BOTH TO DO AND TEACH #2
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
