole church in Corinth.

It could be that man who had taken his father’s wife, or it could be some Jewish ringleader who was trying to destroy the Church and destroy the Apostle Paul’s ministry, or both of them.

It could be this Jew because Paul does not mention immorality in these verses.

Act_14:2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.

Act_17:5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

There were some of these wicked men at Corinth who were attacking the Apostle Paul and stirring up controversy, causing disturbance, and hurting the whole church, and they needed to be run off.

There are times when there must be church discipline.

1Ti_3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

This church had done so to those who were full of immorality.

To run those wicked Jews off, they had to cling to the Word of God they had gotten from Paul, Timothy, and Apollos.

The Church must stand its ground against any and all those who reject the truth of the Scriptures.

*****2Co 2:6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.

We do not know what punishment was given to this man, but we do know that Paul had said to excommunicate that man.

To hand that man over to Satan!

This was done, not to just keep this man out of the church, but to awaken him to repentance and to secure his salvation.

1Co 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

All actions in the Church should be done with the desire to bring salvation to all!

We should note that those who voted to punish this man were only a majority and not unanimous because we see that word many and not the word all.

If I am not mistaken in my church, we require a vote of at least eighty percent before such action as this could be taken.

We never want to divide the church and make matters worse.

There will always be differences of opinion when it comes to church discipline, but there will be times when it must take place.

We see today that major denominations have split, and many of those decisions were made when the vote was a simple majority rather than a high percentage such as eighty percent or at least seventy percent. Fifty-one percent would mean the church is divided, and that church should just make sure to obey the Word of God. Those who reject the Word of God should not be counted.

Church discipline should come without destruction.

Our discipline should come with thought of forgiveness after repentance takes place because this is the way of God.

Any soul that has been disciplined should be welcomed back with open arms once the fruit of repentance is seen in them.

We must repent of our sin and turn toward the ways of God before He will forgive us!

This is the example we are to always follow!

Notice also that the name of this man is not mentioned by the Apostle Paul.

Discipline in the Church should remain in the Church.

We cannot allow the world to dictate the work of the Church.

*****2Co 2:7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
2Co 2:8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.

What appears here is that the “many” of this church in Corinth wanted discipline to a lesser degree than the rest of the church members.

Again, all things must be done in accordance with the Word of God!

Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Col 3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

If at all possible, we are to use great effort not to make this person an enemy of the Church.

2Th 3:14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
2Th 3:15 Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

We should understand that if we do not follow the Word of God in Church discipline, Satan is waiting at the door to receive that person who needs Church discipline.

This is the time to show great love to that person and try to lead them to repentance and show that person we are being obedient to the Word of God, the same Word of God that he should be obedient to.

  1. The entire church must forgive this person.

Mar 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mar 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

  1. The entire church must be an encouragement to this person.

1Th 5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
1Th 5:12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
1Th 5:13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
1Th 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

  1. This person must repent and turn back to the truth of God.

Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

  1. There must be assurance demonstrated by the love of the church.

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

We must do everything that we can to keep the Holy Spirit working in our churches!

Dead churches are places of misery!

We must accept all the Word of God and not take away from it nor add to it!

*****2Co 2:9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.

There is another purpose of Church discipline.

It shows the Lord that we are obedient to the mission of the Church.

As long as we allow the world to work inside the Church, then the Church cannot focus upon the mission that the Lord has given to us.

We cannot allow controversy and division to rule the Church as it is doing today in many denominations.

If we are to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, then there must be Church discipline!

If the Church is not concerned with obeying Jesus Christ, then it is not a Church to begin with.

Mat_18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

A church is a place where people gather in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

All other places are places of Devil worship!

We must prove to the Lord Jesus Christ that we are faithful to Him and faithful to the Holy Trinity.

Nothing in this world is more important than our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

We are to be just as forgiving as He is forgiving!

Php 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Php 1:28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.

*****2Co 2:10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;
2Co 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

The Apostle Paul had given instructions on how to manage this incident that happened at the Church of Corinth, and we know there was more than one incident.

This church was tearing itself apart.

What Paul is saying is that he would stand by the discipline this church had come to because the majority of the church had chosen what they would do, even if they had not followed his exact words.

The important thing was this church had come together and acted in accordance with the Word of God.

By being united around the Word of God, Satan could not claim any victory at this church.

This man had repented and had been restored to the Church.

Satan will use any discord in the Church to get his foot in the door.

In fact, at least one of Satan’s followers attends every church service just waiting for a chance to create havoc.

Satan uses many devices in his attempt to turn God’s children and cause harm to the church.

Everything concerning the Church must be in accordance with the Word of God.

There is a spiritual battle going on around us at all times.

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

We must not give Satan easy access to cause chaos in the Church.

We must beware that He is already causing havoc in many places of worship today.

If we are not willing to forgive a repentant sinner, then what does that say about the Church that is full of repentant sinners that the Lord Jesus Christ has forgiven?

Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Satan will do his very best to stop the work of the Church, and we do not need to provide him with opportunities to do so.

Satan hates the Gospel, and Satan hates the Lord Jesus Christ!

Only the Holy Ghost-filled Church can hinder the work of Satan, and we make it far too easy for him.

Only saved souls and changed lives show that Satan the Devil is a defeated foe.

The Lord Jesus Christ defeated Satan on the cross and we can’t allow him to have the smallest victory.

The loving, forgiving Church that is obedient to the Word of God cannot be overcome by the devices of Satan!

Amen

The Ministry of Comforting

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Ministry of Comforting

Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 1

To have a proper understanding of the Book of 2 Corinthians, we first need to study the Book of 1 Corinthians.

We know that suffering has always been a problem for us humans.

It is in every Church service that we recognize a prayer list of people in need of comfort because of their suffering.

There are always others not on the prayer list who suffer but keep it private and unspoken needs.

People injured, people in the hospital, people spending their last days in hospice care, people recovering from surgery or cancer, or heart disease, and those who have been to the cemetery because a loved one has passed.

In reality, it can be said that the Book of 2 Corinthians was written for those who suffer.

Suffering can be said to feel or bear things that are painful, disagreeable, or distressing, and these things are constant in our lives.

We endure these things, but we are never very happy about them.

Pain and grief of mind are not pleasant things for anyone!

I read of a new religion last week who call themselves the extinctionists because they have determined that the only answer for suffering and the protection of this world is the extinction of all humans.

We know the only answer is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

Once we begin to know about the truth of Jesus Christ, we begin to see we are sinners and we begin to suffer with our conscience, and we find that we have offended God and are condemned to suffer the wrath of God.

There is only one comfort, and there is only one Comforter!

*****2Co 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
2Co 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

When we choose to be a servant of God, we will have to deal with all sorts of difficulties and trials.

As we study the Bible, we find that the Apostle Paul is a great example of Christian suffering while he spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God will indeed use these trials and tribulations to make us better Christians and better servants.

That word “mercies” means compassion, pity, and mercy.

It means that as we witness for the Lord, we see a people in need and have compassion and mercy upon them.

These are characteristics of the Lord Jesus.

We see that God is the Father of mercies.

As the Devil is the father of murder and lies, God is the Father of mercies.

God sees His Children as a Father and not so much as a God, even though He is God.

As long as we are living, our Heavenly Father will shower us with His mercy!

Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

As a Father, He floods us with His mercies, and as God, He comforts us in all our tribulations, because He is the God of all comfort.

We should understand that suffering is part of our human lives! We do live in a cursed world!

God does not take away our afflictions to comfort us; God carries us through our afflictions.

Isa 63:8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
Isa 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

God will snuggle up closer to us in our afflictions, put His arms around us, and speak gracious, comforting words to us.

This is a great example of what He wants us to do to others, as we tell the world about our Savior.

*****2Co 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

One of the lessons we are to learn as Christians is that God allows sufferings in our lives so we can experience His mercies and His comfort.

Notice that God allows, but He is not the cause of those sufferings.

As we know, we live in a sin-sick world!

We need this experience to be able to comfort others.

Sometimes this suffering can make us feel like we will perish, but the comfort of the Lord Jesus Christ surpasses all suffering, because He is the God of all comfort.

2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

To understand our own suffering, we must understand the suffering of our Lord and Savior.

The sufferings of Christ were not exhausted by Him, but overflow to us who have to suffer as He suffered.

We must bear the weight of His dying so we can share His life.

He is not suffering in us, but we can have fellowship in His sufferings.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

*****2Co 1:6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
2Co 1:7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

The Apostle Paul is saying that his own suffering was not only designed for his own spiritual training but was a source of direct blessing to all who were saved under his preaching.

Paul’s suffering enabled him not only by example but also by the lessons of experience to be a strength to others who were suffering, while serving Jesus Christ.

Php 1:14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

It is important that the experience of our own suffering can be a comfort to another person going through tough times.

We can sometimes become so absorbed in our own grief that we start believing that no one suffers as we do, but we are not alone in our grief, and we can draw comfort from others.

1Pe 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Very few Christians will ever suffer like the Apostle Paul did to get the gospel to us, but just because we are associated with the Lord Jesus Christ, we will suffer in this world.

When we know we are not alone in our grief, that one thing will make us stronger.

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

We should never want special attention in our suffering, knowing that we all suffer.

We must never become like those who are saved today and lost tomorrow.
We cannot trust God today and not trust Him tomorrow and still believe that He is All-Powerful

We must continue with our Savior through the good times and the bad times.
We must continue with our Savior through suffering as well as good health.
We must continue with our Savior through rejection as well as acceptance.
We must continue with our Savior through persecution as well as honor.

We learn endurance through suffering!
We learn to share the God of all comfort through our own suffering!

Php 2:1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Every time we suffer from a different kind of suffering, we will experience a new kind of comfort.

*****2Co 1:8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

Once we learn that as Christians, we are stronger as a group than as individuals, then we can realize that we can be a comfort to those who are carrying the Gospel to the world.

There should be no doubt that the Devil works far more to damage a good pastor or the evangelist, or the missionary, than he does to the individual Christian, even though he will attack us all and it is never pleasant.

The Devil can only be in one place at a time, so he will dispatch his demons to do most of his dirty work while he concentrates on certain individuals who may not even be Christians.

We must become prayer warriors for those who carry the Gospel to the world and also for each other.

Our prayers are our greatest weapon in this world.

Closet prayer may be the greatest weapon we have against the Devil, his demons, and his followers.

God wants to know how we suffer and what we suffer from, and He will help us.

The fact that Doctor Luke traveled with Paul so often should also tell us that Paul needed medical attention often.

We can learn a lot of it from the Book of Acts, but we should know that the Devil would do anything he could to stop the Apostle Paul and the other Apostles and every missionary called of Jesus.

That man in the pulpit of God, that preaches the truth of the Word of God is one of the Devils greatest enemies!

The devil is still trying to do this today, and it looks like he is winning.

This was what Paul was trying to tell us.

It may look like the devil is winning, but God is just eliminating all those who do not want to join Him in Heaven.

We are still on the winning side!

*****2Co 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

We wonder sometimes, “What will be the end of it all”?

If we do not put our faith into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, these thoughts will hinder us as we try to serve God.

Death is coming to this world just as death comes to each of us but only in the Lord’s set time.

Paul was in some situations where it just seemed that it was beyond all human possibility of deliverance.

There are Christians in this same situation today, who live in lands ruled by wicked and evil men who hate the Lord Jesus Christ, and they have to hide just to be able to worship.

God has a special blessing reserved for them if they just hang on to their faith.

God has a special blessing for all who cling to their faith till the end.

We cannot trust our deliverance to ourselves any more than the Apostle Paul could!

All our faith must be in our Savior and in His Word.

Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

If God allows this world to take our life, He has a reason for it, and it is always a good reason where something good will come out of it.

We may not see it, but He sees it.

The important thing is that our death leads to our victory!

Our true Christian friends will want to know what happened when the Lord does save us from this destruction and we make it through that suffering, and that sentence of death.

There is nothing too hard for God, but when we give our lives to the Lord, we are doing just that; we are giving our lives to Him for His use.

What did Jesus say? Luk_9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

The cross was an instrument of death.

We must never forget that we are in the hands of God and no one can take us out of His hands.

Paul was threatened by large crowds.
Paul was threatened by the unions of that day.
Paul was threatened by the governments of that day.
Paul was threatened by ungodly Jews.
Paul’s friends had to risk their lives for Paul.
Paul’s friends were locked up in jail.
Paul’s enemies were like beasts who would hunt you down to destroy you.
These are the same enemies the Church faces every day.

1Co_15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

Paul sometimes felt crushed by his burden for the Church.
Paul was locked away in prison on seven different occasions.
Paul was in more than one shipwreck.

My question is, what do we have to complain about if the Lord calls us into His service?

Our Savior is also our Deliverer and our Comforter!

When we cannot go with these men and women who are called into God’s service, then our calling is to pray for them and support them.

*****2Co 1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
2Co 1:11 Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

Paul was not complaining; Paul was saying, “Look at all the opportunities the Lord has given me to serve, and He delivered me every time”.

This is the exact way we should look at it!

Who are we to witness to?

Sinners are wicked, evil people, and we know this because we were once part of them.

Most everyone in the world today hates the Lord Jesus Christ. That should tell us something!

Just the mention of His name will turn some crowds into our enemies.

These are similar things that happened to Paul.

One of our own greatest lessons is that we cannot save ourselves from our sin, and we cannot save ourselves from this world.

We will suffer at times just so the Lord knows He can trust us to remain faithful.

God is not going to call us into His service and then let us suffer death on our first mission unless it is truly important and many souls are saved because of it.

God never said it would be easy to be a Christian, but He did say the benefits would be Heavenly.

Of all the reasons we may have suffering, maybe the greatest reason is the fact that we will spend more time in prayer and thanksgiving with our Heavenly Father.

Every prayer for us from another believer may cause God to move on our behalf.

It is called intercessory prayer.

Intercessory prayer works, and history from men such as Paul has proven it works.

Intercessory prayer in the Church has proven results because we have heard many testimonies from those who were delivered from cancer and heart problems, and treatments, and other sicknesses.

I was delivered from cancer myself on two occasions because of the prayers of righteous men and women of God and the LORD, who said: “I’m not through with you yet”.

We are all called to be intercessors if God has not called us to do something else, and even if He has, He still expects us to pray for one another.

The Lord Jesus prayed for us!

Jhn_17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Jhn_17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Jhn_17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

How can we not pray for one another if the Lord Jesus Christ prayed for us?

Amen

The Requirements of God

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Requirements of God

Book of Micah Chapters 6 and 7

A requirement is a demand that must be met to receive some reward.

The truth is people in every nation, and every generation have turned away from the Lord.

Some of those returned to the Lord, and the rest are in Hell wishing they had returned to the Lord.

We are not whole until we are in a personal relationship with our Creator.

We cannot follow our own path and think it will lead us to Heaven, for it will not.

To live without God is to live a meaningless life!

Israel had God’s Word, God laws, and God’s commandments.

God’s laws are always for guidance and protection.

The greatest thing we can give back to God for all His benefits is our Love and our commitment to His Son.

God does not ever offer something that He cannot provide!

What did Israel do? They ignored the Word of God and made poor choices.

What does the Church do today? The Church ignores the Word of God and makes bad choices.

*****Mic 6:1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
Mic 6:2 Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.

God is telling Micah he is to be an intermediary between Israel and God.

God told Micah to preach the Word of God so even the mountains could hear his voice.

God has a reason for every command He gives us, and we need to realize it.

We must listen to what God has to say.

What’s wrong with the Church today? The Church quit listening to what God has to say and listens to what some man says or in some cases some woman, of this secular world.

The words of man can never be as important as the Word of God!

We can plead our case, but our words will never be as important as the Word of God.

There is a big difference between speaking and preaching.

2Ti_4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

The command of God to preachers is to preach the Word, and it is used 47 times in the New Testament.

For those who want to speak, God says to speak the wisdom of God and not the so-called wisdom of this world.

1Co_2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co_2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

No wisdom of the world can help us get to Heaven; it is only the Word of God where we find such wisdom.

We may not always listen to what God has to say, but that thing we call nature is always listening to hear God’s next command.

Isa 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

Humans and the Devil and his demons are the only things upon this earth that rebel against God!

Those demons still tremble when you mention the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What had God done to cause this rebellion?

*****Mic 6:3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.
Mic 6:4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
Mic 6:5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.

Why do we accuse God of so many things when God is righteous in everything, He does?

God does not make accusations against Israel at this time; He just defends Himself against what the people accuse Him of.

Notice God still says they are His people.

It is an absolute honor to be a child of God!

Does God make our lives miserable?
Does God place terrible demands on us?
Does God make excessive requests of us?

God deserves an answer to these things!

Why do we always complain about what God is doing in the world when we do not do what He asks us to do?

To say yes to any of these things is to have the same attitude as the secular world.

What had God done to Israel that caused such rebellion?

  1. He delivered them from the bondage of slavery from the Egyptians. They had been servants, and slaves, and God had given them freedom.
  2. God had given them great leaders.

Moses

Moses was a faithful servant in the House of the Lord.

Heb 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.

Moses delivered to Israel the laws of God.

It was Moses who led Israel out of Egypt, and Moses was led by the Great “I Am” of the Bible.

Moses was more than a Prophet of God.

Num 12:5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
Num 12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
Num 12:7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
Num 12:8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

Deu 34:10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
Deu 34:11 In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,
Deu 34:12 And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.

Aaron

Aaron was Moses’ elder brother and the first High Priest of Israel.

Both Moses and Aaron together were a type of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

Miriam

Miriam was the oldest of the children of Jochebed.

Miriam was a prophetess, but only in Music and Song.

Exo 15:20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
Exo 15:21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Balaam

Balaam was a prophet, but he was a secular prophet, he was not a prophet of God.

God would not allow Balaam to place a curse on Israel but only a blessing.

Balaam did tell King Balak that the weakness of Israel was those men of Israel, who could be tempted by strange women.

This is a weakness in almost all men, so it did not take some great prophet to tell this thing.

God took the life of Balaam when King Balak went to war with Israel.

God is love, but God is also faithful, and Israel could not deny this truth.

So, what does the Lord require of us all?

*****Mic 6:6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
Mic 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

These are part of the requirements of God.

God may be in Heaven, but God is everywhere. God is never very far away from us.

God is not impressed with gifts, or the sacrifices of animals, or of offerings.

If we want to get closer to God, we must meet God at His house with prayer.

Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

We must be humble when we walk with God.

We must do justly, which means to cause no one to be hurt in any way.

Mic 2:1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Mic 2:2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

Isa 2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
Isa 2:12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

Some say it is hard to be a Christian, but with the knowledge of God, I find it is harder not to be a Christian.

How does God describe the world in the day of Micah and the world we live in today?

Mic 6:10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?
Mic 6:11 Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?
Mic 6:12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

*****Mic 6:13 Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.
Mic 6:14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.
Mic 6:15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.
Mic 6:16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore, ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

The word “therefore” means because of these things He would bring His discipline to them.

God will not tolerate this sort of behavior for very long from those who are His children or say they are His children.

There is a sickness called sin-sickness, and God describes it here.

To smite sometimes means to kill, but it can also mean to conquer in a rout.

To smite with the tongue is to cause injury and reproach, so they could reflect on why God brought these things to them.

God does not want us to guess why we will see His wrath! God lets the sinner know to repent, turn back to the laws of God or face His wrath.

It is hard to enjoy anything when we are sick!

One thing was certain: they would not be able to continue their sinful activities.

God would take away their wealth along with all their treasures and make them desolate.

God can also take away our health if He so chooses.

If God in anyway causes our sickness, then He may heal us from that sickness.
If we run from God to the world and that sickness come from the world, then He may or may not take away that sickness.

I believe desolate here means God would desert them for a time and deprive them of comfort.

I do not know about you, but when you are going through something terrible in your life, the comfort of God sure does feel good.

God said He would bring hunger to the land.

They would no longer be satisfied with their meals, meaning they would not have enough to eat.
They would have a constant feeling of hunger.
Their enemies would come in and take away anything they tried to hide.
They would not feel safe in their own homes or in their nation.

Why do so many have weapons in America, because we do not feel safe in our own homes and the politicians will not do anything about it but continue to allow terrorists and corruption into our nation and allow judges to put dangerous people back on the street.

God had already told Israel what would happen if they rejected Him at any time.

Deuteronomy Chapter 28, verses 15 through verse 45. God is serious about rejection from His people.

Deu 28:48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

God will surrender His people to cruel oppression!

Much of Israel does not feel safe in their homes today.

They are always aware that a siren could go off at any minute and they could spend endless hours in bomb shelters.
No other nation would tolerate this thing yet Israel is expected to stay calm and not try to get revenge.

God said these things would be taken away by force, a force they could not stop.

Their grain, their olive oil, and their grape juice would be consumed by their enemies.

Deu 28:49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
Deu 28:50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
Deu 28:51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.

They rejected the laws of God so they could keep the laws of man.

In reality, we see many of these things in the USA today.

Our food is so high that we can barely afford it, and much of it is tainted We hear of food recalls almost every day.
I hate to think this way, but since we have turned to organic food, we find that some people will use anything for fertilizer, even human waste.
Our gas is getting so high that most of us stay home more.
People are moving from one place to another because they don’t feel safe or secure where they once lived.
People are leaving the Church and rejecting God, the only hope we have and many local churches have closed their doors.
The Church is rejecting the laws of God to obey the laws of man, and the church is failing in its mission to reach the lost.

Mic 7:2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

Mic 7:6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

And we wonder why so many bad things are happening in our own nation!

*****Mic 7:7 Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
Mic 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
Mic 7:9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.

Our only hope is in the Lord, and it is the same for Israel!

Though Israel has gone and is still going through many of these things, there is a better day a coming.

This time it is Micah who says “therefore”.

For the Church, as we see all these things going on in our own nation and what is going on in Israel, we must realize that surely our only hope lies in the Lord.

We know it has been about 2000 years since the Lord Jesus went back to Heaven, but He promises to return, and He will.

That trumpet of the Lord could sound at any minute, and we would be out of this world in the blink of an eye.

Most of us believe that the Lord Jesus will return to take His Church out of this world before God’s wrath takes place.

Israel has the great promise that the Lord Jesus(the Messiah) will soon sit as King of Israel, and King of this world.

Every day that passes gets us closer to these things.

Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

We are always to pray for others, but disobedient souls must also pray for themselves and not be dependent on others to pray for them.

Micah pleaded with God on behalf of Israel and Judah.

Israel’s oppressors at that time were Assyria, and soon Babylon would be the oppressors of Judah.

Today the oppressors of the Church are the worldly powers who reject the truth of God.

The world had better not gloat over the fact that the Church is not growing, but we of the Church know that not all members were saved to begin with.

God will guide His Church as He always has.
God will protect His Church as He always has.
God will preserve His Church as He always has.

It is the same for Israel as they will soon see the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Psa 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Psa 27:2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

God’s people will be vindicated in front of God’s enemies.

The lost still say today, “Where is your God?” but they will one day bow before Him!

Isa_45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
Isa 45:24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
Isa 45:25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

The Bride of Christ is the seed of Israel through Jesus Christ.

Rom_14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Php_2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

There is only one God.
There is only one Messiah.
There is only one Jesus the Christ of God.

*****Mic 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
Mic 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Mic 7:20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

Who is a God like Yahweh?

No one can hold God’s people when He wants them set free!

Exo 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Exo 15:12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
Exo 15:13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.

God is never going to be angry with His true children forever!

There are a lot of nations in the world who are sold out to false gods, but we do not see where any of those false gods can save or provide for them as individuals.

Black nasty dirty oil is the god of the Muslim just as gold and other valuable metals are the gods of most Gentiles.

To the terrorist their god is the bullet and homemade bombs.

Only the Lord Jesus Christ can pardon iniquity. To bear iniquity is to endure the punishment for it and be happy to be forgiven for it.

What is pardon? When God pardons, He has removed the guilt of that iniquity.

To be pardoned of God means “as if I had never sinned”.

Who is the One true God? Isa 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

God will one day stamp out all sin!

God has already forgiven all sin. The Lord Jesus Christ was the payment for all our sin. We must recognize that this is the truth and go to Jesus Christ who died in our place and ask for forgiveness.

It is mercy that drives God to forgive us, but God’s punishment of those who reject Him will be without mercy.

Jas 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

What is the truth of Jacob? God’s promise, and God does not break His promises.

Gen 28:10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
Gen 28:11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
Gen 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Gen 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
Gen 28:14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Gen 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.

God gave the land of Palestine to Israel. God will make sure that this takes place. It is only a matter of time. All the Arab nations need to make peace with Israel!

What is the truth of Abraham? God’s promise.

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Again, it would be best that all the Arab nations become friends with Israel!

All families are blessed because the Lord Jesus Christ is that “blessing” that came from Abraham.

Rom_4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

Gal 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

All true blessings come from above:

Jas_1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Eph_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:

God continues: Isa 41:8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

The seed of Abraham is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Bride of Christ(The Church)goes everywhere that our Lord Jesus goes.

He will never leave us or forsake us!

Today the Church is espoused to the Lord Jesus, soon the Lord Jesus will present His wife(the Church) to His Heavenly Father.

Amen

The Restoration of the Kingdom

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Restoration of the Kingdom

Book of Micah Chapters 3-5

How important is good leadership? Leadership is a matter of life and death to any nation and to any church.

What’s wrong with America today?

  1. America has walked away from God.
  2. The leadership in America has done nothing to keep America secure, militarily or financially, nor to provide proper care for its people.
  3. The politicians have forgotten that they are to serve the people and not themselves.
    They act like a bunch of cackling hens, forgetting what they are in Washington to do, and it is not to play politician; it is to serve our nation that is going to the dogs.

The leadership in America has failed its people, and they do not care to change their ways, and foolish Americans keep them in office to do nothing. If they had a real job, most of them would be fired and replaced, yet we the people do not have that option, but we should.

To be honest, I do not believe there is an honest leader in any nation today who serves to benefit their people.

This was the case in Israel.

The government of Israel was divided into civil, judicial, and religious branches, and the leaders of all three branches had become corrupt.

Sounds familiar, does it not?

Every leader in every leadership position is to act fairly with integrity and fair dealing, while upholding the laws of the land they serve.

They are to administer justice.

If we as voters send someone into leadership positions in our government offices or our courts, many of them become corrupt before they do any good at all.

It is a well-known fact that much of the Church has become corrupt, and it is the same in the false religions.

We absolutely cannot attempt to rewrite the Word of God every time we see something we do not like.

Just as Israel will be judged by God, so will the Church and the leaders of every nation upon this world.

Justice will extend to every part of the societies of this world and every aspect of human behavior.

In the Church, justice goes far beyond the legal systems of this world.

The Ten Commandments are all about justice.

God’s Law requires much more than avoiding wrongdoing toward others.

God’s Law requires much more than not harming or hurting others.

God’s Law requires much more than refraining from doing wrong.

True justice always seeks to do what is right and what is good.

True justice is the purpose of the Word of God, so we can be more like Christ Jesus.

Jas 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
Jas 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

*****Mic 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Many people throughout this world live in quiet desperation when they do not have to.

In Israel, the Temple was destroyed.

Today, we see the Church also falling apart.

The truth is that it is impossible that the Houses of God lie in waste forever!

The Bride of Christ is certain, and the Lord Jesus Christ will return to get His bride, and He will come just as soon as God the Father decides it is time.

Mar 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

This is a true statement because this was the procedure for all Jewish marriages. The bridegroom would build on to the Father’s House, and only the Father would know that everything was ready to accept the new Bride.

We know this entire world could collapse at any moment when one of the foolish leaders sets off an atomic bomb, and then all those weapons would be fired, and there are certainly some foolish leaders who could one day do this.

The fact is that the Temple of God will be rebuilt.

The Church will hang on till the end.

The Lord Jesus will return, first to get His Bride, the Church, then to remove sin from this world.

These are the facts.

Abraham, who is the father of faith, clearly understood this truth.

Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Heb 11:9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Heb 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

What is left of the world after the return of Jesus Christ will walk to please the Lord!

The Gospel will be located in Jerusalem, and the world that remains will want to know all about it!

Jesus Christ caused the Gospel to begin in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is the place where His ministry began, where He died, where He arose from that death, where He ascended back to Heaven, where He gave the Apostles their commission, and where the Church received the Holy Spirit.

It is only in Jerusalem that we can walk in the actual paths of the Lord.

All those who remain after the Lord has judged this world will remember what they had so easily forgotten.

Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

The Gospel is the fulfillment of God’s Law.

Why would any other city be chosen for Jesus to return to?

Why would we as Christians give up so easily? Where is our faith?

*****Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Mic 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
Mic 4:5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

Our world has not been at peace since the sin of Adam and Eve, but the world will finally be at peace when the Lord Jesus returns, after He causes peace to happen.

As in every war, food will be scarce, so all military hardware that was used for war will be converted to farm equipment.

We may see tanks pulling plow equipment and building roads and repairing a broken world.

The word “war” will be totally forgotten and replaced with “love thy neighbor”.

Many a believer has thought, how wonderful it would be to sit at the feet of Jesus, and this will finally be possible when King Jesus rules from Jerusalem.

King Jesus will also “Judge” all disputes between nations wherever they are located upon this earth.

I believe the task of those whom the Lord brought with Him, the wife He will no longer separate Himself from, will be to sit and judge the disputes of individuals.

1Co_6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Can you just imagine the savings when there is no money spent on war, no money spent to combat drugs, no money spent to combat sin, no money spent on bad health, and no money spent on politicians, for none of these things will exist.

There will be no United Nations, which has never been what it set out to be.

Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Rom 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.

People will be changed: Tit 3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

People will enjoy life completely safe.

The Jewish people and the Jewish nation will be honored among all people.

Deu 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
Deu 28:2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

Jerusalem will then be the actual center of the world.

We should remember God’s promise to Abraham.

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

God never breaks a promise!

All the people of the world will walk to Jerusalem in the laws of their god, but they will leave Jerusalem walking in the laws of the Lord God of Israel, and now the Lord God of all His Creation.

It’s like salvation. I walked in my own ways before I met Jesus. Now, I walk in His laws and will do so forever and ever!

All nations will recognize the Word of God as the Laws of God, which is much higher, much deeper, and more complete than anything previous.

All those who have had to hide their worship of the Lord because of their faith in Him can now walk openly.
All those who were outcasts because of their faith in Jesus Christ can walk with their heads held high.
All those whose walk was not perfect in the Lord will now walk in perfection.
All those who were afflicted because of their faith in Christ will no longer be afflicted.

There will be no power that can overcome the power of our Savior and our King, King Jesus!

Prophecy will be fulfilled: Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

King Jesus will sit on His throne in Jerusalem because all the prophecies of the Bible will have been fulfilled!

The Lord Jesus was born in a humble stable, to humble parents, and He served His life as a humble Shepherd, and He humbled Himself and died on a cruel cross, but this same Jesus is God Almighty and now sits as the eternal King of all His Creation.

This is how the true Judge of Israel began His life on earth.

*****Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Mic 5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Mic 5:4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

The Prophet Micah begins to tell us about the true Judge of Israel in more detail.

It is easy to see that the future of the Church, the Bride of Christ, and the future of Israel lies in that Babe that was born in Bethlehem Ephratah some two thousand years ago.

The prophecy of Micah was some seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, our King.

We read all the time about the prophecies of men who may get one or two things right, but the prophets of God had to get every prophecy of God right, or we could not consider them true prophets of God and the Word of God could not be trusted.

We know that this prophecy of the birth of our Savior was true, so why should we doubt that the Lord Jesus will sit as King of this world for a thousand years?

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is our life because He is our future.

He was born of a virgin just as the Word of God, by the Prophet Isaiah, wrote.

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

This Immanuel is the true food of His people: Joh 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

It is this Jesus who will gather His Church to bear the fruit of God: Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

The world does not get excited about these things, but we who believe and have faith in the work that the Lord Jesus did for our salvation should be excited and should stay excited about the truth of the Word of God. It is time to look up, for our redemption is closer than it has ever been.

Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

It is Israel that has given us our Messiah and our soon-coming King.

Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

When the Lord Jesus returns to this earth, He will come in His full power.

He will stand up for His people.
He will defeat the enemies of His people.
He will then be King but also a Shepherd and provide for the needs of His people.
He is God’s ideal King.

The Church, His Bride, will be with Him.

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

The remnant of Israel will join with the Church; all will be the children of God.

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

*****Mic 5:7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
Mic 5:8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
Mic 5:9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

We should all know by now the promises made to Abraham, and here in the Book of Micah, we see Micah give us information about the fulfillment of that prophecy.

God will make true believers out of that remnant of Jacob.

We need to understand clearly the promises God made to Abraham.

Paul wrote: Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Rom 9:9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
Rom 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
Rom 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

It was Jacob who inherited his father’s blessing, but Jacob was never a perfect man, and no patriarch of Israel can be seen as a perfect model of Christian morals.

We should also understand that it was the fear of his brother Esau that sent Jacob to find a Gentile bride. That Gentile bride is the Church.

The promise to Abraham was to be a blessing to all nations and not just to the Jews.

Micah describes a remnant that will be as fresh as the morning dew, sharing the water of life with the nations that remain after the Tribulation period.

Jer_30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

It is only at this time that the Jews become true believers.

After this remnant is noted as fresh as the morning dew, they will be to the Gentiles as a lion among the beasts.

At this time, all the animals will have become docile, and none of them will be against mankind nor mankind against the animals.

That remnant of the Jews will be associated with the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Gen 49:9 Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Israel will finally become a tool in the hand of God during the Tribulation period of seven years.

God will bring the Tribulation period to an end.

Mic 5:15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.

Zep 3:8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

These things have already begun to take place.

Amen

The Testimony of God

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Testimony of God

Book of Micah Chapters 1 and 2

The name Micah is a shortened form of Micaiah, which means “who is like Jehovah”?

What is a testimony?

A testimony is a statement made for the purpose of establishing or proving some fact.

A testimony is the declaration of a witness. How my life has changed since the Lord Jesus Christ came into my heart and stayed.

Thus, the whole Bible is a testimony of JEHOVAH’S sovereign will, and the Gospel is a special testimony of the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus to the church and people.

If we are not willing to testify of the truth of our Savior, then we do not have much of a testimony.

Psa 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

1Jn 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1Jn 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

Micah begins his ministry by warning of the coming judgment of God when true justice will finally, conclusively, and completely be executed.

All the wicked and the unjust in this world will have to give an account for their behavior.

A day is coming when everyone will face the “judgment” of God.

*****Mic 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

This prophecy will be against the Northern Tribes.

Micah presents Yahweh as the righteous Judge and the faithful Shepherd of Israel.

His message is that God hates sin, lawlessness, idolatry, and religious formality.

Religious formality refers to the strict adherence to outward rituals, rules, or procedures in religious practice, often at the expense of genuine spiritual engagement and heartfelt devotion.

What does God say? 2Ti_3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: “from such turn away”.

How are we to worship God? Jhn_4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Any other worship is in vain! Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Micah was from a small town about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem called Moresheth.

We should understand that in the coming judgment, God is not going to send an angel or anyone else; He is coming Himself!

*****Mic 1:2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
Mic 1:3 For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

Micah prophesied for the most part to the Northern Tribes, but immediately the Holy Spirit says, “Hear all ye people, O earth and all that is therein”.

There is no part of the Bible that we should leave out of our studies!

All his life, Micah stayed true to the Word of God.

Micah not only preached the “judgment” of God, but he also preached the “Love” of God.

Judgment is certain for those who rebel against God, and just as certain is God’s love for those who keep a personal relationship with Him.

We should also understand that there is no one we can compare to the Holy Trinity!

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Not three gods but the three persons of the Triune God.

Isa 46:8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.
Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Samaria and Jerusalem would both face the harsh condemnation of God.

These were the capitals that represented the two kingdoms and everyone in them.

We should know that the fate of nations depends upon the people of that nation.

That national leader might not do right according to the Word of God, but we do not have to follow them. They will be judged harshly for how they had led their nation.

In fact, the fate of nations depends entirely on the fate of God’s people.

The Bible testifies to the judgment that will take place if we transgress the covenants God has made with His people.

The destruction of the Northern and Southern tribes of Israel is a testimony to the nations of this world of how God hates sin.

God is the Eyewitness to these truths!

God does not need anyone to tell Him how evil the world has become!

We all should take notice that if God is that severe with His own people, who should be the Light of the world, how can they think that God has too much love to punish this world?

The punishment of the Jews did not begin to end until May 14, 1948, and God has not begun judgment on the Church as of yet, except to say it is ongoing, and then after this He will judge this world.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Verse three tells us that the “Day of the Lord” has come and the LORD has appeared.

Those high places are everywhere where false worship takes place.

Up until this time, the Lord was out of view because just His glory would cause this world to burn and people to perish.

How can anyone think that God will not save His people, those who worship Him in Spirit and Truth, from His wrath?

The liberal church must have the same Bible I have, though many of them have removed much of the truth of God from it.

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

It is the glory of God that will set this world on fire!

*****Mic 1:4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.

When the Lord Jesus steps onto this earth, the consequences become immediately noticeable. When He touches the mountains, they become like wax before the fire. His majesty is a consuming fire.

The valleys collect that waxy mire, and in the end the world becomes almost level except for Jerusalem.

Heb_12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

Psa 68:1 Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
Psa 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Psa 68:3 But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

Now we know that this does not happen till the end times and has not yet taken place.

The destruction that Micah is referring to is the imminent destruction of the Northern Ten Tribes by the Assyrian Empire led by Shamaneser, and then the invasion of the Southern Empire by the Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar about 125 years later.

The final fulfillment of all these things will take place when the Lord Jesus returns to claim this world as His own.

Psa 96:13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

Some of these things can be applied to us here today.

Those mountains of difficulties we face as Christians can melt like wax so that we can pass over them.

As Christians, we will spend our days on top of the mountain or down in the valleys; we will very seldom be completely settled, especially during these end times.

Isa 49:11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

*****Mic 1:5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
Mic 1:6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
Mic 1:7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.

What will the Lord Jesus destroy when He comes again to this earth?

  1. He will destroy all the places that wicked men and women considered to be safe.

Rev_6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

  1. He will destroy all (ALL) the militaries upon this earth that go against Israel.

Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

  1. God will destroy all places of false worship.

No nation will be safe from the wrath of God.

Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Why will God destroy this world we live in today? It’s very simple.

The reason for God’s actions is because of the transgression and the sins of His creation.

All those who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will be destroyed along with them because they are not God’s people but are the children of Satan.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Mat_7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

What about Israel? The seat of corruption lies in the capitals of these separated nations.

Governments have the power to remove evil wickedness from their nations, but in most nations, corruption begins with the government.

There is no doubt that Satan is in control of most nations’ capitals, if not all of them.

What are the facts? The Assyrians left only a heap when they destroyed Samaria.

The foundations of corruption were laid bare.

The only good side was the fact that the land could now be plowed to produce needed crops, which the world will need after Jesus Christ defeats this world of sin.

For the sinner, God will sometimes have to break down the walls that we have built ourselves just so He can reach the heart.

These things are mostly very painful. That Heavenly Hickory will become a Rod of Destruction.

God does not mind smashing idols to pieces, but the gifts and the treasuries of those places of worship will be plundered.

The Assyrians plundered the places of false worship and took the gold and silver and other valuables, and used them to make more of their own false gods.

This world just loves its many gods!

Spiritual harlotry is taking the things that belong to God and giving them to a false god.

These are the things of the heart: worship, praise, and faithfulness.

Idolatry is everything that takes our eye away from the Lord Jesus Christ as the center of our lives.

1Jn 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
1Jn 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Micah mourns because this punishment extends to Judah also.

“Stripped and naked” describes the condition of the people that the King of Assyria took back to Nineveh with him.

Micah would do the same in Judah to show the people what the destruction of the people looked like.

Listen to Isaiah: Isa 20:2 At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
Isa 20:3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;
Isa 20:4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

The Hebrew word “tannin” is used where we get our English word dragons, but it can mean other animals or beasts.

The Hebrew word”tannin”. It typically translates to “sea monster” or “dragon” and is associated with formidable creatures in biblical texts.

The term can often symbolize power and chaos, often representing evil or national oppression.

In some contexts, it is also linked to the concept of a leviathan, embodying death and disorder.

The “wailing like the dragons” is a metaphor for profound, animal-like grief — a cry so raw and desperate that it echoes the howls of wild beasts.

It emphasizes the severity of the coming judgment, Micah’s own personal anguish, and the desolate state of the nation of Israel, the Northern Tribes.

It’s not just a description of sound; it’s a call to recognize the seriousness of sin and the weight of God’s wrath.

God said the wound of Israel, the Northern Tribes, was incurable because it had now passed to Judah.

We see that sin is contagious!

God set aside His “grace” from Israel, and only His wrath was left.

God would destroy the Northern Tribes using the hands of the Assyrians.

The same sins of the Northern Tribes led to the same sins of the Southern Tribes and would lead to the same fate.

We know that God used the hands of Babylon on the Southern Tribes.

God would not have put these things in the Bible if not for our own learning.

The citizens of the world are just as guilty today of idolatry, if not more so.

Our idols may not be the same, though some are, but to worship anything but the Living God and True God is still a shameful sin.

We cannot give ourselves to the false gods of this world and still call ourselves Christians or the children of God. We are called Christians because we are trying to be like Jesus Christ.

Idolatry in any form of false worship will doom us to Hell!

*****Mic 2:1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.

What does God mean here? They were not led to idolatry by others; it was the leaders who conceived these evil things in their own hearts.

Those who are lost spend a lot of time planning some sin and planning to sin.

All idols are just figments of people’s imaginations!

The heart conceives this wickedness, and with their hands they make themselves a god, so their hands become their gods.

They no longer lifted their hands to God; they lifted their hands to themselves.

As my Pastor says, their hands were no longer Holy.

Today we would say, “Look what I can do”.

Today, this woe is for all those in power, the people with money and influence, who are only interested in self-enrichment, stop at nothing to practise the evil they conceive when they are at rest, and the next day they start doing it.

We should understand that there is only one cause for the “judgment” of God, and it is sin!

Judgment is coming!
Judgment is inevitable!
Judgment is inescapable!

Why? Listen to what God says. Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

This does not mean just a few, “but all”, every living soul that has ever put their foot down upon this earth and those yet to be born.

This world is full of people who hate for other people to have what they do not have.

This is the beginning of what is called socialism.

*****Mic 2:2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

Just turn on the news, and you will see open violence and fraud that have been planned and put in place.

Isa 5:8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

We hear all the time about how generous the richest men are to charities, when the charities they donate to are immoral and sinful.

We do not hear how they buy up every piece of land in our nation until they own millions of acres, and we should ask ourselves why.

God knows why and pronounces this woe on them.

Covetousness is the sin of the world. Just look at the war in the Middle East that is taking place now.

Iran is planning, plotting, and telling the world that they own a body of water just because it touches their nation. If they get away with it, then every nation that joins the seas will try to do the same thing.

They keep this nonsense going on while in the background they are plotting for the destruction of all people they hate, making more war machines, and are determined to have a nuclear bomb.

There are a lot of things going on in this world, some of them good, not many, but covetousness, robbery, and oppression are the greatest crimes and are never brought to justice.

When the laws of God are violated, the rights of one’s neighbors are violated.

Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

When sin occupies our hearts, then sin will come from our hands.

Whatever our area of weakness, God warns us against thinking evil thoughts and planning or plotting evil.

Mat 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Those guilty of this will one day face the wrath of God.

*****Mic 2:3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.

God says we will reap what we sow.

Some people cannot get a good night’s sleep because doing evil is always on their minds.

Those mentioned in verse one, those who devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds and then do that evil, have a special judgment coming from the Lord.

As they devise some new evil, God will devise a new penalty.

Who is this family that God is so against? It is Israel.

Amo 3:1 Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
Amo 3:2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

When God mentions their necks, He is referring to a yoke put on the necks of animals that plow.

Hos 10:11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
Hos 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

This yoke is their conquest and their exile at the hands of foreign powers.

Jer 27:12 I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

God says it is this judgment that will remove the sinful pride from Israel, and it will be an evil time, full of calamity.

This yoke will be so heavy it will be a burden that will crush them.

Deu 32:35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
Deu 32:36 For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
Deu 32:37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

And the Lord continues:

*****Mic 2:6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
Mic 2:7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
Mic 2:8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.

Here is another place in the Bible that is being repeated in this day and time.

The people persecuted God’s true prophets and placed their trust in the false prophets of the world.

What is happening? Another church closes its doors every week because people do not want to hear the truth.

The mega churches are still growing because these worldly prophets preach only half-truths and have messages that assure the people of security and prosperity, which God made no such promises here on earth.

The average church just wants to hear pleasant things, but I hate to inform them that, as loving as the Lord Jesus is, He is bringing a calamity when He returns, and it will not be pleasant.

Church is not about having fun; it is for preparing for the return of Jesus Christ! This is the job of the Church.

Isa 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

What does God say to do if we hear such preaching?

Mic 2:10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

A truth that we can understand is that all those who preach a deceiving gospel will be right beside the Devil in the hottest part of Hell, and they will have no remedy.

*****Mic 2:12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

What God is saying about the judgment of Israel will hold to be true, but we must never think that God will allow the annihilation of all the people of Israel.

God will remove sin and corruption from this world, and those who do such things had better be aware of this and be warned.

God still has a plan of salvation and restoration that will survive and be put in place in the end.

Those who want to see a true miracle need to be aware that this whole earth will one day be like the Garden of Eden was in the first week of creation.

Praise the Lord, punishment is not the last Word from God!

Jer 31:10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
Jer 31:11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
Jer 31:12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.

This is much greater than what has been happening since May 14, 1948.

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

*****Mic 2:13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.

We know that there is a lot of preaching about the Antichrist and the end times, but we must keep one thing in mind.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the only One who can break us out of Satan’s prison.

He is the Breaker!

The Lord Jesus will one day soon burst upon the scene of this world to first destroy sin and corruption and then remake this world.

The pains of bondage will be destroyed because He is also the Good Shepherd who will lead His own sheep out and bring them into freedom and care for them for eternity.

The Lord Jesus has already destroyed the bondage of sin and condemnation by dying in our place.
The Lord Jesus has already destroyed the prison of death and the grave at the cross.
The Lord Jesus has already made us acceptable to our Heavenly Father if we trust and follow Him in His ways.
The Lord will return to “deliver” us to His Father as His wife, the Bride of Christ.

It is called Redeemed!

Do we have the same faith as Job?

Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Job 19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

These things are not very far from being completed with the Church and then Israel.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

The Lord Jesus Christ will be our Breaker, our King, and our Lord.

Amen