Acts 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.
Our question is not, “HAS Christ Ascended?” Of course he has! Everyone knows that. That is a well established fact. But our question is, “IS Christ Ascended?” That is, Is he the ascended Lord and Ruler in your heart? Have you come beyond the realm of the factual; beyond the realm of the literal, and on into the realm of the experiential? Is Christ reigning and ruling in your heart?
One of the things not often considered is that although Christ showed himself alive by many infallible proofs, yet he only did so to a selected group! Acts 10:40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; 41 Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. We must remember that he said to us, Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. (John 14:19).
You see, receiving eternal life is the result of seeing the Son! John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. Therefore you can now realize the importance of the meaning of our title. For if you have been given spiritual sight to become aware of the Lord Christ as exalted Savior, you are a regenerate soul! 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
This is the importance of Luke listing out by name those that were involved in witnessing the ascension in verse thirteen of our chapter. The Apostle Paul also, knowing the importance of a spiritual view of the resurrection and ascension, gives us a broader list in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8. Therefore, as already noted, it was not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God! Not to “people!” But to “witnesses!” And only those are fashioned witnesses upon whom the Holy Ghost has come, revealing Christ! Acts 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.
And those chosen ones sit spiritually in heavenly places in Christ Jesus! (Ephesians 2:6). But exaltation always comes from humiliation! Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Matthew 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Consider also these verses: Philippians 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Let us now consider that Christ is only ascended to those:
…Gazing upward from the mount! – See verses 11 & 12 in our above listed scripture. It is amazing how many people in our day are “going to heaven” from funeral homes who never had any previous consciousness of Christ! Somehow we have completely left the importance of being born spiritually, and have come to believe that being dead physically gets one into heaven! It would seem that the funeral director now has more power than does the gospel preacher!
Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. It is not that any should be literally gazing up into heaven, peering into the clouds! For that is what the two angels called the disciples away from. But it is that Christian attitudes and activities reflect one whose heart is aware of having to give account of himself at the appearing of the Sovereign Christ!
Joseph was such a man! He was far from home. No one in Egypt knew him. They didn’t even speak his language! There was no e-mail, nor postal mail service. There were no telephones. So none could tell his parents what he was doing! But when his boss’s wife tempted him, his response was, how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? (Gen. 39:9). God consciousness is a great deterrent against sin!
2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. The eye of faith brings one into an other world consciousness! Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
But what about the above statement that these aware of Christ having ascended in their hearts are “gazing upward from the mount?” Here too we are speaking of the spiritual position of the regenerate – the born again children of God. For they are seeing spiritual matters such as the present reign of Christ in their hearts from sanctified ground!
The Holy Savior, the Lamb of God had sanctified this ground with both his prayers and his blood! Luke 22:39 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
What greater place can the believer see Christ, the ascended Lord, than from the place of His intercession for them to the Father? To have been made aware that the only thing saving us from Satan’s power are the prayers of our dear Lord is certainly an elevated place within the believer’s awareness! Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Dear soul, the only difference between the denying Judas and the denying Peter are the prayers of the Lord Jesus! {For his intercession reveals his sovereign election! John 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.} And from where does Christ send forth his prayers of intercession for us, but from his exalted position! Romans 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.
And need we say much concerning his blood that was spilt on this mount? It was the blood of his redemptive labor! It was the blood of sweat exacted upon him by our curse! Our sin grew the thorns platted around his holy brow! (Genesis 3:17-19). And shall not our worshipful, longing gaze upon such a heavenly place as that grant us the view that Stephen had just before the stones crashed into his face and head? Acts 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, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
…whom heavenly messengers were sent to direct them on to the greater glory! Christ was ascended. The disciples would not leave the spot. With Peter’s nature to build tabernacles and stay in that one spot where glory had been revealed, (Matt. 17:4), effectual messengers of the Lord were needed to direct the sheep from the pasture of Olivet into the greener pasture of Jerusalem!
O! Our Olivets! How precious have they been to our weary souls! We have been through times of great fear; through times of sinful denials; through times of seeing our Hope crucified before our eyes while there was not one thing we could do about it! But now, we abide in our Olivet, that glorious, peaceful garden where we had been led by the merciful, forgiving Savior many times before. How can we leave this garden sanctified by his prayers and blood? Have we not all had times of temporary refreshing for the Lord, that like that child’s seldom obtained piece of candy, we want to savor on our tongue for as long as possible?
And sometimes does not the voice questioning our presently being lost in that unbelievable happening which we had been chosen before of God to witness, seem almost wrong? But there it was; an insistent refusal to allow us to even mark the place where his holy feet once stood! There is was; a prodding of our soul’s to leave our Olivet and press on, back to the place of his death. We must leave our Olivet and return to his Jerusalem. But little then did we know of the greater glory that would be ours there! How short lived are some of the glorious blessing of God. And how soon we are redirected back to the realm of reality, unaware that the Lord has a greater revelation of himself awaiting us there!
John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. 22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
But those messengers did not deny us what we know we saw! They did direct us from our Olivet. But they did so without damage to our vision! They did say, this same Jesus that ye have seen go into heaven! These are then those watchers of spiritual matters. Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
These are those who watch for your souls! Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
These are not just those who write religious editorials in their study’s and come to the pulpit like a newscaster to sound forth opinions. These are those who are messengers! These are those encased within white garments fit for standing in the presence of God! These are those interpreters, one among a thousand! Job 33:16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, 17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. 23 If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: 24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
… Who worship Christ with joy! Luke 24:51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: 53 And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
Some wonder why there is no spiritual worship in today’s church. No problem there. For not all church members are born again Christians! Not everyone who can pass a written test on the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ have experienced it in their hearts! Romans 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.
But all those spiritually resurrected, regenerate souls go on their way rejoicing with the Holy Spirit within them!
Pastor Gene Breed, May 17, 2012

Acts 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
I have often read in this first chapter of the Book of Acts, and just as many times, read right past this precious verse, unable to see it’s treasure. May our Lord ever continue to have patience and grant us spiritual revelation of his glorious word!
Just as the Lord locked down the understanding of regeneration to be forever associated with the natural birth in John chapter three, so here he now reveals spiritual baptism (regeneration) to be linked to water baptism! For the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not something to be added to salvation! It IS salvation! Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And with that thought we begin to see the content of this little verse open up!
Two Baptisms:
The two individuals mentioned in this verse, John the Baptizer, and the Holy Ghost, both have their work described by the two words, baptized with! John is said to have baptized with WATER! And we read in Matthew 3:11 that it was unto repentance! But of the second phrase, baptized with, we find to be an immersion into the Holy Ghost! The first was set forth to prepare the people for the coming of the kingdom. The latter was to actually place one into that spiritual kingdom! Titus 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;
Therefore when the scriptures refer to baptism in a way of saving the soul, they cannot simply be speaking of just immersion into water! For water baptism apart from the Spirit’s regeneration only changes one from a dry sinner into a wet sinner! Hence the following verses cannot possibly be speaking only of a water baptism for regeneration! Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. We must understand that our Lord has set forth both together, therefore neither opposes the other! The baptism of the Holy Ghost is the new birth. And the baptism of water is the physical witness of that invisible work. It is also a washing of the newly born soul into a life of fiery trials as a living sacrifice!
There seems to be a vast amount of darkness as to the Old Testament origin of New Testament baptism. But if we keep in mind that John’s was only a baptism unto repentance, (Matt. 3:11), we come to understand that it was a matter of a God-required preparation. For the effectual call of the Holy Spirit into the life of Christ is always, without a single exception, into a sacrificial life! The believer is called into the fellowship of his (Christ’s) sufferings. (Phil. 3:10). 1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
And he is led into the life of a living sacrifice! Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
And not only is he called to live in his body and spirit as now belonging only to God by Christ’s purchase on the cross, (Acts 20:28), and also live a sacrificial life, dying daily, (2 Corin. 4:10-11), but those trials are to be of a fiery nature! 1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
And just where do we first find all these things (i.e. death, washings, fire), required in the revelation of God? – When they are all considered together they sound like an Old Testament sacrifice! They sound like a burnt offering! In fact, Smith’s Bible Dictionary states: “The meaning of the whole burnt offering was that which is the original idea of all sacrifice, the offering by the sacrificer of himself, soul and body, to God—the submission of his will to the will of the Lord.”
That being the case, let us ask but one question. What God-required preparation was made before the sacrifice was placed into the fire? Let me let you read it for yourself in the Holy Scriptures!
Exodus 29:17 And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head. 18 And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Leviticus 8:21 And he washed the inwards and the legs in water; and Moses burnt the whole ram upon the altar: it was a burnt sacrifice for a sweet savour, and an offering made by fire unto the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
The answer to our question as to what preparation was made to the sacrifice before it was put into the fire is clear! It had to be washed in water! And therefore since the New Testament believer is called into the life of a living sacrifice, to bear fiery trials, the Lord has ordained baptism in water to reveal the type of life which shall be lived in the Holy Ghost! He is to be buried with Christ, signified by going out of sight into the water, and is to be raised again in Christ as he comes up out of the water, never to live for himself again! And as becoming completely soaked in the water changes his appearance, so now old things are passed away and all things now become new!
Therefore now let us read that Matthew 3:11 verse to which we have previously alluded to twice in this article. Matt. 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: There is both the baptism into water of John and the baptism of fire into the Holy Ghost!
Two Persons:
We must not lose sight of the fact that there are not only Two Baptisms referred to in our verse, but also there are Two Persons who are baptizing! One is a man (John), and is a highly visible character on the stage of religion, and the other is very God (the Holy Ghost), and is invisible! And it is these two persons who come to set forth both the baptism of water and the spiritual baptism of regeneration!
Years before these two come to the public launching of the display of their unique part of baptism, the Holy Ghost had overshadowed the virgin Mary (Lk. 1:35), and had brought forth the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ into his human body. And as He is the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (1 Tim. 2:5), He mediates between our Two Persons listed in this verse to effect that first launching!
John 1:31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
And if you but read the next few verses in the fourth chapter of the Book of Matthew, you will see the beginning of the fiery trials to which this Lamb of God was called! But he was first made known to mankind, (even to John himself), and prepared for his life of sacrifice by being washed in the waters of John’s baptism. John had the privilege of being God’s priest to wash the Lamb of God in preparation for the burnt offering! Here heaven’s three witnesses are manifest! 1 John 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
And here the three witnesses on earth are begun to be brought forth! 1 John 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. For the blood of the Lamb shall forever seal the two other of earth’s witnesses – the water for the washing of the sacrifice, and the Spirit of regeneration for the fashioning of the life of Christ within the heart of every believer! Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
In John thirteen we find our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, washing his apostles’ feet in preparation for their walking in their sacrificial lives for the launching of his kingdom! And we are deeply grateful to the reluctant Peter for resisting this washing! For he rebelliously states in his ignorance of that which is taking place, Thou shalt never wash my feet. (John 13:8). And this required the response from our Lord which is the reason we are indebted to Peter’s reluctance. For our Lord, the Lord and King of the Eternal Kingdom, the High Priest of all regenerate souls, makes an emphatic statement. He, in that very same verse states, If I wash thee not, thou hast no art with me. Hence we come to realize the absolute importance the Lord God places on these baptisms!
For he was not here establishing human humility in an ordinance of foot washing, but was teaching on a much higher elevation of spiritual consciousness. He even tells Peter, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. For the disciples understood not a great many things until after Jesus was glorified! (John 12:16). But that same apostle would come to fully understand these matters after the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost. And then he and the other apostles did come to know the meaning of that foot washing was to prepare souls for their life of fiery trials also!
Just listen to Peter after he has come to see, not just by faith, but now by experience that as he was washed for sacrifice, so he has come to know that he is doing the same to those who believe his gospel! 1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
He now come to see the glory in those sufferings. And he now comes to fully appreciate Christ’s washing of his feet after the Holy Ghost had washed his heart!
Pastor Gene Breed. May 8, 2012

Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

Resurrection Priorities

You’re back from the dead! The doctors restarted your heart in the Emergency Room after a coronary episode. Machines were attached to you for the functioning of your vital organs. And it was doubtful for a few days as you lay in ICU whether you were going to survive or not.
Your family gathered in the ICU waiting room in order to visit you, two at a time, at the designated hours. Your mate has gotten out the will, called the funeral home, and searched for those elusive insurance policies.
But you survived! Now you’re back home, virtually from the dead! Your strength is coming back as the physical therapist comes to the house and works with you each week. Your priorities are now different! You’re eating differently and seriously exercising. But what do you do now? Do you take that long awaited trip to get away from all stress? Do you contact distanced family members? Do you try to reestablish relationships, formally considered hopeless and without value?
The Lord Jesus Christ is back from the dead! He has met with two of his straying sheep on the Emmaus road, turning them back into the fold by revealing himself to be the bread of God, by breaking their natural bread for them. (Luke 24:30-31). Then he appeared to his disciples gathered in Jerusalem. (Luke 24:36). And in our above listed verses we find that, even up to the time of his departure point, he will not leave them for his long awaited trip back to the Father, until after he has given them his kingdom commandments through the Holy Ghost! He was still blessing them as he was carried up! Luke 24:51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
What wondrous love is this? O my soul! What a life lived for his sheep! He will not leave them without his unending love expressing itself in teachings that can only have righteous meaning as he finally dwells on glorious resurrection ground! But his priorities are not different. They’re just progressing to their designed end! For he never quits doing what he always did! All things are done for their edification!
John 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 1 Corinthians 14:26 … Let all things be done unto edifying.
What an amazing loyalty is shown by the Person of the Living Word to deny himself those glorious pleasures in the Father’s presence, to recover those precious delights, basking in his love that he had with him before the world began! Proverbs 8:30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; John 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. 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.
We cannot imagine such wonderful things as he would experience as the God man, to first bring humanity to stand on its own merit into the presence of the Ancient of days! (Daniel 7:13). Yet he remained for forty days after his resurrection, assuring his church that he was alive from the dead, before he ascended.

The Apostle’s Priority

And this was the consuming spirit of others of his disciples! For they too had the Spirit of Christ! They too stand on spiritual resurrection ground! For regeneration is being raised from the death of trespasses and sins! John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.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. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
And whether that Spirit indwells either Incarnation, or regeneration, He always acts in each within the nature of His own holy character! Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Listen as the Apostle Peter expresses the exact same urgency of purpose in his own ministry, prior to his being taken from natural life. 2 Peter 1:13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; 14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. 15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. 16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. In these words you can also clearly see his ardent desire to continue a ministry to the church after his death.
And the Apostle Paul was willing to delay gaining his eternal glory in order to teach the elect of God! Phil. 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. 23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
What glorious, self sacrificing commands are these! For the Apostle Paul had also been caught up to the third heaven. He had actually, like Enoch, walked so closely with the Lord in the Spirit, that he had been swept up into the glories of eternity! But listen to that in which he was most thankful! – not that unbelievably marvelous experience, – but in the afflictions and infirmities of the cross that fitted him to better serve the church!
2 Corinthians 12:1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

Moses’ Law & Christ’s Truth

The two mediators by whom the Lord gave his law were Moses and Christ Jesus. Moses was A son of God, but the Lord Jesus was God, THE Son! John 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Moses’ law was a law written in stone, which, of itself, changed no man when he had heard it! Hebrews 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. Galations 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. It could only bring in condemnation, but never regeneration!
But Christ’s perfect law of liberty , which is the gospel made effectual by the Holy Spirit, then has that effectual result, being mixed with the grace of faith in them that hear it! Hebrews 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
And Moses was setting forth God’s instructive word. But Christ was setting forth and actually declaring (that is, bringing God out into the open to be seen) God, the eternal Word! Christ, through the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:2), was writing the character of God, the Word, upon the fleshly tables of the hearts of those whom he had chosen!
James 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
We still don’t seem to understand that true salvation – true spiritual life, does never come by education, which only illuminates! It only comes by revelation, which enlivens! That, dear reader, is why he speaks of the true, spiritually enlivened believer as doing truth (John 3:21), and not as one “doing good.” For the kingdom is not just in words memorized in the head, but is of the power of the Holy Spirit effectually applying the Word-Person to the heart! 1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
True salvation, like the effect of the gospel is by the revelation of the Person of God! John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. The Apostle Paul did not say, “I know WHAT I have believed.” He clearly stated, “I know WHOM I have believed!” (2 Tim. 1:12).
It would seem that if those who assume themselves to be “gospel preachers” knew these basic, essential things, they would quit writing editorials in their study’s, bringing them to the pulpit, and reading them word for word, expecting salvation and edification to result! For we do not need to hear more opinions about the gospel, but the gospel itself, preached under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

The King’s Definitions

We notice in verse nine of this first chapter of Acts that it was when he had spoken these things … He was taken up. And just what were the “things” which he concerned himself with? He, as King of all kings, laid out unto the apostles whom he had chosen the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. (v.3). For it is the king alone who establishes the character and nature of his kingdom!
And in verses seven and eight of this passage he lays out for them the understandings of the kingdom’s power. First he tells them of the things which the Father hath put in his own power. There are things dangerous to the children which are useful to the family when used by the mature hands of the parents. And the children of the kingdom need be instructed concerning this also. Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Then in the next verse he instructs them as to how they shall receive power. It shall be afforded them as the promise of the Father. And for this they must exercise that which is to sustain and contain their souls! – Patience! Luke 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls. For waiting on the Lord shall be a life long discipline in the christian experience. Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. But it is not an easy thing to do. It will necessitate the burning out of inordinate affections. Psalm 69:3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. But only therein is the final attainment of salvation! Matt. 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. (That word endureth is the exact same Greek word translated patient in Romans 12:12.)
Therefore their patient endurance shall grant them, not the power of the Father, but the promise of the Father. And that which was promised, being the Person of the Holy Spirit, shall afford them their own power!
Pastor Gene Breed

2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Living in a consciousness outside of reality; conscious that reality is everyone else’s “real;” conscious that it was once mine as well! Realizing that this “outside” consciousness is where all is destined, and shall in its true reality present eternity to all. For all things shall be made new. Revelation 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
And that new reality shall perfect all present spirituality. For we shall be brought finally and completely to God, who is spirit. And he seeks only such to worship him. John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
We even now look not at that which is seen, but at that which is invisible. But that which is now invisible shall then be the visible forever! And that which is now seen shall be done away with forever! For that which the Apostle Paul was made conscious of in his transition into the third heaven was of no edifying use to those bound by present reality! 2 Corin. 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Even the resurrected Christ, upon his ascension, had to leave us in the care of the Holy Spirit for our transition up to both his presence and likeness later! For we, by the Spirit, are being made more and more like him, and not him like unto us!
And it shall be that one glimpse of him in that eternal glorious state shall change us every one into the reality of his glorious consciousness! 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
For it was “seeing” the Son by the eye of faith that caused us to have effectual belief! John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. It was seeing his glory that granted the disciples belief! John 2:11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
It is always that spiritual sight, that living in a consciousness outside reality, which grants soul changing sanctification! 2 Corin. 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. And the knowledge of the glory is only seen in his face revealed to us. 2 Corin. 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
So on the very first eternal day, faith, which sees the invisible (Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.), shall be changed to sight; that is, the sight which is then eternal consciousness! 1 Corin. 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Bro. Gene Breed. April 10, 2012.

Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

The Pattern of the True Church

The Lord God, in his infinite wisdom determined to ‘infect’ a fallen mankind with the revelation of himself, overriding their natural birth and ‘re-birthing’ some by his own seed imparted within them! And that ‘seed’ is Christ! Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
And that interjection of himself would be accomplished by two things: – doing and teaching! – example and instruction! For only in this way would the character of God be manifest, both in Incarnation and regeneration! For that which God is, Christ is! John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
And that which Christ is, the regenerate believer is! Galatians 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. 1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. It is a spiritual birth. It is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit of God, making application of the accomplished redemption of the God-man and his resurrected life! For salvation is a resurrection!
For Christ, by the effectual call of the gospel, raises to life those previously dead in trespasses and sins! (Ephesians 2:1). John 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. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead (those remaining in unbelief after being evangelized), lived not again until the thousand years (a term signifying the entire church age), were finished. This is the first resurrection. (That is, the spiritual raising by the new birth of those formally dead in trespasses and sins!) 6 Blessed and holy (This resurrection of regeneration renders one spiritual! The resurrected one becomes blessed! He becomes holy, not glorified, as a result of this spiritual resurrection.), is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death (eternal damnation in hell), hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (For only regenerated, resurrected souls have the privilege to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus! – Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:).
This is why we have it stated in the manner recorded in the language of John 3:21. Consider these verses: John 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. In verse twenty we have the problem set forth: doing evil shuns the light of God, or rather, God, the Light. Therefore we would expect the following verse to tell us how to solve that problem! And so it does!
But in that next verse we do not read, “But he that doeth good!” And isn’t that to which our natural minds would gravitate? Wouldn’t that ‘handle’ the problem of doing evil? But that is not what we are brought to. That may be man’s logical conclusion, but it is not God’s! For, as previously stated, it is a “supernatural” birth! For we are not talking about bringing man to morality, but to righteousness! Therefore, the word used is not, ‘doeth good,’ but doeth truth! For doing man’s good can never result in regeneration! Only God’s imparting Christ, doing truth within the man by grace alone, grants him spiritual, everlasting life! Salvation is not a “make over!” It is a receiving an entirely new nature, by an entirely new birth!
For we are not just come to believe truths. That would simply make us religionists! But we are come to do truth, by the supernatural birth of the Spirit in order that we may follow in the character and example of Christ! For he did not just merely tell the truth! He IS the Truth! John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
And this is continued in the pattern of the church! Phil. 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. The Apostle Paul is here instructing that the continuance of true religion upon the earth will be by the exact same principles of faith set forth into action by the Lord Himself! For as the Lord Jesus did and taught – gave example with instruction, the true apostles did the same! For he instructs his followers to do that which they have both heard, and seen in me!
And as previously stated in our first article, that is how the gospel (NOT three points and a poem! But the supernatural revelation of Jesus Christ to the soul!), is continued to be passed down from one faith to another! Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
It was the same in the Old Testament as well! Never has the Lord, the Living Word, allowed himself to be represented as just a dead letter! For the letter killeth! It is only the spirit of the word which giveth life! (2 Corin. 3:6). Listen to his instruction to his prophet Ezekiel: And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel. (Ezekiel 40:4). The prophet was pointedly instructed, not only to behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, but also to set thine heart upon all that he was shown!
For it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaketh, but especially in the ministering of the gospel of the spiritual kingdom of Christ! God’s spirit-born creation has the effectual word to come from their hearts, through the mouth! Whereas most of the religious ‘information’ we receive today is from the brain through the mouth, and not the heart! And some of it seems as if it doesn’t even come from a logical brain! It is just a religious circus ‘barker’ trying to entice passers-by into his show! – God have mercy!
Our Lord instructs us that it is not one that says, Lord, Lord, that shall get into the kingdom. But it is the one that doeth the will of my Father. He calls religious persons who give instruction without example, workers of iniquity! (Read Matthew 7:21-23.)
Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Pastor Gene Breed
April 14, 2012

Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
What Is the Gospel?

The beloved and faithful physician, Luke, is here writing to his friend, Theophilus, concerning his former treatise, in order to extend it’s record and update him concerning the Spirit’s work. And in doing so he gives a most precise definition of the work of the Lord in providing us with the gospel. He states that his former treatise, which we know as the Gospel of Luke, was defined as all that Jesus began both to do and teach. And that is the inspired definition of the gospel! It is all Jesus did, and all that Jesus taught!
And of those things that the Lord did in his life, the Holy Spirit chose these precise acts and teachings to be made effectual in the bringing in the elect of God into believing faith! John 20:30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Religion however says that “the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.” But those are facts contained in the gospel! The gospel is the revelation of the Person of God! John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And how was it that the apostles informed those after the very first Christian sermon on Pentecost that they might be saved, but by believing in that Person? Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
The Apostle Paul did not state, “I know WHAT I have believed!” He proclaimed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2 Tim. 1:12). For salvation is not in a memorized accumulation of religious rhetoric!
This alone insures us of receiving the pure and certain effect of the gospel in our day! Just look at what religion has done in twisting and polluting the blessed scriptures to justify their man-made beliefs! So how do you think you have received the purity of the same gospel as Christ set forth? And if it is not pure, how do you think it to have the desired effect of the salvation of your immortal soul?
It has to be that the Holy Spirit keeps it entirely and exclusively in his control! John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
And the Spirit sends it forth by one believer, to whom he has granted faith, preaching it to another one of the elect, to whom the Spirit grants faith as he hears with the newly awakened inner ear! Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Therefore the gospel’s purity and effect is maintained entirely in, and by the Holy Spirit!
1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Hebrews 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation (manner of life).

This Only Is True Faith!

True faith, wherein we understand spiritual matters, and wherein we only can please God, (Heb. 11:3a,6), is a gift granted to the true church. Jude 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. And that faith is always, and only, an active faith! There is no other kind of true faith! It must follow the guideline of Christ Jesus, the author of faith! (Heb. 12:2). Therefore it will also do and teach! It will also obey and witness! It cannot be dormant!
James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Hence, we see that Christ, faith’s author, set forth faith in his absolute obedience to the Father! And we see that as we only live by his faith, (the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,… Gal. 2:20), then we will also be living the christianity to which we witness!
And the true believer does not “try” to witness. He IS a witness! Acts 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. They are salt! They are light! One cannot hide the indwelling Spirit and character of Christ! Neither can one fully imitate Christ who does not possess the Spirit! 1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
THIS ‘doing while teaching’ is the commission of our commander-in-chief to us all! Matt. 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 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: 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. The underlined portion of this commission does not just mean that we must only teach the content of his revelation to us! It does mean that! But it also means that we are to be obeying the things he has commanded us, as we teach others to obey! In that way only are we obedient to his commission. And in that way only can we expect our witness to go forth with power!
One of the great soul damning procedures of Satan in his use of the Whore church is to put Pharisees in Moses seat. He puts men of sin in the temple of god, who show themselves to be as god! Our Lord gave explicit instructions concerning this situation. Matthew 23:1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
These hypocrites little realize themselves to be enemies of the gospel! For they have a lip service of the same jargon as other religious spokespersons. But they do not have the works of the Spirit – that is, the ‘doing,’ to make effectual their teaching! Titus 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Luke Received It This Way!

The writer of both the Gospel of Luke and The Acts of the Apostles gives full testimony that he most certainly received the effectual call of the gospel in this manner! Listen to his written testimony: Luke 1:1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
Luke says that those who delivered the gospel unto him were both eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word! They actually saw what they said, and they said what they saw! So did the Lord Jesus! He said he was the Bread of life! So everyone who was hungry, both physically and spiritually, were fed by him! Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
And what was the result for Luke? He continues in verse three to state that he was given a perfect understanding from the very first. Not that he possessed immediately upon his spiritual birth the full knowledge of all mysteries. But his knowledge was pure and without error as given him by the Holy Ghost! (A baby is every bit as much human as his grandfather. He just lacks maturity.) We find this same matter in John’s first epistle. 1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
And Luke then declares that it was only in this state that he determined to write in order these things to his friend Theophilus! For this was in the form in which he personally obtained faith, therefore he wishes his fried to receive it in that same order, so that he too might be assured of the certainty of them!
Therefore Luke, being not an apostle, but a Gentile physician, (see Col. 4:14. And see that he was not listed in with those of the circumcision in Col. 4:11), received the gospel by the very eyewitnesses of these things. That was the changing point of his life. In that preaching, the Holy Spirit quickened him to Christ! Then he turns around and relates the exact same things to his friend! And that is how the gospel has come to us! Believers moved by the power of Christ’s witness to their hearts have brought the gospel to us. And now we do the same for others also.
And that same Jesus is still mighty in word and deed to us today, just as he was while on earth! Luke 24:18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
Dear Reader, it is clearly stated that the kingdom of God is not sustained and extended by words alone! But it must be by the power of the Holy Spirit through words. 1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. For without the Spirit we are just talking people into joining in with our flavor of religion! Their “faith” then only stands in the wisdom of men, and not in the kind of power with God to which Luke gives personal witness!
1 Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
You will be hard pressed to find a preacher with this testimony today! Most try to be more like Solomon, wanting you to understand that they know everything from the hyssop that grows in the cracks of the wall of Jerusalem, to the great cedars that grow in Lebanon! They want to use the pulpit to display their intellectual superiority over you!
But this great man, the Apostle Paul, who wrote almost 2/3’s of the New Testament, and sat under one of the greatest religious minds of his day – are you ready for this? – determined not to know! Wow! He was sent, not to Jerusalem to become a ‘parrot,’ but into the Arabian wilderness to unlearn religion and obtain an effectual cross in order to be a ‘voice!’ We have so many parrots in the pulpits. They just say what Spurgeon, Calvin, and Luther said! ‘Polly’ may get a cracker every time she mimics the sounds, “Polly wants a cracker.” But she doesn’t understand her own ‘language.’ She just knows that if she makes these sounds, she gets some food!
No wonder we have so many lost church members among us! But at least these preachers have work and are getting a cracker. We are helping the unemployment situation whether we are being used effectually in bring any Luke’s into a more perfect understanding!
Pastor Gene Breed. April 6, 2012

Joshua 24:22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. 23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. 24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. 27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. 28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.

The commander of the Lord’s armies has called all Israel together for the last time. He will shortly pass off the scene, so Joshua uses this opportunity to instill faithfulness and commitment to the Lord’s name. And he calls them together to Shechem, not to Shiloh, where the tabernacle is pitched.

And here in this account, recorded for us in the above listed passage, we find three things Joshua uses to confirm that covenant of loyalty. There is the book of the law of God, a great stone, and an oak.

The book of the law of God: Please notice that it states that Joshua wrote THESE WORDS in the book of the law of God! What words? The words of the people’s public confession that they will always follow the Lord and his law! For here, not only are the words from God to the people penned, but also the words from the people to the Lord are therein inscribed!

For not only do we read of God’s word judging us; John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

But we also read of our own words being noted by God upon which our judgment is being prepared! But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. (Matt. 12:36-37).

Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. (Mal. 3:16).

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Rev. 20:12).

The essence of the book is the revelation of the Person of the Word! Hebrews 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Luke 24:44 These are the words which I spake unto you, … all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

In our verse twenty five we read a very important phrase, and set them a statute and an ordinance. This phrase is also recorded in Exodus 15:25. This is at the very heart of a covenant! For the statute was the “enacting of laws cut in stone or metal tablets.” (Strong). It was the decree of the person, or persons, to live according to that inscribed pledge before God! (See Josh 24:1). And the ordinance was the privilege from God, in response to that commitment. It is the same word translated due, in Deuteronomy 18:3, and, the right of, in Deuteronomy 21:17.

In Exodus 15:23-26 we find that the surface issue of not having proper water to drink was that which brought Israel to attend to the statute, to diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord, and do that which is right in his sight. Then the Lord would grant them the right of never having any of the diseases of Egypt to come upon them.

And this then being such a serious covenant, or contract, between the two parties of Israel and God, Joshua writes within the pages of  the book of the law of God!

A great stone: We are familiar with the references of God’s being the rock of our salvation (Psa. 95:1). And we know of the words of 1 Corinthians 10:4 that plainly states that the Rock of the wilderness, that followed them was Christ! Please also revisit 1 Peter 2:4-10 in which we see individual believers listed as lively stones, and to Christ as a chief corner stone.

But what we don’t want you to miss are the words in our verse 27 which state that their stone hath heard all the words of the LORD! Therefore we have made our confessions, and our profession of Christ before the “living stones” of the other members of His body! And we have done so, as well in the hearing of the Person of Christ Himself!

And we would do well to understand that those words, it hath heard, are from the exact same Hebrew word translated, will we obey in verse 24 of our passage. For there is a rightful expectation both from other believers, and from the Lord Jesus himself, that we should keep the words of this covenant! For if there’s anything needed among professing believers in this age of trucebreakers (2 Tim. 3:3), it is a consistent, stedfast submission to our personal covenant with God! Strong says that these two phrases mean, “to hear with implication to obedience!”

An oak: Joshua raises the great stone up under this tree in Shechem. Why in Shechem and not back in Shiloh, where the tabernacle resides? And if the tabernacle was not here in Shechem, why is the oak  said to be by the sanctuary of the LORD?

First it was the place sanctified by Abram’s worship at the first appearing of God to him. Genesis 12:6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

Secondly, it was the place where Jacob, (soon to be renamed, Israel), on his way to raise up an altar at Bethel at God’s command, purged his household from all idols, burying them under THE oak which was by Shechem! Therefore it was a place sanctified by its usage!

Genesis 35:1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

We call our meeting rooms “sanctuaries.” But this is only true if we set them aside for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to impart Christ to us through the spiritual revelation in preaching. But we drag dead bodies into them for “funerals.” We all stand to honor a bride, giving her more honor at one of her several weddings than we do Christ. And we use them for political and social meetings, and then wonder that we don’t have a revival of God’s glory among us!

But this place was a sanctified place! It was the place of THE oak of Shechem where Jacob cleansed himself and his household of idolatry on his way to worship at Bethel, which means, “the house of God.” And dear reader, did not we go by way of THE tree of Calvary and tear the idols from our hearts, on our way to dwell in the house of the Lord forever?

And now our heavenly Joshua has raised up the great stone of our public commitment to Christ over those idols! And now as “all things have become new,” we have no desire to dig them up again! That is our statute! And his ordinance is his pledge to see that we have everlasting life, never to every finally fall away!

1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

Pastor Gene Breed

Joshua 21:1 Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel; 2 And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle. 3 And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.
Isn’t this always the way it is with us as well? The warfare in Canaan had ended. Everyone else had received their portions of real estate. But then the Levites had to come remind those in charge that they had been overlooked and left out of their rightful place! For did we not have an earlier time, after regeneration, of greater spiritual vitality that gradually came to be set aside as we engaged in the warfare of life? And are we not now needful to hear the Spirit say to our spiritual man, Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love? (Rev. 2:4).
And this pattern is also set forth to us, to caution us not to forget the spiritual matters of the worshipful heart. 1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. The Apostle Peter informs us that we shall suffer for a while, but then be made complete, mature, or using his word, perfect! We need to be continually watchful that after all other matters are settling in our walk with the Lord, we don’t fall asleep, which even the wise virgins did!
James also informs us that our faith is made perfect after being coupled with the works which the Lord has ordained! (Eph. 2:10). Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? (James 2:22). Did you ever notice that after their personal “issue” of faith, that biblical personality brought to our attention by the Spirit, then passes off the pages of the Scriptures? Abraham lives many years after the issue of faith has passed on to Isaac. We only have a certain amount of alloted days upon this earth. Let us make sure that our latter times are like the righteous who flourish like the palm tree. For they still bring forth fruit in old age! (Psalm 92:12-14).
And the final word spoken by the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church was that they should be perfect. 2 Corin. 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. He could have spoken of many different things that he wanted them to attain, or shun, as he left them, never to return. But the one thing he spoke of was for them to come to a final perfection before the Lord. For they would see him no more, but the Lord would ever be with them! Therefore we see that this is a time to carefully guard against indifference concerning our spiritual being.
Two Necessary Things
Before we are brought to the subject of the last three verses in this chapter of the rest the Lord affords his people, we find two things needful in order to finally come to this sabbath rest. And these two things are still essential today for coming to our desired rest and the true spiritual worship of our dear Lord.
First, as we have seen in a previous article, in chapter twenty of Joshua, wherein the cities of refuge were afforded for the ‘accidental’ murderer, we must come to the personal experience of mercy granted in the awareness of justice! And as previously stated, justice has no mercy, and but mercy never sets justice aside. One may receive mercy who only deserves justice, but in doing so, justice must be satisfied!
One of the greatest questions of all is, how can God forgive the sinner and remain just? The sinner is justified freely by his grace. But grace being free to him, certainly is not cheap for God! For God cannot just arbitrarily forgive a sinner. That would make him an accomplice in the sinners crime! The sinner receives the mercy, but justice crys out for satisfaction!
Therefore we read that the sinner can only receive grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 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; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Rom. 3:24-26).
God forgave the sinner, but God did not forgive the sin without the Lamb of God having to pay for it, in order to satisfy the justice of God! THIS is the glorious mystery of the gospel! THIS is the only way a sinner can come to God, so that God does not become a co-conspirator!
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
That, dear reader, is the greatest word in the entire bible! “Satisfaction!” Talk of mercy, and we should, but it cannot be experienced except with the satisfaction of God’s justice! Talk of regeneration, of sanctification, of the Incarnation, of whatever true christian doctrine you please, but none can be known, theoretically, or personally, apart from the satisfaction of God! Blessed be God and the Lamb forever!
Therefore only that soul who has come to a personal experience with justice crying out for his blood, but has been gloriously spared by receiving God’s mercy, can truly come to the spiritual sabbath of soul rest, both in time and in eternity, in Jesus Christ!
The Second Thing
Then in our chapter there is the second necessary thing! – “Don’t Forget Your Levite!” This was an early warning from the Lord! Deuteronomy 12:19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth. 14:27 And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.
Deuteronomy 26:12 When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; 13 Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
But just what does the Levite of ancient Israel have to do with your present spiritual walk in this age? Let us observe some things concerning the Levite.
First, he was come to be a Levite by birth alone! There was Abraham who begat Isaac. Then Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Levi! This was a man by a birth! It was not a club one could join! And the spiritual man within each and every true believer is existence only by being born again! John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
That inner, spiritual man is born of the sinless Spirit of God! 1 John 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. He came into being by a birth from above, just as the natural man came into being by a birth from the natural realm! John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Second, he dealt with the holy things of the Lord! Num. 1:48 For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying, 49 Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel: 50 But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. 51 And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. 52 And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. 53 But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.
In order to stay in a right relationship with the Lord God, the Levite had to provide things in a proper order for the worship of Israel! And the Lord is still seeking Levites for his proper worship today! John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Our land is filled with those describing themselves as going to “a worship service,” on certain prescribed days! But it is a vain effort, as there is no true Levite heart in them! Mark 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Third, His portion is only the Lord! Deuteronomy 18:1 The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: 2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.
Multitudes professing themselves as “Christians” in our land are filled with self, and expect their God to compensate their religious efforts. For a salvation by works thinks to put God in debt, and therefore seeks materialistic rewards! But the true Levite does not seek what God can give, but who God is! Romans 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
It is as the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:14; I seek not yours, but you! That is, I’m not trying to get your worldly possessions, but I’m seeking to benefit you with my spiritual gifts!
Fourth, the Levite eats of the holy things of God! Deuteronomy 18:1 The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire… That which the Levite carried home for supper that night for Mama and the kids were the very offerings brought by other Israelites to atone for their sins that day! Leviticus 7:32 And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. 33 He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for his part. 34 For the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons by a statute for ever from among the children of Israel.
Listen to 1 Samuel 2:13-14: And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; 14 And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.
Dear Soul, the Lord God didn’t go to all “the trouble” of the full configuration of the atonement in order to make you a “Calvinist,” or a “Sovereign Gracer!” But he did all in order for your spiritual man to actually feast off His very Self! You are to know him in that mystery of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. If you are not doing that, you have no Levite spirit within! For one absolutely must hunger and thirst after righteousness in order to establish that they are even born from above!
But this will separate the church boys from the spirit creations, whose first cry after their spiritual birth is Abba, Father! They, like the natural child return to the body that birthed them to find sustenance for their souls! John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 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.
John 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Pastor Gene Breed.

Joshua 11:15 As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses. 16 So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same; 17 Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. 20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
As we have previously stated, the man Joshua is a personal type of the Lord Jesus Christ. His Hebrew name in the Greek is Jesus. (See Acts 7:45; Heb. 4:8). And as Joshua leads the Old Testament people of Israel in the physical warfare with their enemies, so our Lord Jesus leads us in our spiritual warfare as the spiritual Israel today. Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 9:6 … For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
As dear Pastor Hubert Davis preached during the days of his earthly pilgrimage, “In the Old Testament we had the natural. In the New Testament we have the spiritual. And then in eternity we have the glorious!”
And the spiritual, born again believer is also a warrior! 2 Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
And we have a spiritual enemy! Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
We have spiritual weapons that are mighty through God! 2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; Read also Ephesians 6:10-18.
The church’s enemies first occupied their land! Genesis 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
In this verse the Lord was informing Abraham that his people would first spend 400 years in Egyptian bondage while these Amorites, that Joshua is now fighting, would be enjoying what would become Israel’s promised land! These Canaanites would be eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage in that land flowing with milk and honey!
Exodus 23:29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. And here the Lord is instructing Moses that they would most assuredly inherit the land, but only by little and little so that the wild beasts would not multiply against them. So we see that the enemies of the Lord occupied their promised land before them.
And so it is with the spiritual believer in this day of grace! For our minds and affections were long under the influences of an unregenerate spirit, before they were conquered by the Lord’s grace! 1 Corinthians 15:44 … There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
We were lost sinners before ever being conquered by the grace of Christ through the spirit of the gospel! Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation (that is, our manner of life), in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. For like the Canaanites dwelling in the future land of promise, we were lost sinners, then dwelling in physical bodies that would, one day be fashioned like unto his glorious body, after the last enemy of death is destroyed by the resurrection!
For whereas the unbelievers have no regard for their physical bodies after their death, choosing to burn them, the believers consider their bodied to be as seed, planted in the earth, to be raised a spiritual body, occupied throughout eternity! Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Phil. 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body …
Listen to the Lord Jesus speak of the death of his own body: John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Think about it! The physical resurrection of his body produced our justification! Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. And therefore our bodies are completely under his sovereign ownership! 1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 2 Corin. 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Therefore the church shall have War A Long Time with her enemies! Some wise, spiritual leader has long ago truthfully said, “A call to salvation is a call to dying!” Consider but these verses of Holy Writ: 2 Corinthians 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
For from those “remnants of corruption in every part, … ariseth a continual, and irreconcilable war;” (Philadelphia Confession of Faith of 1689, Chap. XIII, para. 2).
The kings … on the north. Be assured, dear reader that every individual believer, without exception, has a most intense and long struggle with just his indwelling corruptions! Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Just look at the Hebrew meaning of those words, on the north! We first see this word in Exodus two, verses two and three. In the former it is translated into English as, she hid him. Whereas in the latter it appears as, hide him. That same Hebrew word also appears in Job 20:26 as, in his secret places. For these sinful traits are characteristic of those of our very first parents who sewed fig leaves together in order to hide their nakedness from God! These are those deeply hidden sinful motions within each of us that we would rather just hide, than confront!
The Psalmist David wrote of this in the nineteenth psalm. For there we read, in verses 12 and 13, Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. He was justly fearful of those secret faults and those presumptuous sins! – And so should we all be!
For we all now know, by the evidence of the scriptures, and by years of religious teaching that Judas was a reprobate! But had you lived in his day, you would not have been so sure of that! For even the other disciples, the very Apostles themselves, never pointed one finger at him, but all said unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I? (Mark 14:19). For it is he that endureth to the end shall be saved. (Matt. 10:22). Therefore this constant warfare against remaining corruption is of great value to peace of heart and mind concerning our present spiritual state!
For growth in grace not only provides the evidence of spirituality, but also the prevention from the effect of unchallenged secret faults. 2 Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
It will be of great, eternal benefit for us to remain at War A Long Time against those inner forces that, without sustaining, effectual grace, will lead into realized reprobation! 2 Corin. 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 2 Corin. 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
The Apostle Peter also warns against presumption and self will. He, as did David, warns that they can lead to the forming of the reprobate! 2 Peter 2:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 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;
The human character, made in the image of God, has the privilege in Christ to rise far above all other forms of created existence! Psalm 8:6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: But man also, without effectual grace within, can fall into debauchery below that of the brute beasts! For complete submission to Christ is the evidence of indwelling grace. But arrogance and self will, presuming upon some religious performance is an evidence of dogs and sows, but never the Lord’s sheep! For the sheep have effectual hearing ears and following feet! John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And we find this to be one of the reasons that the Lord does not remove, but rather raises up, enemies to war against us! Deut. 7:22 And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. The human enemies (daily crosses), are to be contended with in order to prevent the much greater danger of contending with beasts (falling into reprobation)! That is how David proved to Saul that he could defeat the human giant, Goliath! It was because he had already defeated much more formable enemies in the lion and bear! (1 Sam. 17:34-36).
None shall enter eternal glory except by way of the cross! Matt. 18:7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
1 Peter 2:20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
But compared to the riches of being in God’s glorious presence eternally, these crosses are seen to be but a light affliction! 2 Corin. 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
These afflictions are temporary, but the glory is eternal! These afflictions are but exercises in faith. And that faith is but the bud that shall blossom into glory!
May the Lord God have mercy on us all!
Pastor Gene Breed.