Book of Genesis

Exalting the Lord Jesus in Our Lives

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Prominence of God’s Servant

Book of Mark Chapter 9

Prominence means something or someone who stands out above all others.

The problem with humans is, just about every one of us think we are better than anyone else and this is a great sin.

When we compare ourselves to other people, we will always get a false result.

When we compare ourselves to the Lord Jesus, we will find that we always come up short!

We must understand that the Lord Jesus, the true Messiah, is exalted above all others whether they are prophets, priests, preachers, millionaires, billionaires or even angels.

We must exalt the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives in order to be saved!

In the time of Jesus, the Pharisees were guilty of exalting themselves above all others including the Lord Jesus Christ.

What were some of the things that they did?

Luk 11:43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
Luk 11:44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

Those that exalt themselves are all hypocrites.

We see it in the government we have today that many of them have exalted themselves above all the common people, and it seems we are content in our roles of deplorables. When Hillary Clinton said this thing, she was referring to our stupidity to allow us to place ourselves in that position.

In other words, we are the contemptible lowlifes who have messed up our nation and our own lives and we need people such as her to take care of us.

I agree on one point only. We have voted for the wrong people to run our government. In this we have been very stupid!

She is no more than some wicked witch!

I was dumb for many years but then I met the Lord Jesus Christ and I am no longer dumb!

We have allowed the hoax of evolution to dictate the rules of science so long, that the common people have not realized that every so-called proof of evolution has been shot down by true science but they will not change what is written in those books.

The Bible is a Book of Faith and if we do not soon push our faith in the truth of God, we may not be able to.

A lack of faith in the Word of God is moving through the Church so fast, that many do not know what to believe anymore and they listen to the secular world for answers and to false preachers who have become millionaires off the pocketbooks of gullible people.

These false preachers will not take a stand on the truth of God and this is what the world wants to hear.

*Mar 9:17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
Mar 9:18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

The Lord Jesus along with Peter, James, and John had just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration.

The Lord had shown these disciples how He would appear if He removed His humanity from His being.

We call it a “glorified body”!

Mar 9:3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

Not only did the transfiguration show the disciples how the Lord Jesus appeared without His humanity, but it also showed them what all, we that are saved, will appear like after the Rapture or after our death.

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.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

What will we go through to get this glorified body?

Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Praise the Lord, this is the promise God is giving to the true Church.

The true Church are all those who follow in the steps of Jesus Christ!

As the Lord reached the bottom of the mountain, one of those who had been following Jesus and had remained at the bottom of the mount with the other nine disciples of Christ.

These disciples had performed miracles before, especially of healing.

This was not a power they had but a power that the Lord Jesus had allowed in His name.

This man was describing some terrible things his son had been going through all his life.

We know there are many out in the world today that are called deaf and dumb and it appears that this young man was listed as dumb.

Dumb means he could not speak and I believe he could also not hear.

How did this happen? He had a dumb spirit living within him!

Now we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us once we are saved, but we are not complete without the Lord Jesus.

Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

I believe that this is the condition of being saved, but not being Christian.

To be Christian is being like Christ!

It is a terrible situation to be like this young son and not be able to take care of yourself, but also needing someone near all the time to keep him from causing harm to himself.

No matter what we think of this thing and how it began, the one good thing was the fact that because of his condition, he was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Had he not been in this condition, he would have never met Jesus, nor his father and nor could his family see what can happen when we meet Jesus.

This young man was about to be “Born Again” to new life.

None of the disciples of Christ had been able to help this young man.

The first problem I see is, that this father knew Jesus was near and he should have waited on Him before going to His disciples.

He had no faith in the followers of the Lord.

All he needed was a little patience and a lot of faith!

When Jesus came down the mountain, He had seen this great crowd that had gathered, but He had also seen that a group of scribes were questioning His disciples and He knew this was not good.

We would probably call this intimidation and ridicule, and Jesus first delivered His disciples from this intimidation.

Before the scribes answered Jesus, this father came with his great need for his child, his son.

We should understand evil spirits did exist in the time of Christ, and they still exist today and the answer to rid them is to be saved.

This young son seemed to be deaf and dumb, but also had epilepsy and was demon possessed.

It seems that this evil spirit had made these things worse because it was in the presence of Jesus.

How did Doctor Luke see this thing?

Luk 9:38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.
Luk 9:39 And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him.

How did the Lord Jesus respond to them all?

*Mar 9:19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
With all the things that the Lord has done for us, “how can we not have faith”.

Without faith we cannot be saved!

Php 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

It is not so much the amount of faith we have, as it is the kind of faith that we have and the fact that we have that faith!

Mat 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Mat 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

The lack of faith “grieves” the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since we have the Spirit of Christ in us, then it grieves the Holy Spirit.

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

When we upset the close connection we have with the Holy Spirit, how can we expect our relationship to the Lord to get closer or get better?

This shows us how affectionate the Holy Spirit is toward us if He can be grieved by our lack of faith.

Our lack of faith shows our lack of love for our Savior!

The job of the Holy Spirit is to keep us upon that path of righteousness, that righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus casts out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Without faith, we have no power in our lives!

The lack of faith means that the Church has no power and I believe this is the biggest problem in the modern Church today.

The Church lacks the power to stand up to this world, so the Church compromises with the world which is compromising with the Devil!

There was a multitude that followed Jesus and there was not one among them, that had the power to cast out this dumb spirit, this demon.

Not the father, not the crowd, not the disciples and not the Jewish religionist.

There was a lack of faith in this entire crowd!

The Lord was grieved at the condition of this young boy who was helpless, under the power of this evil spirit.

You see, John 3:16 describes the love Jesus Christ has for us and it is because of this great love that His heart is touched as He witnesses our suffering in this world.

Jesus cared for this father as much as He cared for his son and He knew this father was also suffering for his son, yet this father did not have enough faith that the Lord could heal his son.

Jesus asked this father all these questions to get this father to focus on his dilemma.

To focus upon his need.
To focus upon Jesus who could fill his need.
To focus on Jesus so much, that his faith would increase enough that his son could be healed.

We should ask ourselves these questions every time we put a name on the prayer list.

“Do we have enough faith that Jesus can heal these people”?

So they brought this son to Jesus.

*Mar 9:20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

We must understand that the earnest Love that Christ has for us is also the key to His miracles!

2Co_7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

We must understand that as Christians we are representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ!

If we cannot represent the truth of Christ Jesus then, we are not Christians and we do not reflect the truth of God!

It is really that simple!

We do not have the power of Divine healing as an individual!

We do claim the presence of Divine power in the Church!

When the Church has lost the presence of Divine power then mankind will question and despise Christianity, and we see some of this today.

The Holy Spirit has never left the true Church, but we must realize we have grieved the Holy Spirit and we must return to the Lord for Divine power to be restored to the Church.

This is why fasting and prayer is much needed in the Church today!

We must fast and pray until the Divine power of the Lord has been restored to the Church.

As Christians, we must make the world to know that we are not going to give up the raising of our children by our own standards and the standards of this wicked world.

As Christians, we must also not assume so easily that our children are innocent, good, and harmless, as they are under the control of Satan until they are led to the Lord.

Jesus Christ rebuked this entire crowd for a lack of faith just as the Holy Spirit is grieved at the entire Church for a lack of faith today!

How long had this young son been in this condition?

*Mar 9:21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
Mar 9:22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

Obviously, the Lord Jesus knew the answer to the questions He was asking, but he was asking these questions of the father to inspire hope and confidence in the work of the Lord.

You see, if we have faith as that of a mustard seed, then we will cry out for God’s mercy and God’s compassion.

There is no way that the Lord Jesus will turn away from a cry of mercy and compassion!

These are the traits of God that brought Jesus to us to begin with!

Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

As we see what is going on in our world, we should be grieved to a point that we act and minister just as our Lord Jesus did!

We need to show His compassion.
We need to show His mercy.
We need to show His forgiveness.
We need to show His grace.
We need to show His love.
We need to believe in all these things.

*Mar 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

What does our faith mean? It means we are taking God at His Word!

All things are possible to the Son of God who has all of God’s Power, but we must trust that God has this power!

We have made God to be some small God, when He is truly the God of All Power!

We must believe that this world is full of sinners and we must include ourselves.

We must accept that there is a punishment for our sin!

We must accept that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only remedy for that punishment.

Heb 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
Heb 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

How did this man respond?

*Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

We see humility and faith.

Our hearts will be moved when we understand the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We see His desire to have the blessings which our faith will secure.

We know that because of faith in the work of the Lord, we can flee from the wrath that is to come to this world.

We must seek forgiveness just as this man did.

We must long for the healing of the disease of the soul!

In other words, we must have a desire for salvation!

*Mar 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
Mar 9:26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

The Lord Jesus healed this boy when He saw the crowd running toward them.

We notice that the Lord Jesus had pulled this father and son aside while He led this father to the Lord.

The Lord likes to get one on one with those who doubt Him to teach them the truth.

This crowd had not only followers, but also deceivers and naysayers in the mix.

It was the Words of Christ that healed this boy.
It was the Words of Christ that broke the Devil’s power.

Satan cannot stand before the Word of God!

It is the Word of God and the Divine Power of God that has spoiled the principalities and the powers of evil.

These are the same things we will war with all our days!

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;
Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

How will the Lord end the evil in this world when He returns?

Rev_19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev_19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

We see that when the Lord speaks things happen!

There is nothing in all of God’s creation that can disobey the Words of the Lord and get away with it!

It is only us puny humans who have tried to defy the Almighty God, the rest of His creation is in strict obedience!

Isa_40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

Isa 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

We see this evil spirit made one last effort to disrupt and discredit the power of Jesus Christ by trying to kill this boy, but the Lord would not allow his death.

*Mar 9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Mar 9:28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

These disciples wanted to know why they had failed, what was the cause?

The Lord Jesus had previously given them the power over evil spirits and they had been successful with it.

As Christians there is only one reason, we do not feel the power of God in our lives!

That reason is, that we are not living close enough to the Lord!

We feel like we can do spiritual things under our own power so, we see the reason the answer that Jesus gave.

They needed to pray more and fast!

These are the ways to get closer to the Lord.

Earlier, Jesus had said that His disciples need not to fast because He was with them.

The difference now was, that they had been sent out two by two and had done some things under the power of God.

They began to feel that they had this power themselves, and they began seeking things such as food before the Lord.

The modern Church is in this same rut today!

The power of the Church is almost non-existent because they have strayed from the foundation of the Church, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Fasting and prayer is the only solution to this problem and of course obedience to the Word of God.

God must be so important in our lives that we are willing to give up anything that could sustain our lives and give that to the Lord.

We must place our lives in the Lord’s hands and let Him dictate our life as He wishes.

Deu 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

When our power from being a Christian is waning it is always because our faith is lacking!

*Mar 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

While the Lord Jesus was up on the Mount of Transfiguration, He seem to be too far from some of His disciples who felt they could do things without the presence of the Lord and this is impossible.

It was not that this demon inside this boy was so powerful, it was because the disciples of the Lord were so weak!

It is important to see here how Satan attacks.

He will tear us and cause all sorts of bodily harm.
He will cause us to fall from the “grace” of God.
He will cause changes to our language and filthy language will come out of our mouths or nothing at all.
He will send us wallowing in the foam of our own sin.

Only the Lord Jesus can restore us if our faith in Him remains!

Remember Jesus will do no mighty works if there is no faith!

What is another one of the signs of the end times?

Luk 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luk_18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

The Church needs to earnestly pray and fast until our faith is restored!

We will not be able to do this until we know i n our minds that the Word of God is the unchanging truth!

Amen

It Is Time the World Recognized Jesus

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Servant Acknowledged

Book of Mark Chapter 8

Most people do not object to the thought of a Messiah, but their downfall is that they are seeking some human leader who will make this place called earth a better place, a utopia.

This will be their downfall, when the Antichrist shows up to claim that he is the long-awaited Messiah.

The people will believe they have the true Messiah, but he will be only the true Deceiver.

People are not looking for the true Messiah who comes in judgment after He has redeemed His family.

God has decided that this earth is not worth saving, even after He makes it new again seven years after the return of Jesus Christ.

No place that has been subject to sin will be considered worthy of God’s children.

Even Heaven will be made new because the Devil and his angels once lived in Heaven.

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2Pe 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

The Lord Jesus teaches many valuable lessons in Chapter 8 of the Book of Mark.

The most important lesson in Chapter 8 is that Jesus teaches His disciples about the Church and the Church Age.

Who is the true Church? Those who confess the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Lord Jesus is the Head of the Church and the Church is the Body of Christ!

1Jn_4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

Who is not the true Church?

2Jn_1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s Messiah, not man’s Messiah!

The twelve disciples needed a clear understanding of this.

This is when Judas Iscariot began to have his own doubts about the Lord Jesus.

*Mar 8:27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?

Caesarea Philippi was a city with a rich religious history. It had once been the center of Baal worship and there were at least fourteen temples in and around this city.

Remember, a religious history does not mean a Christian history.

It was a place where it was said that the false Greek god Pan was born.

Pan was said to be the god of the shepherds.

In fact, this city was once called Panias.

The name of this city changed after Herod the Great built a temple in honor of Caesar, and his son Philip adorned this new temple making it famous world-wide.

Much of the people began to worship Caesar and many other false gods, but they knew nothing of Jehovah, the One True God.

It was Caesar’s son Philip who caused this to happen, even adding his own name to this city making it Caesarea Philippi.

Caesarea Philippi was a heathen city!

This may be the reason the Lord asked His disciples a very important question.

You see, the world has many gods, but as Christians we know that there is only One True God, and He is Jehovah in the Old Testament and the Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament both being the same person.

As Jesus and the twelve traveled from Bethsaida and around the town of Caesarea Philippi, He asked the supreme question of this life.

Jesus had taken a moment for solitary prayer and upon ending this prayer, He confronted the disciples with this question.

Luk 9:18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?

How did they answer Him?

*Mar 8:28 And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

Many of those who had seen the Lord Jesus and those who had only heard of the Lord Jesus, saw him as just a great man.

The Lord Jesus was highly respected by many in those days, but it takes much more than this to be saved.

John the Baptist had been murdered by this time and many said that Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist.

Some said that Jesus was a great Spirit of Righteousness, a Spirit that was willing to be martyred for its faith.

Herod and many in government thought this.

Mat 14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,
Mat 14:2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him

Even some common people thought that this could be true.

The prophet Malichi had written: Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Mal 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Some thought that Jesus could even be Elijah reincarnated.

They had said that Jesus was the greatest prophet and rabbi of all time.

Even today the Jews feel that Elijah will return before the Messiah comes.

In fact, when the celebration of Passover, is observed, they always leave a chair vacant for resurrected Elijah to occupy.

The Jews even connect when Jesus was feeding those two great multitudes to Elijah, because of the miracle of the woman and her son.

1Ki 17:14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
1Ki 17:15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

Many said that Jesus was just one of the prophets, whose name was not mentioned in the Old Testament, who came when Israel had a great need.

They said this because it was a fact in the Old Testament and God would send a prophet because this is the way God spoke to Israel, when the people were rebelling against the truth of God.

There are so many of those false accusations that are still said today.

The Lord Jesus is much more than just a great man. In His flesh He was the greatest of all men. In reality He is God!
The Lord Jesus is much more than some great teacher. In His flesh He was the greatest of all teachers. In reality He is Jehovah.
The Lord Jesus is much more than a prophet. He is Lord of lords and King of kings! He is the true Messiah!

1Jn 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1Jn 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

Then, the Lord Jesus asked His own disciples who they thought He was.

*Mar 8:29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

We should clearly understand that the Lord Jesus Christ will hold us accountable for the opinions we have of Him!

The Apostle Peter immediately says “Thou are the Christ” the Messiah.

We should clearly understand that if we do not believe Jesus the Messiah, the things He did and the things He says, then we are calling God a liar.

Jesus is declared to be all that God is, to possess the whole fulness of attributes which make God, God!

If the Lord Jesus was only a man, He could not have died to save this world, but because He is who He says He is, then He is of infinite value and could die in our place, each and every one of us!

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.

Notice John wrote “in the beginning” and not “from the beginning”.

In fact, all the Gospels emphasize the authenticity of His claims as Messiah!

If we put all the Gospels together, we can see that more than half of all the words used, were said by Jesus Himself.

We see them as written in red letters.

When we disagree with the “Gospel” again we are calling God a liar!

Isaiah wrote, the Messiah would give sight to the blind, speech to the dumb, and healing to the lame.

Isa 29:18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
Isa 29:19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

Isa 32:3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
Isa 32:4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

Isaiah also wrote that there would be a day that vile persons would say that God is a liar and we are in that day right now!

Isa 32:6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
Isa 32:7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

The Kingdom of God is surely at hand!

All those of this earth that walk around saying important things about God and then, deny the Messiah are the same ones who are destroying the people of this earth.

It is these words of Peter that determine if we get to Heaven or are sent to Hell!

It is these words of Peter that are the foundation of the Church, and this will never change!

The survival of our souls depends upon these words being true!

The Lord Jesus Christ is the only source of life!

The Lord Jesus Christ possesses the source, the energy, and the power of life, within Himself!

There is no other source for life!

At this time, these men who would one day turn the world upside down, were instructed not to say anything about this.

*Mar 8:30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

Why would Jesus say such a thing, if the fact that He is the Messiah was true?

The disciples were just beginning to understand this thing themselves, and they needed to understand what Jesus being the Messiah meant!

Remember that most people of the Jews felt that the Messiah, when He came, would sit on the throne of David as King of the Jews, and push the Romans out of Israel.

It was not this time yet!

This time is still in our future, but this will happen in God’s timing and not man’s timing!

Any false teaching in this day of the Apostles would do much harm to the Church as it began!

We must understand that confessing that Christ Jesus is the Messiah is just the beginning of our Spiritual journey, and there is much to learn on our journey to the true Promised Land.

We must be accurate in our studies! We have already seen how false teaching is affecting the Church and our nation.

We must be accurate in what we share, making sure we share the truth of God!

This means, that we need to take the time to learn these things and it was the same for the Apostle Peter and all the other Apostles.

There is enough false teaching in the world without us adding to it!

*Mar 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Just as all the twelve chosen disciples had just agreed that the Lord Jesus is the true Messiah, the Lord Jesus begins to tell them that He must die to build His Church.

Remember, Jesus is God’s Messiah and not man’s Messiah.

God’s Messiah could not die according to the Scriptures they had been taught.

The Lord Jesus is now in the third year of His ministry and it was time for all of them to learn about our Savior.

1) He would suffer many things.
2) He would be rejected of the elders of Israel, the chief Priests, and the Scribes.
3) He would be killed or murdered.
4) He would rise to live again three days after He was buried.

Nothing like this had ever happened!
Nothing like this would ever happen again!

How could humans ever kill God’s own Son?

It was time for these twelve men to understand that God would not accept any other payment for all the world’s sin, than the sacrifice of His Son.

It is not mentioned, but I wonder if the Lord Jesus told the disciples the story of Abrham and Isaac.

Gen 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

You see, we will never understand the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, until we understand that the Lord Jesus is God who came down from Heaven to save His children! Immanuel, God with us.

That word “must” means that these things absolutely had to take place!

Remember John 3:16.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God is love, but man is corruptible!

It is because of this great love God has for His created humans, it was absolutely necessary for our Lord Jesus to suffer and die in our place!

It is because of His great love for us that God had to provide salvation for mankind!

God is also just, so this salvation must be done in a way that justice would be done.

It is because of God’s holiness, that His judgement must take place.

The penalty for sin is death and this penalty must be paid!

Death must be carried out!

Some ideal man had to die for mankind, so this penalty could be paid!

There had never been an ideal man upon this earth until the Lord Jesus Christ was born and lived a sin free 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;

The Son of God had to become the Son of Man!

Who is this Son of Man?

Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

The phrase the Son of Man refers to the work the Lord Jesus came to accomplish!

**The deity of the Son of Man.

Joh 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Joh 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Joh 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

**The royalty of the Son of Man.

Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

**The humanity of the Son of Man.

Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

**The glory of the Son of Man.

Joh 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

The salvation of the Son of Man.

Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

These are things that the Lord Jesus Christ saw in Himself.

The Lord Jesus Christ had to suffer in our place, so that all these things would be true!

These were things that the twelve disciples, chosen by Jesus were having a tough time absorbing.

*Mar 8:32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
Mar 8:33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

We should be aware that the other disciples were just as confused as Peter, so they encouraged Peter to confront the Lord.

Peter then spoke without hesitation.

The truth is that most of mankind wants another way to get to Heaven, than the cross of Calvary.

They get confused about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ because they see this as a weakness in a God that cannot die.

Most of the world wants some other way to remove their sin and they think they find it in false gods.

The idea of a suffering Savior does not sit well with the lost!

Peter’s attempt to stop the plan of God did not set well with our Lord Jesus Christ.

We must understand that this is God’s plan and we can be a part of His plan or we can just get out of God’s way!

Those who think of God as only our grandfather who we can call upon for great advice, miss the meaning of a true God.

The cross is much more than an emblem of God’s love!

The cross is an emblem of suffering, and sacrifice, and self-denial!

These are the things that the Lord Jesus did for us, because of His great love for us!

Yes, the rebuke of Peter was harsh, but Peter was saying things that were like those of Satan.

Yes, the Lord Jesus had the power to refuse to go to that cross and had He chosen to use that power, there would be no salvation for anyone!

Jesus was being tempted to bypass God’s will for His life!

We are all tempted to bypass God’s will for us from time to time, but the greatest point of God’s will is for us to be saved.

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Then Jesus gathered all those who were in the reach of His voice.

*Mar 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Who is the leader of the Church? He is the Lord Jesus Christ!

Who is the true Church? Those who deny themselves and follow the Lord Jesus Christ!

To follow the Lord Jesus Christ is to expect hardships.

There will be times of self-denial.

There will be cross bearing.

There will be scorn.

The rewards and eternal rest come later!

We must make a deliberate choice to follow Jesus by doing these three things.

1) We must disregard our own desires (deny self).

This means saying yes to Jesus Christ and let Him rule in our hearts and in our lives.

We must let Jesus Christ completely have His way with us!

2) We must become a follower, a companion, a disciple, of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must be in union with the Lord Jesus no matter the costs!

3) We must see that His steps led to His death before they lead to glory.

Mat 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Why are these things so important?

*Mar 8:35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

What does this verse really mean?

All those who abandon their lives for the sake of the Lord Jesus, will in the end save their lives.

Those persons who keep to their own lives and seek increasingly more of this life, shall lose that life completely and eternally.

The call of Jesus Christ is just what He says, a life of denying self and takes up the cross of Jesus and follow in His steps.

It is the same for the “Gospel’s sake.”

When we are willing to sacrifice this life and give all we have to the spreading of the Gospel, then we shall save our life eternally.

Then Jesus asked a question.

*Mar 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mar 8:37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mar 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

There are two stages of life that we must examine.

There are two beings and two existences to this same life!

1) Fact: Once a person is born into this world he or she will live forever!

The problem is that after this short life is over our being, our soul still lives forever.

Our choices are to be with God or to be without God!

All the power, all the riches, all the pleasure, and all the fame are nothing compared with our soul!

Nothing we gain in this world can we take with us!

What is a life of 60, 70, or 80 and a few with more years than this, compared to eternal life?

Everything in this life just fades and then passes away.

1Ti 6:7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

It is certain that anything we gain in this world stays in this world.

Most people turn these things over to some family member even before their death.

The human soul is eternal; it never dies, never ceases to exist.

Our human souls are more valuable than the entire world!

If we are ashamed of the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are deciding that our soul will live in a place without God and there is only one such place, it is called Hell.

The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s Messiah.

All prophecy in the Old Testament has been fulfilled in Jesus!

During our time of life in this life, we must decide if we accept the truth of the Lord Jesus or if we accept the falseness of this world.

We must never deny God’s Messiah!

This world we live in makes it very hard on us to accept the truth of Christ.

It seems that fewer and fewer people want to confess the Lord Jesus Christ, because this world is an adulterous and sinful place, full of lies and deceit.

You would have to be locked away in a vacuum to not recognize this.

Most people just want to keep control of their lives even when life is falling apart or is aging out of existence.

Whether we believe the Messiah or not, the fact remains that the Word of God is true and one day soon, the Lord Jesus will return and reveal His glory and the world will see Him as He really is, but it will be too late for them at that time.

He will have already removed those who were not ashamed of Him!

When the Lord returns in His glory to this world, all those who are ashamed of the Messiah will be more ashamed of their own behavior where it really counts, before God Himself, but the Lord will say, “I never knew you”.

Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

How can anyone believe that life is some accident and they live to just die?

Even some animals and insects live more than seventy years.

We are not accidents, but we are the created beings of God and life is our opportunity to choose His magnificence or misery.

To not choose at all is to choose misery forever and ever!

Amen

Pray For Our Leaders

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

David Honors Saul

Book of 1 Samuel Chapters 24 and 26

Since our manual skips so much of 1 Samuel, lets highlight some of the things that took place from Chapter 21 through Chapter 23.

In Chapter 21:

We see where David had to flee from King Saul who had become full of envy and jealousy.

This was a picture of desperation and God’s deliverance from that desperation.

Most all us humans will face circumstances that cause distress in our lives at one point or another and probably more than once.

These things will cause us much pain and agony when there seems to be no way out of these things.

The comfort of the Lord Jesus can get us through these things.

David later wrote in Psalms 34 that it was the Lord who delivered him from all these things.

In Chapter 22:

We see that many of the soldiers of Saul’s army deserted and came to join David, including his own brothers who became concerned that King Saul would cause them and their family’s harm.

David hides his father Jesse and his mother in another nation to keep Saul from causing them harm.

We can see that corrupt leaders will do anything to get their way and we are witnessing it firsthand in our own nation today.

Even as our own leaders have a set of laws for themselves and a set of laws for the people.

Our lesson is that we should do what we can to take care of our parents.

We also see that God will guide us in every decision if we include Him in our life.

We desperately need the guidance of God.

We also see where King Saul caused the slaughter of the High Priest and much of the priesthood for no good reason, other than they obeyed the Word of God.

We could see this happen in our own nation at any time!

There is terrible evil, injustice and murder going on in our nation!

God saved Abiathar the new High Priest and sent him to David.

This is the same Abiathar who later turns on David.

We know that lying and deception are the traits of the Devil, and they cause devastating consequences!

Chapter 23:

We see the courage of David.

Even though David is a fugitive from injustice, he takes the time to protect his nation from the Philistines.

David was fearless man after God’s own heart!

We must realize that when the enemies of God attack us, we need what David had and that is courage.

If we give in to fear, we will never be delivered from the oppressions and enemies of this life!

Any person or anything else that works to defeat us in this life, stands as our enemy and an oppressor, and are the enemies of God.

We must develop a Spirit of Courage within us.

Our enemies will always find us, but the power of God will work to help us!

It is Jonathan the son of King Saul that reminds David that he (David) will one day be the King of Israel.

We may get some help from those related to our enemy, but we may also see our friends betray us.

Our Protector and our Helper is our God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now Chapter 24 where find our lesson today:

The life of King Saul is mercifully spared by David who had more than one opportunity to end the life of Saul.

David had respect for the office of the king.

David knew to honor those who God had put in place.

As much as we dislike him, we must still pray for our president.

We ask ourselves how we can love someone who seems to be so evil according to the Word of God.

It is not a simple thing to repay good for those who are evil, but it is the command of God.

To do good to someone who is evil does not say we are compromising with their evil and we must avoid that for this is not God’s intent.

It is only our Lord God who can change the heart of our president and those that council him!

Our president has surrounded himself with wickedness and wicked people and these are the ones pulling his strings.

*1Sa 24:1 And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.

David’s hideout had been discovered.

David had found no safety on the western desert side of Judah because of spies, many of the Ziphites were spies for King Saul.

The Ziphites were afraid of King Saul.

Engedi was located east of Hebron close by the Dead Sea and had an oasis within it with plenty of fresh water and fruitful vineyards.

It was also a place of rugged terrain where wild goats roamed.

*1Sa 24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
1Sa 24:3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.

Saul gathered three thousand chosen men and again went in pursuit of David like he was some criminal, when David had done nothing to deserve such a thing.

We can see just how much Saul hated David seeking after him so soon after a war with the Philistines.

David later wrote about this event in the Book of Psalms.

Psa 57:4 My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

Psa 57:6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.

Unknown to Saul, David, and those with him were hiding far back in that same cave.

Some of David’s men felt that the appearance of Saul was the providence of God, which it was, but not for the reason’s that they assumed.

They felt that God had placed David’s enemy into his own hand, and it did seem that way, but God was surely testing David and David passed this test.

*1Sa 24:4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.
1Sa 24:5 And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.
1Sa 24:6 And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.
1Sa 24:7 So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.

You see, our character and our integrity are far more important than our revenge.

David refused to take the life of King Saul and in faith, trusted God and to prove to Saul that he was not his enemy.

David actually condemned himself for cutting off a piece of his robe, as a lack of respect for God’s anointed.

David had spared his enemy and only David understood why he had done such a thing.

David was a man of war, and brave as a lion.

David was made of nobler stuff than assassins are made of.

David could not find it in himself to kill his king while he was asleep.

David felt that if God wanted him to be King of Israel, then it would not be by his own hands, and He left it in God’s hands.

We should clearly understand that if God has a special calling for us, He does not need our help to get there, He just needs our willingness to serve.

If we want to remove our president, then it must be by the vote and not by assassination or any other means such as that.

*1Sa 24:8 David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.

We must understand that sin hardens the heart.

Sin makes the unbeliever hate the Word of God!
Sin makes the unbeliever despise the mercy of God.

In a world that is rotten to the core, they misunderstand the vengeance of God against them.

They certainly have no understanding of God’s “grace”!

David exhibits God’s “grace” to a man who has relentlessly been after him, to slaughter him.

David was innocent of all the charges against him, but Saul wanted to murder him because of envy and jealousy.

David humbled himself again and said to Saul that he only ran to protect his life and that he was still a humbled servant to his king.

David bowed to the earth saying, “my master”.

David extended every courtesy to King Saul as his king, with respect and honor.

The proof was that as Saul was sleeping, David could have killed him, but he had too much respect for God to do such a thing.

David had the evidence that this was true with that piece of Saul’s robe.

*1Sa 24:9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?
1Sa 24:10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’S anointed.
1Sa 24:11 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.
1Sa 24:12 The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

We now see that David has set a dynamic example for the Church in his humility and his loyalty.

Saul had been anointed by oil by God’s prophet Samuel at God’s command.

In this, he was certainly a type of Christ though in his life he turned to sin and rebelled against God.

It was Saul who was rebellious and not David.

In America today it is our president and his officials who are rebellious and not the true Church and not most of the secular people.

Saul needed to acknowledge this simple fact.

David warned Saul of the “judgment” of God.

Today as we watch the news, we see that it is our own government that is rebellious and not the Church and not most of the average people.

We have allowed liberalism to rule in our government and we can see the results with our own eyes.

Liberalism is filthy, wicked, and immoral!

We need to warn our government of the “Judgment of God” even if they will not listen.

In fact, this is the message we should have to our family, our friends, and all those we meet.

Our presidents’ councilors are some of the most degradable people in our nation and they are proud of it!

The Bible would say they were “worthless fellows” and “vain”.

The Kingdom of Israel had been assured first to David and then, to the Son of David by birth, the Lord Jesus Christ.

David was showing patience because we all must rely on God’s timing, because all these things will take place according to the patience of God.

2Pe_3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

We must show the same patience because both these things are Divinely assured!

David decided he could wait upon God’s timing, and we must do this also.

It is not our job to force the issues that are in the hands of God!

We see that Saul shed tears and made vows, but we also know that Saul never repented.

Without repentance there will be no forgiveness!

Saul was quick to fall back into his old sin of envy.

Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

We are to live lives of humility and not lives of envy.

In Chapter 25 we see after his many years of service beginning as a child, Samuel died.

Samuel had served as Prophet and Judge and Samuel was the last “Judge” of Israel.

The death of Samuel reminds us of all that one day we will die unless the “Rapture takes place before our death.

It can in our case, as the Rapture is the next major event on God’s calendar.

The Era of the Judges ended and the Monarchy of Israel had begun.

The monarchy of Israel will end with Christ Jesus sitting upon the throne of Israel for one thousand years.

We know that David retreated even farther away from Saul’s pursuit.

David found a new wife in Abigail.

Abigail was a precious example of a woman of courage and character but David was wrong to make her his wife.

The same need is here today, not only for women but for all God’s children.

God’s judgement fell upon Nabal, and it cost him his life.

David also had another wife, which again he should not have had.

Ahinoam a woman from Jezreel we know nothing about, and Michal, who had been given by King Saul to another man but was still married to David.

We see that David was a man after God’s own heart, but he was not a perfect man and none of us are.

*1Sa 26:1 And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?
1Sa 26:2 Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.
1Sa 26:3 And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.
1Sa 26:4 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed.

We see the Ziphites betrayed David for a second time.

David was hiding on the hill of Hachilah which was in a desert and a wasteland and the Ziphites made Saul aware of this place of David.

This hideout gave David the advantage over his approaching enemy.

Saul came with three thousand of his best troops and David sent out spies to verify these things.

*1Sa 26:5 And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round about him.
1Sa 26:6 Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.
1Sa 26:7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.

Because of the terrain and the fact that David knew this wilderness better than Saul, David was able to sneak up on the camp of Saul.

Remember this was a place of Mountain Goats.

David had a sister named Zeruiah and her sons would play an important part in the history of David’s reign over Israel.

They had also gone to David because they were afraid that Saul would also cause them harm and their families.

David and his nephew sneaked into the camp of Saul and again David could have taken Saul’s life had he so chosen to do so but he would not.

Abishai would one day save David’s life in one of his wars with the Philistines.

2Sa 21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.

No matter what we think, David had the assurance that he would be the next King of Israel and we can believe that this made him a little bolder in his actions toward King Saul, but he would still not take his life.

Today, we know that the Lord will return, and Armageddon is a real war, but we should never try to do things that might hasten these things to come about, even if we could, when it is impossible for us to know the schedule that only God knows.

Abishai said to David to allow him to kill Saul and he would guarantee that he needed only one blow with his spear and Saul would not be able to cry out, but David would not allow it.

David said let us take his spear and his canteen of water.

God would say:

1Ch 16:22 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

*1Sa 26:8 Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.
1Sa 26:9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD’S anointed, and be guiltless?
1Sa 26:10 David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.

We must understand God’s does not need our help when it comes to His vengeance.

We absolutely cannot do the things God has planned for those who hate Him!

The only thing we can do, if we try to take vengeance on those that hate God is, multiply sins against ourselves!

This is a thing we must avoid!

David refused to cause harm to Saul because he was God’s anointed.

David realized he was never to cause harm to anyone God had anointed.

To be anointed is to be set aside for God’s use.

This is why we are to pray for the leaders of our nation.

Only God knows the purpose for which He has called our leaders.

David said he could not cause harm to Saul because he was God’s anointed.
David said he could not cause harm to Saul because the Lord Himself would judge Saul.
David feared the Lord and what the Lord would do to him if he caused harm to Saul.

These reasons are good enough reasons for us to use.

*1Sa 26:11 The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.
1Sa 26:12 So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.

David and Abishai sneaked back out of Saul’s camp unnoticed, but they took Saul’s spear and his canteen of water.

Once again, he confronted Saul with the proof that he could have killed him.

David had demonstrated the utmost respect in allowing God’s anointed to live.

Our lesson is that whether we like them or not, we need to show respect to our leaders, maybe not to the person themselves but for the position they hold.

This includes the ruler of our nation.
This includes the preachers of the Gospel.
This includes the supervisors we work for and others we consider to be leaders.

We do not have to like them, but we should respect the position and maybe not so much the person.

When a leader is corrupt, his corruption is to be opposed but his office is to be honored!

We are not to indulge in the corruption of any leader for then, we are giving him a license to continue in his or her corruption.

This is what is happening in America today!

Many of our presidents’ councilors are just as corrupt as he is or more and along with at least two previous presidents.

They are urging him to go even further in his wickedness.

This is the greatest problem we have in America today.

We have corrupt leaders and far too many who are indulging in their corruptness.

They are just piling on sins to themselves!

God will take vengeance upon corrupt leaders, but the people who encourage him are just making Hell much much worse when they get there.

Hell will be much hotter for those who indulge in corruption.

God will not accept the prayers of those who serve corruption.

2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Those around our president have encouraged him to continue in his corruption, and both him and they will suffer in damnation and the vengeance of God.

This is the clear teaching of the Word of God!

It is the same for every corrupt leader in this world!

We must remember, it is God who decides who will lead our nation and He does this for His own reasons.

This does not mean we are to sit at home refusing to vote, because this is our opportunity to express our voice over wickedness and corruption.

When God says certain thing are to happen, they do not require us to sin to get them accomplished!

There is never a good reason to go against the Word of God!

This is the clear teaching of the Word of God!

Amen

Better Access to Heaven

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

A Better Access

Book of Hebrews Chapter 4

I believe that many Christians still have a hard time believing that with faith in the salvation work of Jesus Christ, we have then entered into the household of God, but it is very true!

Our bodies may still be in the place where the Lord has placed us, but the Lord Jesus has already prepared us a place in His Father’s House!

The world must understand that the one thing that keeps them out of Heaven, is the true belief in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ brought about by the “promises” of God!

In Chapter Three we learned that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is “The Apostle” and “The High Priest” of Christianity!

Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

Sometimes even we Christians also fall into the trap of thinking that the name “Christ” is part of the name of Jesus, but that name Christ designates that it was Jesus, the same Jesus talked about by the Apostles, who is the Messiah who was promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, who is also the only begotten Son of God!

Knowing this then, we need to cling to our salvation with all the power we have and strive to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into doing the rest for us!

*Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

**The designation of the name “Christ” means that it is the Lord Jesus who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy of “The Anointed One”.

The Anointed One, “the Lord Jesus”, the true Messiah has made a way for us to enter into Heaven’s Gates.

The Messiah, as the true High Priest, has entered into Heaven, not some earthly sanctuary!
The Messiah has offered His own blood for a complete cleansing of our soul.
The Messiah has born our sins once, but He will also appear a second time for our Redemption.

**The name “Jesus” emphasizes His humanity as a human high priest.

In so doing, He accomplished what all those Levitical high priests had failed to accomplish.

Our Lord Jesus the true Messiah, has entered into Heaven’s Holy of Holies and remains forever our High Priest!

Our Lord Jesus Christ has guaranteed a better Covenant, and mediated a better Covenant, than the Old Covenant. (Old Testament)

Our Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled all the Old Testament “types” in securing our salvation!

**The term “Son” emphasizes His greater relationship with His Heavenly Father!

He is greater than the angels, because He is the only Heir, the true Creator, the only Sustainer, and the Exact representation of His Heavenly Father!

The deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is seen because He is the “Radiance” of the Glory of God!

Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

The Lord Jesus Christ, as our High Priest, understands what we are talking about when we pray because, He has a personal knowledge of each of us!

The Lord Jesus is able to feel within Himself every pain that we feel, and He understands everything that bothers us. He is real!

He understands our suffering!

It is fair to say that the Lord Jesus Christ suffers when we suffer!

He is the “presence” of the All-knowing God!

*Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

The Lord Jesus Christ is a priest according to the line of Melchizedek and not according to the priesthood of Aaron.

Melchizedek was a priest of the most-high God and also king of Salem.

Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek because He knew the truth.

This Melchizedek, is one of the “types” of Christ in the Old Testament and the Lord Jesus fulfilled all “typology” of the Messiah in the Old Testament!

Name any trial or pain.
Name any temptation.
Name any suffering.
Name any infirmity.
Name any human experience and the Lord Jesus Christ actually sympathizes and feels those things with us.

We should also understand that when we look around at our brothers and sisters in Christ, and see those who are suffering much more than we are, we may understand why He will not always respond to us, but this will also make us realize the Scripture in the Book of James.

Jas 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
Jas 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Notice what it says, “is there any sick” and “if they pray for others who are sick” then the Lord will heal them and those others!

Simply said when we have problems, and we see others who have similar or even worse problems than we have, and we then pray for them, we also have a better chance of being healed ourselves.

It is called “showing love for one another”.

When we pray for those who are sicker or in more pain than we are then, if we have enough faith the Lord may heal both, them, and us.

The Lord Jesus Christ is our representative before God the Father, and He will never show a weakness to His Father. He can also not be bought!

Faith is still the key to all our life with the Lord our Messiah and High Priest.

Faith is still the key to our relationship with our Savior!

Faith is still the key to the entrance into the gates of Heaven and eternal life!

The Lord Jesus came to this earth in the flesh and lived a sinless life and in doing so, He understands our every weakness!

The Lord Jesus Christ, in His flesh, is like us in all our ways except for one thing He lived a sinless life!

1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
1Jn 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
1Jn 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Salvation does not give us permission to live as we so choose, we must live as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as we are able!

We must not forget His command to repent!

When we repent and live in faith, we can go to the Lord Jesus at any time, and we should even when we have no needs!

*Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

There is “Grace” at the throne of God, if we have chosen to be like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you hear me? Help is available to carry us through this life and there is enough “Grace” to carry us all the way to Heavens gates, where we will be welcomes by the Lord Himself.

1Co 1:3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
1Co 1:5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
1Co 1:6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
1Co 1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Co 1:8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ has met every qualification required by mankind, but He has also met every qualification required by His Heavenly Father, which is far more important!

*Heb 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
Heb 5:2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
Heb 5:3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
Heb 5:4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

We need a High Priest because of “our sin”!

The Lord Jesus Christ is the only High Priest that can remove “our sin” by blotting out the record of that sin in Heaven’s Books!

There are five qualifications for a man to be God’s High Priest!

1) A High Priest had to be appointed by God to represent mankind before God.

This is the true purpose of each High Priest, to represent mankind before the Almighty God!

2) The High Priest was to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin.

He would lead the people to make gifts and offerings to the Lord, but only he could offer the sacrifice for their sins.

3) The High Priest must be able to deal with sin in compassion.

This is more important today because the gross sin in our world and love for one another has grown cold.

4) The High Priest had to first offer a sacrifice for his own sin.

Each High Priest is just as guilty of sin and short of the “Glory of God” as the people they represent!

5) Each High Priest was God appointed and not man appointed.

No human being can say to be Priest, Preacher, Pastor, or any such title, because only those called of God can fulfill the function of the priesthood.

Joh 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Joh 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

What do we not see a lot of today? That love for one another!

That word “ordained” means to be appointed, to be established, to be invested in the functions of the priesthood.

How did Jesus do this?

Mar 3:13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.
Mar 3:14 And “he ordained twelve”, that they should be with him, and that “he might send them forth to preach”,

The Lord first called them and then ordained them and then He sent them.

This cannot be done in any other order!

And those who were called had to first be saved!

They had to have a personal knowledge of the work of the Lord Jesus for our salvation!

Act 1:21 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
Act 1:22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

It is God who ordains His ministers!

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
1Ti 2:7 Whereunto “I am ordained a preacher”, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

The purpose of ordination is to lead as many as will to the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation!

*Heb 5:5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
Heb 5:6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Psa 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek was the priest of the “Most High God” and the “King of Salem”.

Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Gen 14:19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Gen 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

Melchizedek was the King of Righteousness!

In typology, we see this Melchizedek is truly “a type” of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Abraham paid him tithes.
He blessed Abraham.
He is in type a Priest that lives forever.
His priesthood can neither be transmitted, nor interrupted by death, he had an unchangeable Priesthood.

The Jews teach that this Melchizedek was none other than Shem the son of Noah who could have lived this long.

The Bible says He was a prince of Canaan Land, but a worshipper of the Most-High God.(El Elyon)

The Bible also says the Lord Jesus Christ, because He is a Priest after to the order of Melchizedek, is the Anchor for our soul!

Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

The priesthood of Melchizedek was not based upon his birth.
He was not in any priestly line. Levi had not been born yet.
The priesthood of Melchizedek was not based upon the performance of any written laws.
Moses not being born God had given to him no laws.

Melchizedek was a priest of the Most High God because of his character and his righteousness!

It was spiritual rather than legal!

He was true to priesthood life, before God had given commands to do so!

Notice Melchizedek showed up at the end of the very first war recorded in the Bible, and He came in celebration to meet Abraham, God’s man.

There is great typology in this happening.

The Lord Jesus Christ will show up before this world destroys itself!

With Putin of Russia threatening to fire off His nukes almost everyday.

This is what we see going on in our world today a world that could fall into a world destructive war at any moment.

In typology, this war with Abraham could be said to be the first conflict between the Church and the world.

No sooner had Melchizedek appeared than he then disappeared.

No priest preceded him, and no priest was his successor.

Abraham, the friend of God, the Father of the faithful, met the King of Righteousness and he bowed before him!

A short time later the king of Sodom came and he bowed before Abraham.

A type of all the world bowing before the Lord Jesus Christ

We know that in the end, all knees will bow before the Lord Jesus Christ!

Amen

What Do You Offer God

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Offerings of Israel

Book of Leviticus Chapter 16

Some fifteen hundred years before the Messiah came, Moses led the nation of Israel, called the Israelites, out of Egypt and a new nation was born.

Jehovah led them to Mount Sinai and then God gave to Moses the first five books of the same Bible we have today.

The Israelites were given the Civil Law, the Moral Law (The Ten Commandments), and the Ceremonial Law, in all 613 commandments.

We should remember that the Lord Jesus taught us that all those 613 laws could be reduced to two laws if we were to be sincere in our love for one another and our love for Him.

Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

We should remember these words of Jesus and let them guide us throughout all our lifetime!

We should consider that all these laws expressed the “righteous and the holy Character of Jehovah God”!

Even though these laws contained the standard for righteousness, without which no one could stand before our Holy God, no one could keep all those laws and God knew this and in reality, it was never expected.

These laws were our schoolmaster to teach about the Messiah and God’s Grace.

In the end these laws served their purpose, and this purpose was to teach us that we all need Jesus Christ to be reconciled to our Heavenly Father.
These laws were intended to reveal our sin and bring this entire world to the knowledge of guiltiness before a Righteous and Holy God.

Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Even though the Law spoke primarily to this new nation of Israel, it also bore this message to the entire world and especially the Church.

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.

We must never be confused. The Law never offered salvation to anyone!

The Ten Commandments of Moses and those other 603 laws only offered condemnation and damnation!

We might ask ourselves, why then as New Testament Christians, would we study this old book of the Old Testament.

The pure fact is, we can find the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Old Testament and we find that in the Book of Leviticus, that all those worship services revolved around the Lord Jesus Christ and how He sacrificed Himself for us.

The greatest lesson of the Old Testament is that it teaches us the character, the love, and the Grace, of our Holy God!

We know that the Book of Leviticus is so named after the tribe of Levi who were the priests for the nation of Israel, just as every child of God is to be a priest and member of the Church after our salvation.

The sacrificial system in this great book points to our Savior and would fulfill every picture through His death on the cross on Mount Calvary.

When the Tabernacle was prepared, according to the Word of God, God began explaining how the worship by these Jews would lead them to the Messiah.

The first seven chapters of Leviticus will teach us about these things.

1) The burnt offerings gave prayers and praise to God the Father.
2) The meat-offering was a pleasing aroma to God the Father as are our prayers.
3) The peace offering demonstrated fellowship through sharing a meal.
Salvation is all about our renewed fellowship with our Heavenly Father and with each other. Every child of God will one sit at the table with Jesus Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
4) The sin offering was all about the atonement for our sins. The Lord Jesus atoned for all our sin on Mount Calvary!
5) The trespass-offering was about providing compensation for our trespasses against our Holy God.
We have nothing of value to offer God for our sin. He sent His Son to do this for us!

Gen 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

6) All animals were required to be without blemish as was our Savior.

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.

Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Why? God never enjoyed the slaughter of animals!

Heb 10:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

God does not take any pleasure in the slaughter of animals!

We must understand that our Holy God required a blood sacrifice, but it was never about those animals.

It was always about the Messiah!

This place called earth was created for humanity. In fact this entire universe was created for humans to show us the glory of Jehovah God.

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Heb 9:25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

You see, there must be a forgiveness of our sin though we are not worthy of forgiveness!

There must then be a reconciliation to God, for our trespasses which we do not deserve!

Finally, we begin to see a picture of God’s Grace.

So let us begin:

*Lev 16:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died;
Lev 16:2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not “at all times” into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.

We must understand that no one can approach our Holy God but according to His rules!

Someday into the future, God will show His wrath to this world, but He has provided a way to avoid seeing His wrath.

All people and even some angels will face the “Judgment” of God!

This is why we need to be reconciled to our Holy God before our death comes, and none of us have any idea when that day will be!

Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

You see, it is only Jesus Christ who fulfilled God’s holy requirement!

Sin has separated us from God, and it began with Adam and Eve!

Yes, we all have a sin nature! Even that newborn babe!

We learned from the Book of Romans that our Holy God forbids us to continue in sin and He provided the only means of reconciliation and this by His Son, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Many are still looking for a messiah, but there could be no one else who could fulfill God’s own requirements as was the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, it was the Lord Jesus Christ who is the fulfillment of all Scripture!

John said Jesus was the Word of God in the flesh!

We see, in a very harsh manner, Aaron had seen that there is a wrong way to approach God and we should all be aware.

Aaron’s two sons tried to approach God through self-righteousness, but we have no righteousness of our own and God killed them instantly.

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

There is only one way to become righteous in the eyes of God and it is by the “Grace” of God!

Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
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;
Rom 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

There was only one time each year that the High Priest (Aaron) could enter the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was located, but these two sons of Aaron felt they could enter the Holy of Holies at any time, and it cost them their lives.

We must be able to see that Aaron the High Priest could only enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.

The Lord Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the day of Atonement, and it is by His death that our sins are forgiven.

This is such an important day that God would never allow it to be abused by those who did not take it seriously!

There is a right way to approach God and there is a wrong way, but we have no righteousness of our own! No one did until the Messiah came!

Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
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.

*Lev 16:3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
Lev 16:4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.
Lev 16:5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
Lev 16:6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
Lev 16:7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Lev 16:8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Lev 16:9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
Lev 16:10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

In the Old Testament there was a specific preparation to be observed by the High Priest.

Today, the Holy Spirit prepares every Pastor and every child of God, in the study of the Word of God and Prayer after our salvation.

We also know that the High Priest of the Old Testament were to be a symbol, a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We know that when it came time the Lord Jesus Christ did not back away from His role as High Priest to the Church.

In this passage we see these sacrifices pertain only to the High Priests of the nation of Israel.

1) He had to be prepared to offer the right sacrifices! Any deviation could cost him his life!

A young bull for the Sin Offering.
A ram for a Burnt Offering.

We know the Lord Jesus had no sin and did not have to make a sacrifice for Himself.

It was the Day of Atonement that our Lord Jesus was sacrificed upon that cruel cross!

2) He had to wash himself and he had to wear the right clothing. Note washing never sanctified anyone. It was only a picture of the regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

He had to remove the beautiful clothing of the High Priest and put on a special clothing, and it is the High Priest where we first see britches in the Bible and there was a specific reason for this.

This white linen clothing represents the righteousness of our Savior!

All the Jews wore robes!

The Hight Priest was never to have the appearance of sin and when the High Priest climbed the stairs to the Altar of Sacrifice then we see a robe could reveal a little too much and nakedness was considered a very great sin since the time of Adam and Eve’s sin and their sin was covered by the sacrifice of a lamb.

Today, God tells each of us to never have even the appearance of doing evil.

This clothing of the High Priest was made of linen and symbolized righteousness.

To stand by God each priest had to project sinless righteousness!

Linen was made from the flax plant, but it can also be made from hemp.

Maybe, this is the true reason God gave us the hemp plant and not for the drug effect.

3) He had to prepare the right sacrifices for the people!

He had to get two male goats for the Sin Offering and a ram for the Burnt Offering.

One goat to be sacrificed.

The other goat would be taken deep into the wilderness to be set free.

This is a picture of our sin being removed from us forever.

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.

4) Aaron had to be prepared to offer sacrifices for himself and his household.

He had to offer a bull for his own Sin Offering.

Note: Christ our High Priest had no sin and did not have to make an offering for Himself.

Heb 9:7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
Heb 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

Heb 7:27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
Heb 7:28 For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

5) Aaron had to always be prepared to offer the right sacrifice for the people. The casting of the lot insured that man did not choose so the results would have to be the choice of Jehovah.

Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

The lot was always resorted to by the Jewish Priest with strictest reference to the interposition of God, and as a method of ascertaining the divine will, and in serious cases, of doubt.

Hence it was also the method used to determine chances or preferences, or to decide a debate.

The decision by lot was often resorted to among the Jews, but always with the strictest reference to the interposition of God.

The High Priests had to always be ready to present that chosen scapegoat to the Lord!

The High Priest was to be a symbol or a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Two goats were used in the Sin Offering because no single picture can fully demonstrate what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us!

**The goat that was sacrificed symbolized the sacrifice of Christ, the ransom price He paid to set us free from sin.

**The goat that was set free was sent alive bearing the sins of the people, symbolized the removal and the taking away of sin, no more visible to our Holy God.

We know the Lord Jesus took all our sin to Hell the place designed for sin and the father of all sin the Devil.

This is a picture of what our Savior has done for us!

He paid our Sin Debt that we could not pay and has made us free from sin forever!

We must understand that the Lord Jesus Christ was our Substitute!

Jesus Christ died for my sins, so I do not have to die for them myself!

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.

This was the only way we can obtain the “Righteousness” that is required to stand before God the Father.

He bore all our sins, all the sins of everyone who has ever lived in this entire world!

1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1Pe 2:25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

The doctrine of “Substitution” is important in that through the Lord Jesus Christ’s death, the righteous demands of our Heavenly Father have been met!

This was a legal transaction, which means, it was God’s own requirement to deal with the sin problem of all humanity in this wicked world.

It is by this action of our Savior, that we have been redeemed and are now the servants of God!

1Co 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
1Co 7:24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

Since we are bought by the blood of Jesus, then we are truly His slaves!

Slaves to the world is a terrible thing, but being a slave to our Savior is a wonderful thing!

We have been removed from the curse of this world!

Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Gal 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

What was the blessing of Abraham?

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.

We are bought by the blood of the sacrifice of our Savior and now have hope!

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
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.

1Th_1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

We have become a special possession of our Savior!

Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

This is why the true Christian is so noticeable to this world and why the world hates us so much!

We that believe have been reconciled to God!

The barrier that was once between us and our God, has been removed!

Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

These are all things we can learn from the Book of Leviticus and the books of the Old Testament.

It was humanity that moved away from God, and it is still happening!

It is humanity that needs to be reconciled to God to renew our fellowship with our Holy God and then God will heal our lands.

2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

As Christians we are the people of God.

The one thing God expected from the Jews and now expects from the Church is for us to represent Him accurately to the world.

We cannot do this if we refuse the study of the Word of God including the study of the Old Testament!

Amen

The Ministry of Deacons

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Ministry of Deacons

Book of Acts Chapters 6 and 7

One of the greatest statements in our lesson today is that Satan will change his tactics according to where he sees weaknesses in the Church.

The greatest weakness in the Church as I see it today, is that the modern Church has begun to reject the infallible truth of God and has begun to accept the world’s interpretation of the Word of God.

As Christians, we know that we will not be able to have a good understanding of God’s Word without the Holy Spirit living within us!

If lying and hypocrisy are allowed to live within the Church, the Church will cease to be “the pillar and ground for the truth”!

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.
1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

The truth of the Word of God is that “it is the mystery of Godliness”, and this truth is rejected by the world we live in today.

We must clearly understand that God will not allow these things to go on indefinitely.

Remember God’s plan moves right along as we see all these things unfold before our eyes.

We must never forget the command of the Lord Jesus Christ!

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.

As the Church begins to grow in Jerusalem, God will take this command and the errors that Satan is bringing upon the Church, and He will cause some changes in the direction of the Christian Church in Jerusalem.

Remember the Church in Jerusalem had not been obedient up to this time. Spreading the Gospel was only done locally.

These are all things the Church of today is to learn so these same mistakes are not made again.

The Book of Acts teaches us about the beginning of the Church, and we are never so far advanced that we cannot learn from the Book of Acts and all the Word of God.

Remember what God has said: 2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

God has said what He means, and God means what He says!

We are not to interpret the Scripture!

We pick up our lesson with the Church begins to grow:

*Act 6:1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Here we see that the Church began to grow in numbers, but is this a true measurement?

Church growth should not be measured by the amount of people who attend nor by the number of people who join the Church as we will see.

Church growth must be measured by those who have accepted the complete Word of God and live their lives accordingly.

Only then can these certain ones become witnesses to the truth of God and therefore witnesses and missionaries to the world.

As missionaries and witnesses who speak the truth of God.

We are all to be missionaries in the place where God has allowed us to live!

“It is our job to just speak the truth of God and God will do all the work from that point on.

Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and “it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it”.

We need to have this clear understanding of the Word of God and just be obedient witnesses and allow God to do what God does which is.

“God can save anybody, anywhere, at any time”!

Act_2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Moving on, we see that there were some problems that comes when the people of the Church do not accept the complete Word of God.

Do not be fooled “murmuring” means problems.

We see here the clash of two distinct cultures.

Hebrew women: We should understand that men and women are on equal ground when it comes God and salvation.

In the Hebrew culture the men were the bread winners, and the women took care of the household and even then, they would contribute in every way possible in caring for their families.

It was the Hebrew family that was to take care of these mothers when her husband died and many times this did not take place.

God had given clear commands on this issue.

This became something that the Church took upon themselves to do.

As the Church grew from being for the most part Jews of Hebrew descent, it began to absorb mothers who were Jews of Greek descent.

We should understand the conquests of Alexander the Great had changed the culture of the entire world.

These changed people were known as Hellenists.

Alexander the Great encouraged his soldiers to take wives from the lands that were conquered and with the other things that he did, Greek culture was spreading like a wildfire around the known world at that time.

Even the Romans had adapted the Greek culture in many ways.

Governments always believe they know better than the average person.

Along with these things, philosophy and intellectual pursuits were the rage amongst these conquered peoples.

It is easy to see the clash that was bound to happen between these widows.

The Hebrews were more accustomed to the ways of Jerusalem, and the ways of the Law, than the Greeks and this would cause a conflict.

The Apostles tried to take care of these matters and it was hurting them in the pulpit.

Peter produced the answer.

So is born the “Deacon”.

*Act 6:2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
Act 6:3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
Act 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

The word or title Deacon means to minister or to serve as a minister.

This is not a Minister in what many refer to a Pastor or Preacher but knowing the Word of God was certainly a requirement.

This is not to say the Pastor is not minister also because God has called the pastor or Preacher to do as he is led.

The Deacon should be able to manage day by day matters and the more serious events they can bring to the Pastor.

The Pastor is in charge of the things of the Church.

In this instance the subject was the care of widows.

The Apostles addressed these same issues.

If we want to help our Pastors, then we need to shoulder the majority of the visitations of our Church and our elected Deacons and committee people should shoulder this responsibility as they are able.

The Deacons need to study this passage.

They are not to be rulers as they are to be more like a waitress as Peter has described them.

We see that number seven and we should realize the seven is a perfect number so it could take more than seven in some churches, and it could take less than seven in some churches, but it should never be less than three in my opinion.

What were the keys to choosing these men?

“Honesty, full of the Holy Ghost, the wisdom of God”.

The wisdom of God is knowledge of the Scriptures

They must be appointed by the Body of Christ!

There must be proof of their faith!

Their job was to take the minor things off the shoulders of the Pastors and Preachers.

If a problem needed to go to the Preacher, then it should go these Deacons first.

The preaching of the Word of God is far too important to not give our Preachers time to prepare!

The Church then then be made aware of these things before they occur!

*Act 6:5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
Act 6:6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

We should notice a few things here. This Church in Jerusalem has met as a group in unity. The biggest part of these are Jews who left Judaism to become Christian.

Some were so bedded in Judaism that they thought Christianity was just a growth from Judaism, but this was never true.

To be Christian is to love and trust the Lord Jesus Christ and the Christian Church stands alone in this world as teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ the only means to ever get to Heaven.

It takes a personal relationship with Jesus to get to Heaven!

There are so many who reject this truth at their own peril!

This is not something we should brag upon; it is just the truth of God and the truth of the Word of God!

This Church acted out of love and humility.

No one spoke up at this time because of hurt feelings.

The Apostles had not denied that this was a problem, and it was the Apostles who brought forth the remedy provided by the Holy Spirit and this was the first qualification for such men, “to be noticeably filled with the Holy Spirit”‘

A Church cannot survive in this world if it is not a Holy Ghost (Spirit) filled Church!

It was the Grecian believers who seemed to be having the problem and God begins training the Church to manage all the problems that would come against the Church until the end of what we call time.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and “ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”.

It was persecution that was in the near future for this Church, and it was time to prepare.

Problems in the Church can only be solved when the Church works as one unit led by the Holy Spirit!

The Church must be rooted in love for each other with the love of God!

Our Pastors must be given the time to prepare a message they have received of God, or “they will try to give us a message they have made up themselves” and that Church will fail.

It was the Church that chose these men not the Apostles!

Stephen was the first of these men chosen. Why? He was a man full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost (Spirit)!

Notice also it appears that Stephen was a Hellenist himself as were all these new Deacons that are mentioned.

In fact all these men had met the qualifications set down by the Apostles and these qualifications should still be the same today as any church chooses its officers and Deacons.

We had met Philip earlier, but this is not Philip the Apostle but Philip the evangelist.

Act 21:8 And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.

Philip was a great preacher and spoke boldly as persecution of the Church began.

The Holy Spirit traveled with Philip as He does with al Christians but there are no miracles performed by the evangelist of today.

They bring with them the promise of salvation a healing of the soul.

It is Jehovah who is the source of all miracles, and He allowed some men to take credit for these things during the time of the early Church

Act 8:5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
Act 8:6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

There are no men in the modern Church who can actually perform such miracles today, no matter what some claim!

Next came Prochorus who we know nothing more about. Tradition says he could have become the Bishop of Nicomedia.

Next came Nicanor. We also know nothing more of this man. Tradition says he died in the early persecution of the Church.

We should also keep in mind that there are many men and women who are working in the background of every church, not ever seeking recognition but who keep the Church moving in the right direction.

Next came Timon. Timon is also a Greek name. In reality all these seven men may themselves have been Hellenists.

Parmenas another man that the Bible offers no more information.

Last comes Nicolas which the Bible adds was a Gentile who had converted to Judaism and now having heard the truth became a Christian also forsaking Judaism.

After these men were chosen, they were then presented to the Apostles who ordained them for the work that was given to them.

Notice this ordination was done in view of the Church because it was an official ceremony!

The Church set these men apart.
The Church prayed for each of them and the work they had been chosen to do.
The Apostles, the Preachers, laid their hands upon them in ordination.

The “laying of the hands” was a significant symbol for God’s blessing!

Mat 19:13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
Mat 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

For healing: Mar 5:23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
Mar 5:24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

For imparting the Holy Spirit: Act 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Act 8:18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
Act 8:19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

We still see the laying of the hands in ordaining and commissioning men to the ministry!

What were the results?

*Act 6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

1) The Word of God increased as never before because those who preached the Word of God were not hindered trying to solve every little issue that came up in the Church but concentrated on the message of God.

2) The Church grew not just in numbers but also in knowledge of the truth of God which is far more important.
In many mega churches today the “Good News” of the Word of God is rarely mentioned. Witnessing the truth of God is not even mentioned.

3) Many new Preachers and Pastors were reached for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. These things are the job of the Church and will always be the job of the Church. So many churches have forgotten this today!

We do not need seminaries training our preachers, this is God’s job!

Seminaries have ruined too many men of God today!

Gal 2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
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.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

At the death of Stephen persecution came to the Church!

It is at this time that God reminded the Church to be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

We must observe these things as commands.

We understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, but we see something amazing in this passage as the Lord stands up in honor of His martyr Stephen!

Stephen preached a sermon exposing the truth to the people of Jerusalem and Judaism.

When they had heard the truth, it brought conviction.

*Act 7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

1) They had heard that their father Abraham was called of God before he was circumcised, before the Law was given to Moses, and before the Temple was built, which they had so high regard for.
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2) They heard that Moses and Joseph had not been treated very well by their own fathers they so bragged about. There was not devotion in their hearts, there was only persecution because of the truth.

3) They were reminded how their fathers behaved in the wilderness after receiving the Law they so bragged about keeping.

4) They were reminded how their fathers had fallen into idolatry over and over again. Just because Solomon had built the Temple they so bragged about, the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be bound to any temple nor to any building or place upon this earth. We can build immaculate places to worship the Lord, but we are fools to believe we can trap the Lord Jesus within walls nor to any religion.

5) They were reminded that it was their own fathers that persecuted and slew the very Prophets of God and it was they who were the betrayers and the murderers of the men God had sent to teach them the truth.

6) They were reminded that it was they, themselves that could not keep the Laws they so cherished!

The results: They were cut to the heart. Sometimes the truth will cut you to the heart. They were filled with anguish. They felt great pain. They became uneasy.
They became full of anger and indignation and Stephen became the object of their wrath. They began to show their hatred for the truth, and they were the bigots not Stephen.

How did Stephen react to their hatred?

*Act 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Act 7:56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Stephen may have been aware of what was going on around him, but his focus was upon the glory of God.

Joh_17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

You see when we rebel against God the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can become disturbed and tormented and it is then that we must make a choice.

Do we accept or reject the truth of Jesus Christ? When we accept the truth of the Lord Jesus then and only then can we be delivered from this sin filled world!

Once we know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, where else could we look but to Heaven!

This world shows no heartfelt sympathy to us. The Lord Jesus Christ came to this place called earth and bled and died for our sins just so we could spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

When we know the Lord, and this earth casts us out, then we know Heaven waits to receive us.

This is the truth of peace in our lives!

In the Book of Isaiah Chapter 6:1 through 13 we can see how this glory of Heaven is described, but Stephen sees this and something even more spectacular.

Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

The Lord of Glory stands to His feet. The same Lord who had been rejected by this world stood up to receive His child with open arms.

1Co_2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

While those who were stoning Stephen to death were seeing victory.

While those who were just spectators saw an atrocity, one way or the other.

Stephen saw deliverance!

You see God is always present when one of His children is caused to suffer by this world!

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.

Stephen was a man always filled with the Holy Spirit and he clearly understood what that meant while rocks and stones hit his weak body.

1Ti 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

We can believe that what Stephen saw we will see just before we make this same trip to Heaven.

Those in the graves whose soul is already in Heaven will get to see the glory of God as they speed toward Heaven.

Glory, Glory, Glory, Lord God almighty.

What those who knew Stephen saw was a great testimony left behind for all the world to see.

Those who hated Stephen’s testimony saw something else but there would be one sinner who would never forget this day.

*Act 7:57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
Act 7:58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

Law abiding citizens became murderers this day and the ultra-religious smiled as these were taking place.

We should know that the Holy Ghost is always busy.

We must know that all persecution is rebellion against God!

Those who lead in the persecution of Christians and those that follow them are acting against the Lord and not against that believer!

Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

They became murderers free to roam this earth because this earth was on their side!

This is the world we live in today and it is only going to get worse until the Lord returns.

This is the first time that Saul of Tarsus is mentioned in the Bible and this event makes an impression upon him.

*Act 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

The soul of Stephen went to Heaven, his body is buried somewhere in Jerusalem awaiting the call of the Lord.

We must remember as Christians we will suffer the trials of persecution, some much more terrible than others.

Remember Stephen called out for the Lord’s help, Stephen certainly felt the pain.

What we witness is the “grace” and the “strength” to endure these trials and many did become martyrs and there may be many more before the Lord returns in the clouds and calls us out of here.

The Lord wants us all to be with Him right now:

Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Stephen was depending on the Lord Jesus as he says “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”.

Why? Because he knew this truth.

2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
2Co 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Then Stephen shows that loving caring spirit for all as he says, “lay not this sin to their charge”.

The truth is that death brings life to all those who love the Lord, and we should have no fear of death.

Just recently I tried to make my doctor understand this as I rejected my last Chemo treatment.

What did Stephen then do?

He fell asleep in Christ and all his pain was over and the Lord met him in Heaven and then returned to His throne awaiting the next saint of God.

Amen

God’s Plan is Always Moving Forward

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Joshua Israel’s New Leader

Book of Joshua Chapter 1

Who is this, Joshua?

The name “Joshua” as written can mean “Jehovah is his help” but it can also mean “Jehovah the Savior”.

Joshua is sometimes written Jehoshua, and Jehoshuah but in the New Testament we see it written as Jesus.

Act 7:45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with “Jesus” into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
Act 7:46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

We should not be confused by these things and if we study the context of the Scripture we will not be.

We see the same thing happen in the Book of Hebrews:

Heb 4:8 For if “Jesus” had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Joshua did not have it in his power to give rest to the people of God, only the Lord Jesus Christ has this power!

Again look at the context of this Scripture.

This Joshua is the son Nun to distinguish him from any other man name Joshua and there were others.

Joshua as a child was born into the slavery of Egypt and reached the age for military as he traveled to freedom with Moses and all of Israel.

No doubt as a young man He worked in the brick fields of Egypt.

We can believe all these things because it is Joshua, led by the Holy Spirit who has written all these things for us.

It is Joshua who also wrote the final words of the Book of Deuteronomy after the death of Moses again led by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit does not make mistakes, so there are no mistakes in the “Received Text”!

We can say the Book of Joshua was written to the Israelites to teach them their great history and the mistakes they had made.

We also know that All Scripture is written for the Church!

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.

The Book of Joshua shows us how Israel conquered and divided up the land promised to these descendants of Abraham by Isaac and Jacob.

The Book of Joshua shows all readers that God is faithful to keep His promises.

The main purpose to the Book of Joshua is to teach the Doctrines of God to the Israelites and to all readers of this precious book of the Old Testament, which means the New Testament Church.

Some of those Doctrines are:

The Doctrine of Faith.
The Doctrine of the Holiness of God.
The Doctrine of Sin. God will not tolerate evil and wickedness, not forever.
The Doctrine of “Mercy and Grace”. Yes, we can see the “Grace” of God in the Old Testament and His “Mercy”!
The Doctrine of the “All Powerful” God of Creation.
The Doctrine of the “All Knowing” God of knowledge.
The Doctrine of the Sovereign Ruler of all Creation.
The Doctrine that states that God places people in certain locations for His Own Purposes!

*Jos 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
Jos 1:2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

Moses at the age of 120 years old had now been taken out of the picture by God Himself, his purpose complete and God told Joshua to fill in the gap that Moses left behind.

It is our duty to answer the call of God!

Moses was a mighty man of God. How could anyone fill in for him?

Moses had already selected Joshua by the word of God and had already begun his training.

Deu 31:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

Deu 31:23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.

It was Moses that had established Israel as a nation through the guidance of Jehovah making him the father of the nation of Israel.

A band of Egyptian slaves had become the nation that had set back Egypt for many years which they have never really overcome.

It was time for Israel to leave off mourning for what was, and accept what God had planned for the destruction of the sinful nations of Canaan Land

Gen_15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

On a much smaller scale than the worldwide flood, Israel was the hand of God for the destruction of the sin full people of Canaan Land.

They needed a strong leader and God gave them Joshua.

Joshua was now the Commander-in-Chief of the new nation of Israel.

We should understand Moses was a great man of God, but his death did not affect the plan of God.

God simply selects some other human to keep the plan of God moving forward at all times!

If Joshua for some reason rejected the call of God, God would simply have chosen someone else.

When God plan is in action, He will then provide all the tools and materials necessary to keep moving forward in the work God has given all the Church to accomplish.

The “providence” of God is always in His hands, and it does not depend upon any one upon this earth, or anywhere else humans are seeking to run and hide.

*Jos 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

It was the death of Moses that opened the door for Joshua, so we see that it is God who is the giver of life and only He can take a life.

Satan may have had the power of death before the work of the Lord Jesus was completed, but he could not cause death at his will, he needed the permission of God, and he still does today.

Satan answers to God, Jehovah God and he is also condemned to Hell which is why the world is moving so fast toward wicked, immoral corrupted, iniquity.

Some of the promises God made to Abraham were becoming reality.

The walk of Abraham had defined the boundaries of the nation of Israel more than four hundred years prior to the day of Joshua.

Moses had led the children of Israel right up to the shores of the River Jordan, right at the most awkward time of the rainy season, but God had a reason even for this.

It would be Joshua that led the crossing of Jordan!

What were the boundaries that God set aside for the nation of Israel?

*Jos 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

South: the desert of Negev.
North: Lebanon. Mount Lebanon the tallest mountain of Syria.
East: the Euphrates River.
West the Mediterranean Sea.

To this day, Israel has never possessed all this land and will not until the return of Christ Jesus.

Why? Many of them became cowards.

Many of them refused to obey the Word of God.

The closest that Israel ever came to control of all this land was in the days of King David and King Solomon.

It is at the death of King Solomon when Israel became a divided nation and disappeared from History for a time.

A divided nation cannot stand in this world of sin!

America is more divided today than it has ever been in our brief history and America could disappear from history and it is because of our corrupt, and wicked, and immoral government!

Why is this so true? Because America has booted God out!

Why did Israel begin to show dominance for many years? It was because God was with them until they demanded God to leave.

What was God’s promise to Israel?

*Jos 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

What wonderful words given to a new leader.

God promised Joshua that no nation would be able to stand against him.

To us this means as a believer, we will have a full life, a victorious life, if we continue to serve the Lord with all our heart!

We know that as this new nation of Israel moved forward, they would face many obstacles.

We can also say the same thing about them today as much of the world hates them without a reason.

This tiny nation of Israel has met many a foe on the battlefield, all of them trying to erase them as a nation, but God has not allowed this to happen, and the Bible says He will not allow it to happen.

God promises those who love Him a full and victorious life, but we must also move forward claiming victory over the obstacles we face.

We can do this because we are never alone!

With the power of God there is no obstacle that we cannot overcome!

It begins with obedience!

1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
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?

We have the promise of our Savior that He will never forsake us.

Even on those days we may not feel our Lord God, we have the assurance that He is with us.

Our life is not about feelings, our life is about the promises of God!

This is one of the greatest promises God has given to us, that He will never forsake us!

No matter what trouble, no matter what difficulty, no matter what problem we face, God will never leave us and He will walk with us through these things!

*Jos 1:6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

Joshua had been an eyewitness, as these people had rebelled against Moses many times.

The challenge of Israel was very great to be a conqueror of the many nations of Canaan Land.

They needed a leader who was equipped to manage these times and it was Joshua.

Joshua was God’s man!

What was Joshua first task? He was to trust God! He was to be strong and very courageous!

When God calls us, He knows that our task will not be easy. If it was easy, then anyone could do it without God!

The army of God must be strong and courageous.

When we put on the armor of God we are not dressing for peace, we are dressing for war!

We are to be obedient to the Word of God.
We are to never stop sharing the Word of God.
We are to meditate on God’s Word day and night!

The result of obedience to God will always be prosperity and success! This does not mean riches.

It means all that we put our hands to, that is in the will of God, will prosper!

Again, it takes strength in the Lord and obedience to overcome discouragement!

*Jos 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

God did not place Joshua in this position of leadership to be lord over this people!

They would follow Joshua if he continued to follow the Lord.

Until till the last days of Joshua’s life, every day brought a new enemy to defeat.

Every year brought a new enemy.

Every day he had to send the young people of Israel into battle, and he would witness the blood shed of many of them.

These things are hard on any commander. Joshua would need much courage and strength.

No matter where we are on the battlefield of the Lord, we must know that we cannot do these things in our own strength so our relationship with the Lord must be steady and enduring.

We must follow the Word of God not veering to the left or to the right.

The pathway to Heaven remains a narrow path and few will ever find it.

Mat_7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

God will reveal to us the obstacles we will face by teaching us the deep things of God!

1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit 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.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The key to our prosperity in this world is obedience to all the Word of God!

Again this does not mean riches!

How are we to study the Word of God?

*Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

In order for Joshua to succeed as the Commander-in-Chief of Israel, he was to know and obey all the Word of God. (Which is a type of Christ)

This has not changed for every national leader today! They have the same instructions, no matter who they are or where they are located!

We must never turn our backs to the Word of God as we see this world do so today.

If there is a godly leader in this world today, they are noticeably quiet and ashamed of the Word of God, because they are too silent!

God will give us purpose, a sense of achievement and a fulfillment throughout our Christian Life, but only if we obey God by meditating in His Word day and night, throughout our lifetime.

In other words, we should always be doing what God says to do!

Deu 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

This is the key to our success in the plan of God!

Again, we must be strong and courageous in the things of God!

*Jos 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

If God says a thing one time, then it is enough, but when God says things three times then He knows how easy it will be for us to get discouraged when we see what is going on in our world.

We must never let these things keep us from serving the Lord!

We must be strong and courageous as we walk through our Christian Life.

We must know that when God gave these lands to Abraham, all Abraham had was his faith and he had enough faith that he could trust the Word of God is true.

Abraham trusted in the promises of God, and it is no different for us here today.

Now in this day of Joshua more than four hundred years later, Joshua is in position to begin fulfilling some of God’s promises to Abraham.

We should know that the land promised to Abraham was indeed the land called Palestine. Palestine is an area and not the name of some country.

We should also know that the land promised to Abraham also refers to the New Heaven.

Canaan Land is just a symbol of God’s Promise.

Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

The inheritance that Abraham had so much faith in, refers to the entire world, the New Universe which God is going to recreate in the very end.

It is not this world we live in now that is so full of sin, immorality, and wicked corruptness!

This world that is wasting away, deteriorating, running down, that our world calls “Climate Change”. They have seen nothing yet!

2Pe 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

The promise to Abraham refers to the New Heaven and the New Jerusalem, our Heavenly Home!

Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

All these things Abraham knew and, on this day, Joshua would begin that journey with Israel as they would cross the River Jordan.

This is where Joshua would derive his courage and his strength!

It was the promises made to Abraham that drove Joshua to be the great man of God that he was, and we should be encouraged just as Joshua was encouraged.

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.

Joshua told this new nation of Israel, “let us go an obtain the promises of God”.

This is exactly what the Church is doing today!

*Jos 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
Jos 1:11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.

After forty years the long-awaited command came. “prepare the people for we are going to cross the River Jordan”.

We should remember that this people of Israel would have been several million people.

There is not an army on the face of the earth that can go from rest to moving forward for war in three days, which shows us how Moses had prepared this army.

This was not just the army but also all their families and livestock.

We should also think about those three days!

Three days to our Lord Jesus was the time of His death to His resurrection.

In three days, this rag tag bunch of slaves would resurrect as the nation of Israel.

We should be able to see the typology of all these things.

What do we know? We know that God had spoken to Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan was to be done at once.

As Israel had been at camp until this command came, they had certainly seen that the River Jordan was running out of its banks at this time of the year.

In our service to the Lord, we had better understand that the natural things must be exhausted before the supernatural is brought in.

At this time we believe the “manna” had ceased and the word “victuals” would mean the food that was natural to their surroundings.

Jos 5:12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

We also believe that before this command was given, that Joshua had already sent out those spies to Jericho, and they had returned.

On this side of this flooded river was Israel ready for war and on the other side stood the walled city of Jericho, which had to fall for Israel to be successful.

Jericho had already heard of the wars Israel had already fought, and won, and the city was afraid of Israel.

Between them lay a vast expanse of rushing water.

Joshua commanded this people of God “to prepare”, then “passover” and then “to possess”.

We must understand as a soldier in God’s Army, we must always be prepared, and we have that “Heavenly Manna” with us at all times if we are carrying the Word of God.

We must feed on the Lord Jesus Christ; He is our Passover!

No doubt that many of these people had the fear of death for war brings death!

But to the child of God, death has but one meaning and that meaning is New Life.

There would be no possessing of that land until they crossed over the flood waters of the River Jordan.

As Christians we have nothing on this side of Jordan, but the New Heaven, the New Jerusalem lie on the other side.

What lies on the other side will be the treasures of God!

A share of the inheritance of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Still that raging river seemed unsurpassable.

But the Lord will always say:

Jos 3:5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

When the flood waters of this world are raging, then this is when we need to trust the Lord the most!

Mar_6:50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

We must never forget that as we travel in this life, the Lord Jesus Christ will walk before us showing us the way!

We know that God would stop the flow of the River Jordan and several million Israelites would cross the River Jordan on dry land!

Amen

God’s Unconditional Love

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

A Better Love

Book of Hebrews Chapter 12 Verses 1 through 11

How can we describe the love of another person?

We could say that love is showing affection to that person, accompanied with an ardent desire to promote this person’s happiness!

1) By abstaining from all that could cause injury to that person.
2) By doing all that can promote that person’s welfare, that person’s comfort, that person’s interest, whether that person appreciates that effort or is indifferent to that effort.

Love must be something personal, coming from one person and directed toward another person.

A relationship develops when both these persons feel the same toward each other.

As Christians we know that God is “Love” and He portrays to us absolute, never ending, enduring, love!

God proves His love for His creation by the things He says, and He does!

1Jn 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1Jn 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

It is because God has this love that we also should learn to love as God loves!

Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

So when we begin reading this passage that talks of a race, then we must accept that our race in the will of God is a LOVE race.

*Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

It is a race to know God and His love and to commune with and fellowship with God both now and forever.

If we love God as He loves us then, we will believe Him and all the Words He has given to us, and be obedient to Him and all the Word of God!

We will believe in all the promises of God, and we will believe the love He has shown us in His Son!

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

There is so much we can learn from the Word of God, but if we can just believe He has this love as described here, the rest will be easy!

There is great power in faith.
There is even great power when our faith is combined with our true love for Him.

It is the baggage of a wicked world that has lost its affection for regular people and serves only the elite and powerful, that drags down each of us, unless we can lay aside these things and strive to match the pace God has given to us in His Son Jesus.

God has provided something much better for those who love Him!

Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

You see we must continue to fight that good fight of faith just as those in the previous chapter!

1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

When we read of the New Testament saints, we should see them as witnesses for the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must clearly understand that anything that does not build us up, is then tearing us down!

Anything that does not improve our Christian life, is then detrimental to our Christian life and our faith!

When we attend a Church service, then it must be to hear the message God has for us that day and fellowship with our likeminded brothers and sisters, and not for entertainment.

If we miss that service, then we have missed God’s message for that day and the importance of it!

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Author of our salvation and without Him there would be no salvation!

*Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

**Looking; we are to fix our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ as the object of our “faith”!
We are to fix our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ as “the only” means of our “salvation”!

**Author; the Lord Jesus Christ is the “Originator” and the “Preeminent Example” of a life in Christ, being obedient to our Heavenly Father.

**Finisher; the Lord Jesus Christ is our “Perfector”! It is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ that will carry us through to “perfection”.
The Lord Jesus Christ does not start something that He does not finish!

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”:

**The joy; The Lord Jesus Christ got no pleasure in the pain He endured. He got no pleasure in the way the very humans He created treated Him.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and “was heard in that he feared”;

Remember the Lord was 100% man and 100% God. He absolutely did fear the scourge, because it caused the death of so many before they reached the cross. The Lord Jesus had to die on that cross!

Joh_3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

He got joy in knowing that He had completed the work of salvation for every human who has ever existed.

His work for our salvation is finished:

Joh_17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do”.

The Lord Jesus Christ felt joy knowing that salvation was now in our hands for He had completed the payment for our salvation that we did not have the power to do.

Our part is to believe Him and what He has done. This is why “faith” is so critical!

God will not tolerate those who reject His Son because of the work He had to do.

There is still joy in Heaven every time some lost soul is saved.

Luk_15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner “that repenteth”.

You will notice that it is not just salvation that brings joy to Heaven, it is that fact of repentance!

The joy of the Lord came to Him because He had accomplished His Father’s will.

What is His Father’s Will?

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth”.

**Right hand; His work completed, Our Lord Jesus returned to His place at the right hand of God, but not just as Sovereign God of all His creation, but also as the High Priest and Mediator and Intercessor for each and everyone who have now committed to having that “Saving Faith”.

The right hand is the place power, authority, and honor.

Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

The Lord Jesus Christ is our example of the results of “faith” as we will also return to the Father if we can show this same “faith”!

*Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

How can we survive this cruel world? By keeping our focus on the things that the Lord Jesus Christ had to accomplish so that we can have this great salvation that is for eternity!

If we compare our own suffering to the suffering of Christ Jesus, we will see that there is really no comparison to the suffering and shame of our Lord as He paid our sin debt.

This will keep us from getting weary, meaning exhausted, tired, worn out, or even just relaxing as we go about the work that the Lord Jesus has given us to do.

There is no neutral ground when we serve the Lord.

We either are or we are not !

Discouragement can ruin our testimony for Christ!

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

We must resist the temptations of this world and focus on Christ who has already defeated this world!

Most all of us can say we have not resisted until death.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1Co 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

We must never count the chastisement of the Lord toward us as punishment, when it is only the Holy Spirit who is keeping us on that narrow path to victory.

We must never question the love of God for His children!

If we would just take the time to study all the things our Lord has done for us simply because of His Great Love, we would not hesitate to show Him our love.

*Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

We should also be clear on this issue. God will discipline His believers!

God will not discipline non-believers!

He chastens, corrects, and rebukes believers!

God cannot be tempted with evil, nor does God tempt any human being.

Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Notice it is lust that conceives, that brings sin into our lives.

It is the lust between a man and a woman who refuse to take responsibility that makes a need for abortion.
It is the lust between two people male or female that cause the queer life style.
It is the lust for power that ruins politicians.
It is the lust for riches that has corrupted our world!

Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

It is sin that alienates us from God!

God does not cause temptation, nor does He cause us to sin.

God does not cause devastation, accidents, destruction, sickness, death or sufferings, trials or troubles and problems.

These are all things of this world!

God will go through these things with us if He allows them!

God does not cause terrible things to happen, nor does He cause evil!

God’s concern for us is not to cause us problems!

**God allows some of these things to happen to us to teach, to train us, and instruct us, on how to deal with these type things, to make us stronger.

We are to stand on the truth of God!

God does not want any of these things to defeat us and they will not, if we stand firm upon the Word of God, for He will be with us at all times.

Php_4:13 I can do “all” things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

There is a reason for that word “ALL”.

These things will only make us stronger if we allow God the Holy Ghost to do His work of sanctification!

When we come under attack we must immediately turn to God and ask for help!

All these things are only directed at us to allow God to work in our hearts to make us stronger.

We must never lay around in self-pity.

Many things are blamed on God that are just not true.

For instance, a small innocent baby is crippled in an automobile accident by a drunk driver. This is not being chastened or corrected by God!

This happens because we live in a corrupted world full of sin.

This is the same for drive-by shootings and other such things.

God simply does not cause such things, “love” simply does not act this way!

We will not see the wrath of God during this period of the “Grace”

All of God’s instruction is to teach us to trust and depend more upon the Lord Jesus Christ!

**When we fail or cave into a trial or sin, God will let us reap what we have sown!

We will always bear the results of our sin, but it does not cause God to love us any less.

When we deal with the bad and evil things of this earth, God did not cause them!

We must not despise discipline!

When we are being taught by God, we need to cherish it and know that God is using these things to make us stronger so we will be able to help others who may go through the same thing.

We must get accustomed to the tug and pull of the Holy Spirit and even the little tugs can have critical meaning.

Jer 32:33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.

When we endure the chastening of the Lord it shows we trust our Savior and our love will grow even stronger.

*Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

We must understand that when we are going through a period of chastening and suffering because of it, and we see someone else going through something similar with relative ease we must not get confused.

If God has received us as His children, we should expect our Heavenly Father to keep us straight just as we do our own children.

This shows the great love that God has for us!

He may even spank us to get our attention, but it is still done in love.

It is such a great honor to know you are a child of God and many times as we go through these things, thank spanking hand feels more like a comforting hand because this is the way God is to His children.

We must endure the discipline of God.
We are to stand fast in our trials and troubles.

We must become soft to the feel of the Holy Spirit!

We are to follow the Word of God and the Holy Spirit will direct us by the Word of God.

The Holy Spirit will never lead us away from Jesus Christ!

Our Heavenly Father is a Loving Father!

Now that one who is going through something similar with relative ease may not even be a child of God.

God does not discipline those who do not love Him!

They too are subject to the curse upon this world and exposed to the wickedness and corruptness of it.

God does not discipline those who do not love Him because they are already subject to His “wrath” to come!

This person is the child 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.

These people will act just as Satan acts!

The Bible says these are “bastards” and not sons.

Bastard used here means the offspring of non-believers who have rejected the truth of God and not taught their children the Word of God!

Pro_22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Furthermore.

*Heb 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

If we have grown up having a father who loves us, then we have surely been disciplined by him and maybe that mother or both and we know it was done out of love.

Much of the troubles we have today are caused because of broken families and this is the work of Satan!

What we see today is children raised without discipline and it shows up so much that it is changing this entire world.

In fact, many of them have grown up to become leaders who now have no respect for the law and choose to not discipline those who break the law.

Living in this world of today we see that love of life has truly little meaning.

Rom_1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

2Ti_3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

The discipline of God brings life and life eternal!

The discipline of this world brings death, maybe not physical death but eternal death and separation from a Holy God!

They will be delivered to this death the very moment they leave this world, whereas the child of God knows that death is just a steppingstone to eternal life in the glory world.

Pro 11:19 As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.

As we were growing up, our parents only had a few days to try to get us to grow up in a righteous manner in ways they thought were good, and many times they used too much discipline for the wrong things and too little discipline when they should have been tougher.

God does not ever make this mistake and God has our lifetime after salvation to get us ready for Heaven and useful for the work He has for us in this world.

If we are not partakers of His holiness, how do we ever expect to come face to face with Him.

There are no places to hide in Heaven! We either are or we are not!

Any move we make toward sin is a good reason to see the discipline of God!

*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.

It could be said that pain teaches us our nothingness.

We do not have it in power to stop our pain especially that mental pain for a terrible situation that is going on in our lives.

Health permits us to swell in pride and self-esteem, but pain knocks us down a level and shows us our feebleness.

Pain shows us we are not in charge even of our own bodies!

The fact of the matter is that we need solid “Grace” when we are thrown into the furnace of affliction and if Jesus is not there with us, we will be burnt to a crisp!

It is “faith and love” that teaches us to bear all things good and bad because we trust in a perfect Savior!

There is peace that comes to those who are going to the trials and temptations of this world because we know we are not alone.

There is a lot that can be said of that person who can stand and face God and say, “be merciful to me God, I am but just a sinner that loves you”.

There is “Mercy and Grace” at the Throne of Love!

Amen

Freedom Comes At A High Price

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Freedom Through the Blood

Book of Exodus Chapter 12

Those ten plagues had crippled the economy of Egypt and had God stopped at this point those children of Israel would have remained as slaves of Egypt.

All those ten plagues had affected the Egyptian people much more than this rich king who was full of pride and arrogance.

There would be one more plague, but this one would be vastly different from the others.

The Passover deals with the “Judgment” of God, but also the Deliverance of God!

God began a principle in the Book of Genesis that will be followed throughout all the Bible.

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

In the Book of Genesis we know that the sin of Adam and Eve brought the curse of destruction to this world we live in.

We are seeing the results of this curse increasingly today, in what many call climate change which is the reality of that curse upon this world.

Before Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, God made clothes for them from the skins of animals.

This demonstrated the principle of forgiveness through the shedding of blood.

Later we saw that it was Abel’s sacrifice that was accepted by the Almighty God.

Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

This principle of “Freedom” through sacrifice is repeated throughout the Bible.

We see it here in the Book of Exodus as the “freedom” of the children of Israel would require a Blood Sacrifice.

Before these children of Israel could be set free, they had to pave the way for a new beginning.

This thing of escape from the tyranny of the world would be documented on a new calendar which the Jews still use today.

What do we know now that we have accepted the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation? Sin has an extremely high cost!

*Exo 12:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
Exo 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

The Passover deals with the “Judgment” of God but also the “Deliverance” of God.

This “Judgment” will be upon all those who cannot accept the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ!

This “Judgment” will be upon all those who are evil oppressors, those who are ungodly, and those who are unrighteous in this world.

The “Deliverance” will take place to all who believe in and diligently follow the Word of God and the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We should notice that the beginning of this new calendar for the children of Israel did not begin on the day of the Passover but fourteen days before the Passover.

We should understand this gap as a type of “grace”.

My new calendar began when the day I was “Born Again” to a “New Life”, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit coming to live within me.

Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Notice I have no righteousness of myself, but now because the Holy Spirit lives within me I have the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

All the sins of my past are forgiven! My new life had its beginning when I realized I was a sinner and in need of a Savior.

For the children of Israel, their new life would begin from the month in which the Passover occurred not the day of the Passover.

The Passover was the most significant event in the history of Israel and is still celebrated today.

Those who practice true Judaism still observe the Passover today, but they have no place to offer their sacrifice.

The Passover marked the very night that God “delivered” the children of Israel from the tyranny of Egypt, which is a type of the world we live in today, where we see persecution increasing and the taskmasters still delivering their slave tactics.

This first new month was called Abib which corresponds to March and April on the Roman Calendar.

The word “Abib” means “a young head of grain”, “an ear of corn”.

The beginning of a new life for the nation of Israel was marked by a new calendar.

The life of Jesus Christ was also marked by a new calendar.

When the Lord Jesus arose to New Life and left that borrowed tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, to a life to live eternally in a New Heaven it astounded the world so much that the world measures its seasons and its history from the date of the Birth of Jesus Christ.

This should be enough proof for all the world that the Lord Jesus Christ is a real Savior, a real “Deliverer”!

****Exo 12:3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
Exo 12:4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

We next see that Israel is now called a congregation, a Holy Community by the Lord God Himself.

A congregation is the people of God who gather to worship Him or to hear the Word of God!

We also see that each household, each family, was to celebrate the feast of the Passover.

Each family or group of people were to secure one lamb on the tenth day of the month of Abib.

This lamb was to be singled out from the flock and appointed to death four days before it was to be sacrificed.

For four days they were to keep this Lamb separate and feed and care for this lamb.

When the Lord Jesus was beginning His ministry John the Baptist said:

Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Joh 1:36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

Notice also each person was to eat the Passover meal for them self.

This is the same way we take Jesus today, individually, then the family, and then all the congregation.

This describes the worship of the Church, the Body of Christ.

We then share what we learned in the Congregation, take it home to our families and then as individuals we become Ambassadors for Christ.

This lamb was to be without blemish, or we would say perfect.

*Exo 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

Any animal less than perfect offered for sin would be an abomination to the Lord.

An animal that had no reason for their life to end so abruptly, which represents pure innocence.

Each sinner represents one who is guilty of breaking all the laws of God.

Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

The acceptance of the yearling goat was allowed for those who were poor, who might have an animal more for its milk rather than its market value of wool for clothing.

A male animal would be considered superior to the female animal in this sacrifice for sin and therefore more appropriate for a sin offering!

Lev 1:10 And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.

This Lamb was to be a type of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Lev 21:21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.

The Lord Jesus Christ would be both High Priest and King of Kings.

This lamb was to die in the fulness of its strength!

Before we move on let us see another important thing.

Verse three said “a lamb”.
Verse four said “the lamb”.
Verse five says “your lamb”

If you do not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, then He is not your lamb!

Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

*Exo 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

A few things we should note here is the things of this fourteenth day.

1) When we read the whole congregation, we should think there was some great gathering of the people.

We should understand this as the head of each household.

In type we know the whole nation is seen as a nation of priests, just as each Christian is to be a priest to his own family.

Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

It is the family that was begun first in the Book of Genesis with Adam and Eve being the first family and Adam being the first head of that family and the priest to his own family.

2) We should also understand that it was not just the chief priest and the elders and not just the scribes and the Pharisees who put Jesus to death, but also by the vote of the people.

Mar 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Mar 15:10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.
Mar 15:11 But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.
Mar 15:12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?
Mar 15:13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.
Mar 15:14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
Mar 15:15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

In fact, I also have to take my own responsibility for the death of Christ Jesus, because it was because of my sin and the sin of everyone that caused our Savior to be put to death.

3) On this fourteenth day the Lord Jesus died between the evenings.

Between the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month of Abib (Nisan)

If we study the Scriptures, we will see that the Lord Jesus died at the exact time that the lambs at the Temple were being slain which would be at our three o’clock, or the nineth hour.

This would have been just before that soldier pierced the Lord with his spear because the Lord Jesus gave His life, no one took it from Him.

Joh 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Joh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

When we consider this and then add to it all the things that happened.

It was finished: No more would lambs need to be destroyed for the forgiveness of sin.
It was finished: The veil was rent we can go before the Lord at any time without the assistance of some priest.
It was finished: The earthquake declared the power of God.
It was finished: It was the end of His suffering for our sin.
It was finished: The Lord Jesus was forsaken by His Father and that was now over, and His fellowship was restored.
It was finished: Satan was forever defeated.
It was finished: It was finished, Jesus had made “atonement” for all our sins.

One man wrote: Though millions of sacrifices had been offered; yet nothing was done to purchase redemption before Christ’s incarnation… so nothing was done after His resurrection, to purchase redemption for men. Nor will there be anything more done to all eternity.

Like our lesson states “Freedom Through the Blood”.

It is all about the blood of the Lamb!

*Exo 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

In the twelfth chapter of Exodus we never see lamb in the plural because there was only one Lamb that could accomplish what God required!

As the blood is to life, it is also the essence of sacrifice! Essence meaning the nature of our being that distinguishes it from all others.

God did not make any of us alike! Until the sin of Adam and Eve, we all became sinners.

It was the blood applied on the outside of the house that kept those saved on the inside of the house!

Notice the blood was applied in the shape of the bloody cross of our Savior.

It was an act of “faith”. If you believed God would save you behind the blood applied to your house, then you would be saved.

If you did not have this “faith” and did not apply the blood, then you would see the death of your first-born child and the first born of your animals.

Heb 11:28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

The Lord Jesus Christ was our substitute:

Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

So many things we see in this passage from the Book of Exodus.

Once the blood was applied it was safe to eat the Passover meal!

We must make sure that we are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
We must make sure our families are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
We must make sure our homes are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
We must make sure the place we gather to worship is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

When the Blood of Jesus is applied to our homes it becomes a public profession of faith!

Our “faith” is to be in the promises of God just as He promised the Children of Israel at this first Passover.

*Exo 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Exo 12:9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.

This lamb sacrificed for freedom was to be eaten.

It was to be roasted and not boiled and eaten by those inside the house.

A journey lay before these of God’s people and this food would give them strength.

Jesus said:

Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

It was to be eaten with unleavened bread.

The Leven represented sin and there was no sin in the house that is washed in the Blood of Jesus.

Joh 6:48 I am that bread of life.
Joh 6:49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Joh 6:50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
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.

The “bitter herbs” would forever remind them of the bitter days of their slavery in Egypt,

This is a picture of our own slavery to sin.

Our hearts are always to be broken over sin.

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

For the children of Israel this lamb was to be prepared in a peculiar way and this way was never to be deviated. These are God-given instructions!

God given instructions are never to be changed!

One of the many things we see in these things is that the Church is to be family-centered!

Few are today.

Most of the Churches of today try to please those sitting in the pews when God instructs them to preach the entire Word of God.

We must accept the Lord Jesus Christ exactly as He was prepared and offered by Jehovah God!

There is no other way to be saved, Jesus said so Himself!

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

None of this food was to remain in the morning.

*Exo 12:10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

What we see is that the “death” of this sacrificial lamb has become the food for life!

That lamb was to be eaten the same night it was slain.

The rising sun was to see no part of the slain lamb.

No part of Christ is to be left out! We accept Him as He is, the truth of eternal salvation!

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

In like manner the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ is complete, it is not a progressive thing over the period of our lives!

Our salvation is not in the process of being accomplished, it has been accomplished.

It is accomplished immediately upon accepting the work of Christ for our salvation!

One man wrote, “For God’s suffering Lamb the dark night of “Judgment” is no more, and He lives on High eternal sunshine of Divine favor and love”.

And how shall we eat the Lamb of God?

*Exo 12:11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover.

We must clearly understand that today, not tomorrow, but today is the day of salvation!

2Co 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Upon hearing the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ we are to immediately accept Him, repent and rush away from this world and begin our New “Born Again” life.

Our new life marching toward the Promised Land of the New Heaven!

We must wear the right clothes and not get entangled in this world again, this world has no benefits!

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.

We must wear the right shoes.

Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

We must lean on our Savior for we cannot travel alone. Just as Moses had the staff of God, the Lord Jesus Christ is our staff.

Psa 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

We are only pilgrims passing through this wicked land.

1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

We are always to know that the Lord Jesus could return at any moment, and we must expect it!

We must understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is the substitute for our own “Judgment”

*Exo 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

As we have studied this Pharaoh understood when Moses laid down the staff, he carried it was in defiance of the false gods of Egypt and Pharaoh accepted that challenge and Pharaoh chose the wrong side.

Pharaoh finally accepts the defeat of his gods when he said, “Go then, serve Jehovah; and bless me also”.

The children of Israel gave the glory to Jehovah at this time, but they were a rebellious bunch.

They did not behave as if they owed any gratitude to Moses or Aaron.

Deu 32:16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
Deu 32:17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
Deu 32:18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

The “Judgment” of God is harsh on those who reject Him!

God was speaking to the children of Israel through Moses and God said:

1) I will pass through the land of Egypt as a destroyer in “Judgment”.
I will enter every house of the Egyptians and kill the first-born child of both man and beast.

2) God said: “I will do the same to your houses and if I do not see the blood on the door posts of your houses, I will do the same to you.
You will escape this plague if I see the blood.

3) God said again: Against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute “Judgment”.
Animal worship was an important part of the religion of the Egyptians and some of these Jews never forgot this and it caused problems all the days of Israel till God dispersed them through all the nations of the earth.

The blood that was placed on the door post and over the door should remind us of a bloody cross.

This blood was not a token to the Children of Israel, but to God for them!

The Destroyer would Passover each home where the blood could be seen!

This method of deliverance involved the sacrifice of innocent life.

This is the only method for complete deliverance!

This method requires faith in the Almighty Covenant Keeping God!

Mar 14:22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.
Mar 14:23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.
Mar 14:24 And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
Mar 14:25 Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

The Lord Jesus Christ is that Lamb of God who was sacrificed for each and every sinner and will save each and every believer!

Amen.

God’s Wonderful Promises

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Promises For the Future

Book of Genesis Chapters 48 through 50

One of the greatest things we have learned from the Book of Genesis, the Book of the Beginnings is, that God has a plan for this world.

God’s plan is to bless those who love Him and who are in His will, and the greatest blessing is for those who love Him to spend eternity with Him.

God had promised Abram a promised land, but though Canaan Land is that “promised land” to the Jews, for many of us, it is not the place God was talking about.

Our “Promised Land” is Heaven itself!

The Hebrew people were a small people that needed to multiply until they became a great nation.

God used this time in Egypt to make this happen.

God had placed Joseph in Egypt to prepare for and then care for his family.

They were given the best land with one job and that job was to take care of Pharaoh’s herd.

Remember there were only 70 of Jacob’s family and Pharaoh had a large herd.

Joseph provided all their needs while the Egyptians paid dearly, some all they owned, to receive the food that they could eat until this famine was over.

The land then belonged to Pharaoh and they became tenants on the land they had at one time owned.

The children of Israel had prospered during all this time.

It was reaching the end of Jacob’s time and he knew it, and there were some things he had not accomplished before he died.

He had not yet placed the blessing of Abraham on one of his children and he had not yet chosen the blessed son.

He had, but he had not formally told this to his children.

Joseph had always been the son the Jacob loved the most, but he was now Governor of Egypt.

So Jacob puts his plan together and he begins to explain these things to Joseph.

We must realize that El Shaddai had spoken to Jacob many times in visions and dreams, so Jacob (Israel) was also a prophet, at least to his family.

Jacob began recalling the experiences of his early days.

*Gen 48:3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
Gen 48:4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

Remember to Jacob, Luz was “Bethel”, even though it had not been named that at this time. Bethel meaning the “House of God”.

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.
Gen 28:17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

To the Church, the House of God is truly the gateway to Heaven but by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Without the Lord Jesus there is no “House of God”!

The promise of Abram had been passed down to Israel, but it would not be passed to Joseph who was the first born of Rachel but not the firstborn son of Jacob.

The birthright claim would be given to Joseph but only through his two sons. Jacob (Israel) would adopt those two sons and make them his own.

But the genealogy that came by Abram, through Isaac, and to Jacob, would be passed down to Judah.

1Ch 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
1Ch 5:2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)

We should understand that these things were against the future Jewish laws.

Deu 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
Deu 21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
Deu 21:19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
Deu 21:20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

We must understand that El Shaddai does not limit Himself to man’s laws!

Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

We should understand, though it would seem the King David would be that chief ruler to come from Judah, and he was that earthly ruler for a time, but the true chief ruler is the Lord Jesus Christ, who came by the tribe of Judah.

King Jesus, the Messiah, has not yet come to rule this earth for 1000 years.

We know this is true but at first Shiloh(The Messiah) will come, Jesus the Messiah who came to save!

Joseph would receive the birthright, but not in the normal fashion.

*Gen 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

Jacob had been deprived of spending 20 good years with Joseph his beloved son.

Jacob could not give Joseph and inheritance in Egypt because Pharaoh had already done this.

Jacob could adopt those two boys and by doing so, he would be giving a double portion of inheritance to Joseph.

They would be treated as the sons of Jacob and therefore the sons of Israel and they would receive equal portions according to their numbers, in the division of the land of Canaan.

Reuben, the firstborn son, would not receive the double portion because of his incest with Jacob’s concubine.

Gen 35:22 And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

1Ch 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

When we get to the Book of Revelation, we will see where the name Ephraim is replaced by Joseph though Manasseh remains.

Rev 7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulonn were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

We are not required to understand these things, but the Holy Ghost did require that these words be written for us to learn from.

It was Jacob’s last moments in his flesh, and he had more things to say to all his children.

We can understand these things as prophecy just as these twelve men should have.

*Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

Now Jacob becomes a prophet to his own sons.

We should understand that we will reap what we sow in this life.

If we are good, we will reap good but if we bad, we will reap bad!

We can see that many seem to do good in a life of sin and never seem to suffer for it, but we must also remember that they will spend eternity in Hell suffering greatly.

God will have a true “judgment” no one will be judged for things they did not do!

Jacob had been ill most of his last years and on this day, we could say the family was called into the bedside of Jacob.

On this day, all twelve sons of Jacob were together with him in one room and not one would be quarreling with the other.

They knew their father was about to die and they wanted to hear what he had to say.

Since the time of Adam, God had dealt with the individual but after the time of Jacob, we will see the birth of the nation of Israel and we see God begins to deal with nations, especially the nation of Israel.

The time of the patriarchs comes to an end and in a short while the time of the Law will begin!

Much time will pass until the Birth of Jesus Christ and God will begin to deal with the Church.

In reality, God will go silent while Israel grows into a nation and this will last just over 400 years, when God will hear their cries because of a wicked and evil Pharaoh and God will send them a deliverer by the name of Moses and the period of the Law will begin.

Jacob gave each of his sons a prophetic warning and then he blessed each one of them and Jacob then made them promise not to bury his body in Egypt.

A brief look at these things will be something like this!

Reuben the firstborn son of Jacob should have received the birthright(the double portion) but he had proven to be weak and unstable and the tribe of Reuben would be the same. Reuben did not possess the discipline to control himself.

Simeon and Levi, the sin of these two brothers was anger, cruelty, and vengeance. Their behavior was inexcusable.

They would be divided and scattered throughout the “promised land”. They would never again be able to band together in an evil plot of anger and cruelty.

We know how the tribe of Levi was used of God and Simeon was given land in the midst of Judah.

Judah. We know that Abraham and Isaac had passed the birthright of the first born and that of the “Promised Seed’ both to the same son but in Jacob’s case, it would be Judah that Jacob passed the genealogy of the “Promised Seed” and it would be Joseph who would get the birthright of the firstborn son.

We could see how the life of Judah was being transformed into a leader and a spiritual leader.

Judah was a picture of the Christian growing spiritually.

To Judah was the blessing of Shiloh.

We also see as we study the Scriptures that once King David had the leadership of Israel it stayed in the family.

The scepter never departed from Judah.

Zebulun was to dwell toward the sea but not on the sea as Asher would dwell on the sea.

Issachar was to be like an animal of strong strength. The tribe of Issachar was a strong and sturdy people who were on occasion complacent.

In fact they could become so complacent in their comforts they were willing to be enslaved rather than lose their comforts.

Sounds a lot like the America of today!

Dan. The tribe of Dan would produce capable rulers and the most well-known was Samson. What a story he had.

Dan also could be like a snake a deadly opponent for his enemies.

Dan had to always be on guard against treachery, double dealing, and dishonesty.

Dan was the first to take up idol worship.

Not many realize it, but Jacob actually used for salvation, the word (Yeshuah) the Hebrew name for Jesus.

Gen 49:18 I have waited for thy salvation(Yeshuah), O LORD.

Jacob may could not have known about the Lord Jesus Christ, but he did know where his salvation came from!

Gad would be successful in struggling with his enemies.

1Ch 12:8 And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;

Asher was the tribe that sat along the seacoast. Asher gave into luxury and wealth and never really helped the other tribes.

They loved worldly pleasures.

We are warned against worldliness in the New Testament!

Naphtali was known for their swiftness in combat.

Notice also they were known for speaking and singing songs of beauty and in the time of Jesus, He spent a great deal of time in this area.

The most beautiful words ever spoken are the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ”.

Joseph was awarded the family birthright through his two sons.

This tribe produced Joshua, Gibeon, Abimelech, Jair, Jephthah, and Samuel came from the heritage of Joseph through his two sons.

Benjamin was the tribe to be like a ravenous wolf. The tribe of Benjamin was courageous and bold. At times, these same traits were used for evil.

Jacob told his sons to be on guard for the bad traits and try to excel in the good traits and then he gave up the ghost.

*Gen 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
Gen 49:29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Gen 49:30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.

Jacob remembered his forefathers Abraham and Isaac and at his death he wanted his body to be laid with their bodies.

Many today have similar wishes.

Sons want to be buried next to their father, wives next to their husbands, husbands next to their wives but we see today these things changing as the families are not as close as they once were.

Abraham had bought a cave with a piece of property in the field of Ephron from the Hittites.

He was buried there along with Sarah and Isaac and Rebekah and Leah was also buried there.

This where Jacob wanted to be buried and later, we will see where the preserved body of Joseph would also be buried.

Of course when we say buried, we know that in a cave a spot would be carved in the sides of the wall and the body would be laid there much like the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This place is called Machpelah.

Through the years an ancient Christian Church was located at this place but sadly this church has been converted into a Mohammedan Mosque but a sacred enclosure at the entrance of this cave it is still looked upon as a relic of Jewish architecture thought to be built in the time of David and Solomon.

*Gen 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

After all these things on the mind of Jacob he died. The phrase “gathered up his feet” indicates the Jacob was dead.

This phrase gathered has another meaning.

We know that God had said He is not the God of the Dead but the God of the Living, therefore the Hebrew people felt that their Patriarchs were therefore still living in another form, so Jacob was gathered together with them.

We know that as the “Born Again” children of God we will certainly be gathered together with all our brothers and sisters in Christ because the Christian will never die though this body goes back to the dust it was made from.

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.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

This is the difference that comes by the “Grace” of God only to those that love Him!

*Gen 50:7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
Gen 50:8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
Gen 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

We read this and then pass right on by it, but this funeral procession had to travel more than 250 miles one way and it could have been 500 miles depending on which way they traveled.

The Patriarchs of Israel would have had the same standing as a Pharaoh of Egypt or any other national ruler even before Israel became a nation.

We might understand that God was much closer to Jacob than we understand by the Scriptures.

Jacob the last of the Patriarchs and the father of the nation of Israel.

Jacob had always thought he would die without his children, but now all his sons and so many more, accompanied his body to be buried with his own fathers.

We should remember the Egyptians had no love for the Hebrews, in fact much hatred even at this time, the main reason the family of Jacob was kept separated from the Egyptians and most of that hatred was over a cow because the Egyptians worshipped the cow.

In many ways Jacob had prepared his own funeral and had given specific instructions for his burial.

This was a great procession with all the sons of Jacob all Jacob’s house except the small children but all the elders of Egypt, including the council to Pharaoh.

We can be sure there was a great military presence also with chariots and Calvary.

This thing did not even begin until after 72 days of mourning were over. This thing was treated as a royal funeral.

Much different from the three-hour rush to get the Lord Jesus Christ, the true King, into His grave, but He did not need it but for three days and the bones of Jacob are still in his grave.

The body of Jacob was embalmed so he could make this trip as was Joseph’s.

Jacob was buried with his fathers because they all had the same hope of the “Resurrection”!

Gen 50:13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

And Joseph and his family returned to Egypt.

Gen 50:14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

The brothers of Joseph did not know what would happen to them after the death of their father, so they confronted Joseph on this issue.

*Gen 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
Gen 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

In these last few lessons we have followed the life of Joseph and it can be said the Joseph had integrity.

Integrity can be said to possess a sound mind, moral soundness, purity, in-corruptness, uprightness, and of sound moral character.

We can see that God knows those who will stick by Him no matter what happens in their personal life.

Joseph was bold when he said he belonged to God and he was just a man as they were.

As Christians we can say we belong to God and any goodness others see in us, is because we belong to God.

Joseph was not in the place of God nor did he mean it this way as he tells them.

*Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Gen 50:21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Joseph said do not brag on me but brag on our Lord and Savior.

Psa 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Psa 105:18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Psa 105:19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Psa 105:20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
Psa 105:21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:
Psa 105:22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

We, as Christians, are not better than any other human being, but by the “Grace of God”.

Act 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

We are still dirty rotten sinners saved by God’s “Grace” and only then because we have accepted the work of the Lord Jesus Christ toward our salvation.

We are nothing without Jesus!

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.

Joseph felt exactly the same because he knew this truth. He was nothing with the Lord!

What are our instructions?

1Th 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1Th 5:16 Rejoice evermore.
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1Th 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
1Th 5:20 Despise not prophesyings.
1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1Th 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord makes it simple for us, when He says, His disciples obey His commandments!

Joh_8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Again Jesus Keeps it very simple!

Joh_13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

What is wrong with us today? We need more Jesus!

Amen