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Tuesday, 20 January 2009
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Psalms 9 and 10
Jesus said, 'I did not come to judge the world. I came to save the world'. (John 12:47) (Judge here means say who is wrong.)
David probably wrote Psalms 9 and 10 as one psalm. The Jews thought that he wrote it after he killed Goliath. The first part says that God beat the foreign enemy (Psalm 9). The second part says that wicked men in Israel are making the helpless into oppressed people. (Psalm 10)The reasons for thinking that it was one psalm are:
· Psalm 10 has no words at the top about David or music. This is not usual in a psalm by David.
· Hebrew words that David did not often use are in Psalms 9 and 10.
· Psalms 9 and 10 make one acrostic.
Acrostic psalms use the Hebrew alphabet. The first bit starts with the first letter. The second bit starts with the second letter. This happens until the alphabet finishes. Look at Psalm 9 on the next page and you will understand. We have used English letters. These are not the same as Hebrew ones. After a time some of the letters became lost or mixed up! Also, the Jews decided to make them into 2 psalms. Some Christians have put them back together as one psalm, for example, some Roman Catholics.
It is difficult to write an acrostic psalm. The words sometimes go in a strange order. This makes them hard to understand. It may give you help if you change the order of the words. In verse 3 you could say "My enemies went back" instead of "Back my enemies went". It means the same.
Psalm 9
The leader (must use the music) 'Death to the son'.
(This is) a song of Davidv1 All my heart sings 'thank you' to the LORD.
I will tell (people) of all your wonderful work.v2 I will be very happy with you, (LORD). I will rejoice in you.
I will sing praises to your name, Most High God.v3 Back my enemies went,
they fell down. They died in front of you,v4 because you judged that what I did was right .
You sat on your throne. You made a righteous judgment.v5 Clearly you judged the nations and destroyed the wicked.
People will never remember their names.v6 You caught the enemy. You killed them.
You knocked down their cities. People will just forget them.v7 Evermore the LORD will rule.
He has built his throne. On it he will make his judgments.v8 He will make righteous judgments for the world.
His government will give justice to the people.v9 For the LORD is a place where the oppressed can hide.
He will be a fortress in times of trouble.v10 Everyone that knows your name (LORD) will put their trust in you.
LORD, you will never turn away from anyone that looks for you.v11 Go to the LORD with praises. His throne is in Zion.
Tell all the nations all that he has done.v12 (God) will remember the people that somebody murdered.
He will not forget the oppressed people that cry to him.v13 Have mercy on me, LORD.
See how my enemies make my life very difficult.
Make me safe from the gates of death.v14 Then I will tell your praises in the gates of Jerusalem.
I will rejoice that I am safe with you.v15 Into the hole that they dug the nations fell.
They caught their own feet in the net that they hid.v16 You will recognise the LORD by his justice.
The enemies of God will catch themselves in their own nets. HIGGAION SELAHv17 Just as the enemies of God go to Sheol,
so will all the nations that forget him.v18 Know this: God will not always forget the poor.
The oppressed will not have to hope for evermore.v19 LORD, stand up! Do not let men become too powerful.
Let the nations find justice before you.v20 LORD, make them afraid.
Make the nations know that they are only human. SELAHWord list
evermore ~ another word for always
oppressed ~ helpless people that wicked people hurt
HIGGAION ~ a place for happy music
fatherless ~ someone that has no father, usually a child
Other Acrostic Psalms
The psalms are Hebrew poetry. Poetry is when people write the words in a special way. They sound very beautiful. The Jews had a lot of rules for writing poetry. One was to make the ends of the words sound like each other. We call this "rhyming". Another rule was to make the ideas sound like each other. Look at Psalm 9: 8. The 2 parts of the verse mean the same. This often gives us help to understand and to translate a psalm.
Another way the Jews wrote poetry was to use an acrostic. This often Made the words come in the wrong order, like Psalm 9: 3. Not many of the psalms are acrostics. The most famous one is Psalm 119. The others are 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, and 145. We do not usually translate them into English as acrostics, because there are 26 letters in the English alphabet. There are only 22 in the Hebrew alphabet. We have done it with psalms 9 an 10 because some of the letters are missing. This makes it easier for us!
Psalm 10
v1 LORD, why are you standing so far away?
Why do you hide when there is trouble?v2 In his pride the wicked man tries to catch helpless people.
I hope that wicked people catch themselves with their bad plans!v3 The wicked boasts about what he wants.
He says good things about those that want more than is fair.
He says very bad things about the LORD.v4 In his pride, the wicked does not look for God.
He will not even think of God.v5 Everything that the wicked does always works well.
He puts the rules of God far from him.
He laughs at the people that do not like him.v6 He says to himself, "There will be no trouble for me.
Nothing bad will ever happen to me or to my children".v7 His mouth makes bad promises.
It is full of words that are not true.
He says that he will do very bad things to people.
There is evil on his tongue.v8 He hides behind the bushes near the villages.
He watches in secret for people to hurt.
He jumps out and murders people that have done nothing wrong.v9 He lies like a lion under the cover of a bush.
He waits to catch someone that is helpless.
He does catch him and takes him away in his net.v10 He beats the helpless man.
The helpless man fails and falls under the stronger man.v11 He says to himself, "God forgot.
He hid his face. He never saw what happened".v12 Rise up, O God! Lift up your hand.
Do not forget the helpless people.v13 Why does the wicked man say such bad things about God?
Why does he think, 'God will not do anything about it?'v14 See it all, God, all the trouble,
all the oppressed people.
Decide what to do about it.
The helpless puts his trust in you.
You give help to the fatherless.v15 The arm of the wicked and evil man . . . break it (LORD)!
Tell him to explain what he has done.
He thought that you would not discover it!v16 The LORD will always be king.
The nations will not remain in his land for evermore.v17 You hear, LORD, what oppressed people want.
You listen when they pray. You give them something to hope for.v18 You care for the fatherless and the oppressed.
People from the earth will not frighten the poor again.What Psalm 9 Means
Not all the letters of the acrostic are here! D is not here. Perhaps some words became changed into other words that meant the same.
If you find the acrostic difficult, here is some help.
· Psalm 9:3 - my enemies went back
· Psalm 9:5 - you judged the nations clearly
· Psalm 9:7 - the LORD will rule evermore (or always)
· Psalm 9:15 - the nations fell into the hole that they dug
Psalm 9: 1 - 6: David is very happy. He says, "thank you" to the LORD. Why? Because David beat his enemies. David knew that God gave him help. It was God that really beat the enemies, not David on his own! God judged that David was right and the enemies wrong. The enemies were probably the Philistines. Goliath was a Philistine.
Psalm 9: 7 - 10: God is always ruling the world. Sometimes it is hard to believe this, but it is true. Sometimes we must wait a long time for his righteous judgments. Righteous here means this: the judgments of God are the best judgments. While we wait for his judgments, what can we do? Psalm 9:9-10 tells us! We can:
· look for the LORD: if we do this, the LORD will find us!
· trust in the LORD: if we do this the LORD will give us help
· hide in the LORD: if we do this, the LORD will make us safe
Psalm 9: 11 - 14: When God finds us, gives us help and makes us safe, that is not the end. We must:
· always give praises to the LORD: on our own, and in Church
· tell people about God: our family, our friends, those we work with
Many people will not like this! As they made life difficult for David, so they will for us. So we must pray, 'Have mercy on me, LORD'. These are the words that some Churches still pray in Greek: KYRIE ELEISON. God's mercy is when he is loving and kind to us, and not angry.
Psalm 9: 15 - 20: In Psalm 9:6 we read, 'You killed them'. In Psalm 9:15-16 we read how God does this. Often, people kill themselves, or each other! The plan that they made to kill their enemies kills them. They go to Sheol. The Jews thought that Sheol was a dark place. It was under the ground. The psalm finishes by telling us 2 things:
· God will remember the oppressed, even if they have to wait a long time
· God will teach men and women that they are only human, it is only God that is really powerful
Something to do
When there is trouble in your country, pray to God about it. Your country may fight another country. Pray to God about it. Pray for your government and your soldiers. Some of them may be Christians. Pray for justice. It may not matter which country wins. What matters is that God still rules the world. When you pray, talk to God in your own words.
What Psalm 10 means
You can see that the acrostic is incomplete. "Incomplete" means that it is not all there. The psalm is all there, though. A few words became changed. They still mean the same thing.
Psalm 10: 1 - 7: In Psalm 9 we read about the enemy of God. He was also the enemy of David. The enemy was probably a foreign country. In Psalm 10 we read about the wicked man, or the wicked. They were people that lived in David's country. Perhaps some of them were women. They wanted more that it was fair for them to have. They made plans to take things from people that were helpless. Some of these helpless people were people of God. Sometimes they felt that God did not care any more.
Psalm 10: 8 - 11: The wicked man is like a wild animal called a lion. They kill for what they can get. In Psalm 10:11 we do not know if "he" is the bad man or the helpless man. The Hebrew Bible just says "he" . Both people felt that God was not looking.
Psalm 10: 12 - 18: David prays that God will do something. In verses 16-18 David tells his people that God will do something. God will frighten the wicked away. (Frighten means make afraid). David knew that after fighting foreign countries (look in Psalm 9) there was unrest in his own kingdom. ("Unrest" means people in the same country fighting each other). King David tried to stop it, but he knew that only God would really stop it. (A kingdom is a country that has a king or a queen.)
Something to do
When there is trouble pray to God about it. There may be unrest in your own country. Pray to God about it. You may feel frightened. You may not feel safe. Pray to God about it. Then read Psalm 10:16-18. Believe that one day it will be true. That is the promise of God to you.
© 2001, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
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Can America Be Saved?
Would II Chronicles 7:14 Help?
BY RICHARD JORDAN
America feels as if it is unraveling. Even amid an era of relative peace and unprecedented comfort there is a mood of foreboding about our long-term future. It seems that our superpower nation is somehow crumbling from within.
In his recent book, Slouching Toward Gomorrah, Robert Bork advanced a very tightly reasoned explanation for what has happened to America. "Every new generation", he writes, "constitutes a wave of savages who must be civilized by their families, schools and churches. An exceptionally large generation can swamp the institutions responsible for teaching traditions and standards."
In other words, when a new generation is large enough--or, we might add, those institutions responsible for "civilizing" is weak enough--that new generation simply overwhelms the culture it emerges into. This has happened more than once in recorded history.
Bork argues that the Baby Boomers--the generation born between 1946 and 1964--were just such a generation: "The baby boomers were a generation so large that they formed their own culture rather than being assimilated into the existing one....The culture the boomers formed was, as is natural for adolescents, opposed to that of their parents." The indisputable impact of this exceptionally large generation has indeed changed the basis, the very nature of our civilization.
Some of our readers are old enough to remember, for example, when they first became frustrated by the music selections that were turning up on the weekly "top ten" list. It didn’t take all that long to go from mild mannered, happy love songs to wildly costumed singers dancing across stage to seemingly tuneless noise as they bite heads off chickens and sing about rape, drug abuse and murder.
And where did these changes come from? From children! And though these children have grown older they still seem to have the taste of children because the whole culture, the whole society has changed.
While Bork’s treatise is an interesting contribution to "discerning the times" in which we are living, it brings to mind a very strong statement about what happened to a people in a situation strikingly similar to America’s current dilemma.
Isaiah 3 records the coming judgment of God on the nation Israel because of her rebellion. The nation Israel had gone so far downhill, had sunk so low, that it was sick to the very core (Isa. 1:6). As you work through Isaiah's eloquent description of the decline and destruction of his once flourishing nation the parallel with our own day is unavoidable:
"For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
"The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
"The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
"And I WILL GIVE CHILDREN TO BE THEIR PRINCES, AND BABES SHALL RULE OVER THEM" (Isa. 3:1-4).One by one Isaiah describes the pillars upon which a nation stands being snatched away. "The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water" will dissolve into famine and economic collapse. This is coupled with a famine in national leadership as civic and moral disarray abounds: "The mighty man and the man of war", the government and military leaders in whose hands the welfare and safety of the nation rests, will falter; the legal system will be so corrupted that "the judge" can no longer be depended on for justice; "the prophet" will preach lies and deceit; "the prudent and the ancient" will no longer be available to make wise decisions in the government--true statesmanship will be dead.
Also missing will be "the honorable man" who can always be trusted to tell the truth and "the counsellor" who can give wise advise. "The cunning artificer," the true artist, will be gone and all that will be left will be filth.
And who will take their places as the leaders of government and society? CHILDREN!! With no one to "civilize" the emerging band of savages born each year, their society was soon to be ruled by children--not simply children in age but men who as far as their qualifications are concerned are "children" and "babes". Those who should be leading the nation in paths of righteousness had lost their strength of character and will to tell these children, "NO!" --to teach them right from wrong--and thus as the children grow up they remain children in attitude, tastes and actions.
This, of course, leads to anarchy and social injustice. "The people shall be oppressed" as the "base"--the lowest elements of society--rise to take the reigns (v.5).
An almost present day sounding political statement is echoed in verse 6 as the people appeal for leadership to one who "hath clothing!" The standard for selecting the nation's leaders will have become the "seven second sound bite" accompanied by a "beauty contest."
All this because Israel had forsaken the Lord, not wanting Him involved in their lives--their government, courts, boardrooms, schools, homes and personal lives. So far had they departed that they brazenly display their sin and "hide it not" (v. 9).
Such was a society ripe for the judgment of God--a judgment which Isaiah warns was soon coming:
"As for my people, CHILDREN ARE THEIR OPPRESSORS, AND WOMEN RULE OVER THEM. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
"The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.
"The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof..." (vs. 12-14).COULD ISRAEL BE SAVED?
What was Israel to do? Could she be saved? God’s words to Solomon foresaw this dilemma:
"And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
"If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
"IF MY PEOPLE, WHICH ARE CALLED BY MY NAME, SHALL HUMBLE THEMSELVES, AND PRAY, AND SEEK MY FACE, AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS; THEN WILL I HEAR FROM HEAVEN, AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN, AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND" (II Chron. 7:12-14).Before we yield to the popular notion that this passage is somehow a formula for America’s survival, notice that this intervention (for blessing or cursing) was for a specific people, Israel; at a specific time, under the law; for a specific purpose, to bless for obedience or punish for disobedience. (Notice also that Isa. 3:1 clearly states, "The Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah." This was not simply the result of bad decisions on Israel’s part but rather a divine intervention of judgment. Lev. 26 and Deut. 28 record the terms of the covenant between Israel and Jehovah. These were the "curses" they had contracted to receive because of their disobedience).
In a seeming "concern for society" too many have for too long been too willing to ignore the facts and take passages which refer to another dispensation and apply them to society today, thus perverting God’s revealed program for today. This is not only true of Modernists and Liberals but, shamefully, also of Fundamentalists and Evangelicals as well.
No matter how often it is quoted, no matter how sentimental the appeals based on it, the simple facts of God’s Word cannot be changed:
1. Today, in the current dispensation of grace, God has temporarily set aside the nation Israel and does not recognize the Israelites in their former (and future) status as His chosen people (Rom. 11:11, Gal. 3:27-28).
2. Today is not a day of the law but the day of grace (Rom. 6:14).
3. Today God is not blessing based on obedience to the law but on the basis of grace--by believing the gospel of grace and thereby being placed into Christ Jesus and made "complete in Him" (Col. 2:10).
II Chron. 7:14 has nothing to do with God’s workings during the present dispensation. While it had exactly the right instruction for Israel--"My people"--under the law--"If...then"--it cannot be simply torn from its dispensational context and made to apply to us today. Such spiritual larceny is only to dishonor God’s Word and do despite to His program for us.
WILL AMERICA BE SAVED?
What are we to do then? If America is in such an obviously similar situation to Isaiah 3 but without the promise of II Chron. 7:14--will America be saved?
The honest answer is that we do not know. As Bork indicates, the verdict is still out. One thing is certain: America’s future will be determined by the basic decisions that we as a people make concerning the fundamental issue of what constitutes reality, what we recognize as truth. And this is where we come in!
While the Body of Christ can and should be a restrainer of evil, we must recognize that we are not going to change the course of this world. Too often we have forgotten--if we have known at all--what the Bible actually says about the society in which we live:
"[Christ] gave himself for our sins, THAT HE MIGHT DELIVER US FROM THIS PRESENT EVIL WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD AND OUR FATHER" (Gal. 1:4).
" ...KNOW YE NOT THAT THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE WORLD IS ENMITY WITH GOD? WHOSOEVER THEREFORE WILL BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD IS THE ENEMY OF GOD" (Jas. 4:4).
" ...THE WHOLE WORLD LIETH IN WICKEDNESS (I John 5:19).
"...in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2).
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God..." (I Cor. 2:12).
"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom THE WORLD IS CRUCIFIED UNTO ME, AND I UNTO THE WORLD" (Gal. 6:14).The Body of Christ is not here to reform the world system, solve the problems facing society, inaugurate social justice, etc. While true believers can and should have a powerful impact for good wherever they are, we are not going to improve the world system about us. In fact, part of our task is to testify to the fact that the world is not going to be made acceptable to God but rather as the age progresses will grow worse, morally and spiritually, until Christ comes to put down man’s rebellion and establish His reign.
The Church is here to save men out of this world system, to deliver men from "the present evil world." This is the way to make our ministry relevant to the realities of our time. We are not here to save the wreck man has made of society. We are here to save perishing souls from the wreck doomed to destruction.
Tragically, when needed most the Church has become totally irrelevant and ineffectual in the culture of our day as it flounders in confusion. Seemingly aware of its impotence, movements abound to seek social and political power in order to gain attention to causes dear it. Yet for all the effort in everything from political action to new, contemporary methodologies, the world about us rushes forward largely untouched by the truth deposited in our care.
Why is this? What is the problem? Answers abound: lack of prayer, absence of real separated living, indifference to the lost and the task of world evangelism, disregard of the felt needs of those about us, etc. But wait: These are really the symptoms, the results. What is the core cause? It isn’t really that difficult to identify.
Departure from God’s message and program for our day as revealed through the epistles of Paul--this is the real root of the trouble. My friend, just as it was departure from Moses’ law that constantly got Israel into trouble, with the Church it has been departure from Pauline truth. Just as surely as the dispensation of the law was committed to Moses, so surely was the dispensation of grace committed to Paul (Eph. 3:1-9).
Only when the Church returns to God's program for today will it be able to fulfill its true role as "the pillar and ground of the truth" (I Tim. 3:15). This is the true path to the revival so desparately needed and the only avenue that can lead to another genuine spiritual awakening for our nation.
WHERE WE FIT IN
Will America be saved? We do not know. Can America be saved? YES! But not without a basic change in course.
America does indeed stand at the crossroads. Decisions made during the next few years will set the course for our nation's future well into the 21st century. A spiritually healthy, vibrant Church has a vital part to play. This is where those of us who rejoice in the rightly divided Word fit in, for only by recognizing God’s program for today will the Church be up to the task.
The Body of Christ, of course, belongs to the Lord and in the wider sense is His responsibility. Each of us, however, has a part to play in its functioning. It is true that there is much we cannot do, but the fact remains that there is much we can and should be doing.
The greatest single thing you and I as believers can do for our generation, for our nation, is to have Christ live through us in our own everyday lives. As we study God's Word and learn sound doctrine, as we testify of Christ and live in obedience to Him, the Word takes root in our hearts and produces genuine spiritual growth.
When Christ lives through us personally, our families will be impacted; as He lives through our families, our communities will be impacted; as He lives in our communities, our state, nation and world will be touched by truth.
And it is the understanding of the message of God’s grace to us in Christ that will motivate and empower us in reaching out in every possible way to every possible person with the good news we have to proclaim. For the lost we have unconditional love and forgiveness in Christ to freely offer. For believers ensnared in religious bondage we have the freedom and purpose of "Christ in you the hope of glory." For all those bound by sin's fetters we have deliverance and victory in Christ. For those whose hearts desire to serve the Lord we have the Word of His grace which is able to produce the godly edification that results in a maximum capacity for service.
NOW IS OUR TIME AS NEVER BEFORE!!!
We have an unprecedented opportunity to be engaged in the real work of the minsitry--to expose and win people to Christ, build them in the faith, train them to minister effectively and then send them to repeat the cycle of spiritual reproduction with others.
As you walk by faith in obedience to God’s Word to us, as you live godly in Christ Jesus in the details of your daily life, God is active in your world! May the love of Christ constrain us all to so live that others may know the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. This is what our generation, our nation, our world needs most!
Copyright © 1997 Grace Impact Ministries. All Rights Reserved.
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Three Pivotal Point In The Book Of Acts
There are three pivotal points, three critical milestones, in the Book of Acts which, if properly understood, shed light on the outworking of the purposes of God there recorded. First there is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, then there is the outbreak against Stephen (often overlooked but an event of tremendous significance), and finally the outgoing to the Gentiles through Paul's ministry. Consider each briefly:THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT
Speaking "as the Spirit gave [him] utterance," Peter explained the events surrounding the day of Pentecost by saying:
"...Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
"For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I WILL POUR OUT OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL FLESH: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
"And on my servants and on my handmaidens I WILL POUR OUT IN THOSE DAYS OF MY SPIRIT; and they shall prophesy:
"And I WILL SHEW WONDERS IN HEAVEN ABOVE, AND SIGNS IN THE EARTH BENEATH; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:14-21).
Notice carefully the two distinct"I will" statements:"I will pour out of my Spirit...I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath." In other words, God had promised to (1)pour out His Spirit and then (2)send His wrath.
Peter's message very clearly points out that this is exactly the program in place during early Acts. The Spirit of God had indeed been poured out to call the nation Israel to repentance and prepare them for their coming kingdom. Surely the wrath could not be far behind, coming, as it was, to "purge out the rebel" from the wayward nation (See Acts 3:19-24; Ezek. 20:33-38). Thus he exhorts them:
"Therefore BEING BY THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD EXALTED, AND HAVING RECEIVED OF THE FATHER THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY GHOST, HE HATH SHED FORTH THIS, WHICH YE NOW SEE AND HEAR" (Acts 2:33).
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was proof that the Lord Jesus had been exalted to the Father's right hand. Having there "received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." But there was more:
"For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, SIT THOU ON MY RIGHT HAND,
"UNTIL I MAKE THY FOES THY FOOTSTOOL.
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (vs. 34-36).
While the outpouring of the Spirit testified to the fact that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah seated at the Father's right hand, it is clear He sat there as a royal exile. But this was only to be temporary. Quoting Psalms 110:1, Peter points out that God the Father had, as it were, said to God the Son, "Come and sit at my right hand in the heavens until it is time for You to return in wrath and in judgment to make Your foes your footstool."
The prophetic order was clear: first the Spirit was to be poured out, then Christ was to return to pour out His wrath upon His enemies. Hence Peter's warning to Israel:
"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
"And it shall come to pass, that EVERY SOUL, WHICH WILL NOT HEAR THAT PROPHET, SHALL BE DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE" (3:22,23).
Thus the Book of Acts begins with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to gather the "Little Flock," the believing remnant to whom the kingdom was to be given (Luke 12:32). This takes place against the backdrop of warning that God's wrath was on its way, as the stage was been fully set for the tribulation to begin. With this in mind, we move to the next pivotal event:THE OUTBREAK AGAINST STEPHEN
As Stephen stood before the religious council of Israel, he accused them of resisting the witness of the outpoured Spirit so vividly on display in their midst:
"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, YE DO ALWAYS RESIST THE HOLY GHOST: as your fathers did, so do ye" (7:51).
Their response was that of further resistance and rejection, going so far as to gather a "stoning committee" to silence Stephen's Spirit-filled witness against them. The events which follow are of special significance:
"When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
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,
"And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and THE SON OF MAN STANDING ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD" (7:54-56).
Don't read over this too lightly, for a tremendous change has taken place: At Pentecost, Peter warns them that Christ had sat down in heaven at the Father's right hand until that time came for Him to return in wrath and destroy His enemies. In Acts 7 Stephen sees Christ standing---no longer seated, but now "standing on the right hand of God."
There is only one scriptural explanation for the change in His posture: the time for the outpouring of His wrath had arrived. Our Lord was standing to do what Psalm 110:1 warned He would do: "make His foes His footstool." In the words of Isaiah 3:13:
"THE LORD STANDETH UP TO PLEAD, AND STANDETH TO JUDGE THE PEOPLE."
But what happened at that critical juncture? Why wasn't the wrath poured out? Why even yet hasn't Christ returned to subdue His enemies and establish His kingdom? These questions find their answers in Paul's subsequent ministry:THE OUTGOING TO THE GENTILES
The explanation for the delay in the outpouring of God's wrath is found in Romans 5:20's declaration that "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."
At the very moment when the prophetic clock had reached the hour of judgment, God in His grace interrupted the prophetic program by ushering in an unprophesied program--a previously unknown purpose called "the mystery," a purpose which had been "kept secret since the world began" but which now was to be made known (Rom. 16:25,26, Eph. 3:1-9).
Thus, while in Acts 7 we see Christ standing at the Father's right hand ready to return in wrath and destroy His enemies, in Acts 9 we see Him reach down and save (rather than destroy) the very leader of the world's rebellion against Him. And more: not only does He save Saul of Tarsus by His grace but He then sends him forth--no longer to be Saul the opponent, but now to become Paul the Apostle. He thus says to Ananias:
"...HE IS A CHOSEN VESSEL UNTO ME, TO BEAR MY NAME BEFORE THE GENTILES, AND KINGS, AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL" (Acts 9:15).
Paul's own account of His commission from Christ is equally clear:
"...And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
"But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I HAVE APPEARED UNTO THEE FOR THIS PURPOSE, TO MAKE THEE A MINISTER AND A WITNESS BOTH OF THESE THINGS WHICH THOU HAST SEEN, AND OF THOSE THINGS IN THE WHICH I WILL APPEAR UNTO THEE" (Acts 26:15,16).
Thus Paul goes forth as "the Apostle of the Gentiles" --a new apostle sent forth with a new revelation concerning a new program and a new dispensation, "the dispensation of the grace of God."
The prophetic program was based on salvation and blessing going to the Gentiles through redeemed Israel (Gen. 22:18, Isa. 59:20-60:3, Luke 24:47, Acts 3:25,26, etc.). We see Paul going to the Gentiles, however, not in fulfillment of the prophetic order, but in spite of Israel's rejection and unbelief.
Although Israel had rejected her Messiah both in His incarnation and resurrection, God had a secret purpose to accomplish through Christ which was then revealed to and through Paul. Just as the prophetic clouds of judgment lay heaviest on the horizon, God in His infinite grace and manifold wisdom interrupted prophecy--that which had been "spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began"--in order to usher in His secret purpose--"the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began."
Far from being the fulfillment of the prophesied Pentecostal program, the outgoing to the Gentiles under Paul's ministry was the result of the new, secret program revealed to and through him. Hence he writes:
"I say then, Have they [Israel] stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather THROUGH THEIR FALL SALVATION IS COME UNTO THE GENTILES, FOR TO PROVOKE THEM TO JEALOUSY.
"Now if the FALL OF THEM BE THE RICHES OF THE WORLD, AND THE DIMINISHING OF THEM THE RICHES OF THE GENTILES; how much more their fulness?
"FOR I SPEAK TO YOU GENTILES, INASMUCH AS I AM THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES, I MAGNIFY MINE OFFICE" (Rom. 11:11-13).CONCLUSION
These three pivotal events demonstrate Luke's purpose in the Acts record to present the fall of Israel and God's reason for sending salvation to the Gentiles through Paul and apart from Israel and her program.
Rather than setting forth, as is commonly supposed, a pattern for us to follow in the dispensation of grace, the Book of Acts explains why the program that was begun in its early chapters has passed away. It demonstrates how God interrupted that program just at the point when prophecy called for His wrath to be poured out by inaugurating a new program of "grace and peace." It confirms historically the declaration of the epistles of Paul that the fulfillment of prophecy has for the present given way to the unfolding of the secret purpose of God's grace--all revealed through the message committed to Paul by our ascended Lord from heaven's glory.
"Banners of Blessing"
At the heart of genuine spiritual growth and maturity is faith resting on the objective truth of our identification in and with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture speaks of four key events in our Savior's redemption work which constitute what has been called "Banners of Blessing" in the life of every child of God. Let's mark them closely:
1. Believers are united to Christ in His Death --and thus are free from sin's mastery.
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me..." (Gal. 2:20).
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"
"Knowing that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
"For he that is dead is freed from sin" (Rom. 6:3,6,7).
It is by this "baptism into death" (Rom. 6:4) that God deals with our sin nature. Christ dying for us paid the debt of our failures, our sins. This is more. Here is Christ dying as us and us dying with Him. It is the latter that deals with the root of our sin problem, just as the former deals with its fruit.
As wonderful as it is to have our sins forgiven and the burden of guilt removed, we must have more--else we continue in bondage to sin's slavery. We need freedom--liberation--from "sin's gauling fetters." And that too is ours by "baptism into death...for he that is dead is freed from sin."
Beause we are "crucified with Christ," our old man is crucified with Him. Sin's authority has been broken and we no longer are under its dominion--sinning because we were sinners.
"But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
"Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."
"For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
"What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
"But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life" (Rom. 6:17,18,20-22).
The only answer for sin is death, "for the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Thus our identification with Christ in His death "breaks the power of cancelled sin and sets the prisoner free."
Sin may not be out of "calling distance," but believers are free from its authority and dominance--free not to answer "the call." Living in this freedom, of course, is a matter of faith, which reminds us that our co-crucifixion with Christ also separates us from the realm of the Law:
"For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law but under grace" (Rom. 6:14).
The performance-based-acceptance program of law no longer holds sway in our lives. We are now under the authority of the free-gift program of grace, resting and rejoicing in all that God is free to do for us because of the merits and accomplishment of His Son (Rom. 7:4-6).
Sin has been successfully and completely dealt with by the cross-work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our co-crucifixion with Him sets us free from sin's dominion and authority, as well as the Law system, for "the strength of sin is the law" (I Cor. 15:56). Thus death--our ruin--has been made the very means of our triumph through Jesus Christ our Lord!!
2. Believers are united with Christ in His Burial --thus "putting away" our old identity in Adam and all that it stands for.
"Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death..." (Rom. 6:4).
"Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead" (Col. 2:12).
Burial has to do with a "putting away," as in Genesis 23:4, where we read of Abraham's desire to "bury my dead out of my sight." As Miles Stanford put it, "There, in Christ's Tomb, we see ourselves as dead unto Adam and all he represents."
Notice closely that this "baptism into death" is the "operation of God," not a pastor or priest. It is defined in I Corinthians 12:13 thusly: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." In other words, this is a spiritual transaction, a spiritual identification of the believer with Jesus Christ and is the mechanics of all positional truth.
3. Believers are united with Christ in His Resurrection --and thus filled with His life, His resurrection life!
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Col. 3:1; see also Rom. 6:4, Eph. 2:4, Gal. 2:20, Col. 3:4, etc.).
It is this "newness of life" that now animates, energizes and enpowers us as we simply reckon ourselves to be "dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 6:11).
In our co-resurrection with Christ we have been given a new life with a new nature The old life is not changed but rather exchanged for that which is altogether new (II Cor. 5:17,18). Forever freed from our former relationship to the first Adam, our Father wants us now to see ourselves from His point of view
--new creatures in Christ Jesus. This is our current, real, actual identity. We are safely and forever on resurrection ground in Him who is our life! Galatians 2:20 should be read here!!
4. Believers are united with Christ in His Ascension --thus sharing His position at the Father's right hand.
"And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6; see also Col. 3:1-4).
Having identified us with His Son on the cross and in the tomb, the Father not only raised us up from the dead to walk in newness of life but He has also positioned us in Christ Jesus at His own right hand--the right hand of fellowship and authority!
We are "joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17) and participants with Him in His authority in the heavenly places (Col. 1:16-18). Sin is dethroned, Satan is a defeated foe and "Christ is our life!"
It is now ours to occupy by faith the position in which our Father has already placed us. My friend, honor Him and His rightly divided Word of truth by standing in your totally adequate and exclusive position in our glorified Head at the right hand of the Father.It Became A Proverb
In his book, The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, E.D. Hirsh, Jr. points out: "No one in the English speaking world can be considered literate or properly educated without a basic knowledge of the Authorized Version of the Bible." Thus we continue our list of illustrations of the fact that we often use Scriptural "sayings" without even knowing it:
1. "Butter him up" --to speak insincere words to gain advantage. "The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart" (Psa. 55:21).
2. "Blood Money" --to conspire for money against the life of another. "I have betrayed the innocent blood" (Matt. 27:4; 26:15).
3. "Handwriting on the wall" --a condition wherein present circumstances suggest future consequences. See the case with Belshazzar in Daniel 5:5, 24-28.(To be continued.)
Monday, 03 November 2008
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Spiritual mechanics must be parlayed into Spiritual dynamics.
We are dealing with a subject that the apostle Paul dealt with when he said, "For they are not all Israel [true or spiritual Israel] who are descended from Israel [racial Israel]; (ROM 9:6).Just because a person is born a Jew doesn't mean that they are automatically God's chosen people. Many of the Jews (both believers and unbelievers) thought that just because they were Jewish they were automatically qualified to receive blessings, and promises of God. The Jews would claim that because they were of the physical seed of Abraham they were entitled to all the promises of God. There are many believers who think like that today, thinking that just because they are believers they will receive blessings from God, because they think they are special to God. They forget passages like, And now, little children, abide in Him [another fruit-bearing passage], so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming (1JO 2:28).There will be many believers who will shrink away in shame when our Lord comes back. They will have eternal life, but like many of the Jewish believers, that's all that they will have. Many doctrinal believers have failed to rightly divide the word of truth, and do not understand the difference between spiritual mechanics verses spiritual dynamics. When the spiritual mechanics are at work within the believer, the inevitable result produces spiritual self-esteem, and overt divine good, or spiritual fruit.Each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire. (1CO 3:13-15)You can be a believer and still suffer loss, however the forty things received at the moment of faith in Christ cannot be canceled by any failure on our part after salvation. The integrity of God is infinitely greater than any failure of man (2TI 2:12-13). The fact that we are unfaithful does not change the faithfulness of God. Every believer is indwelt by God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and God cannot deny Himself since He indwells the believer. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire (1CO 3:15). The application, and warning for us is that losers can be doctrinal believers who have learned the spiritual mechanics, but have not had them parlayed into spiritual dynamics. Religion, rituals, program spirituality, obsession with knowledge of doctrine, and man-made rules are all a part of this type of thinking. Loser believers fail to glorify God in time through the function of the spiritual skills. They may understand the spiritual mechanics, but fail to go beyond that to the function of the spiritual skills producing spiritual dynamics, or spiritual fruit.The spiritual mechanics are for the distinct purpose of training, and leading the believer to spiritual dynamics, which results in fruit-bearing. Loser believers, including those who know the spiritual mechanics but don't apply them, and have no resulting spiritual dynamics, are described by at least seven categories in the New Testament:1. Those who drift off course from grace (GAL 5:4).2. Those who come short of the grace of God (HEB 12:15).3. Those who are lukewarm (REV 3:15-16).4. Those that are shipwrecked (1TI 1:19).5. Those who are psycho or double-minded (JAM 1:8).6. Those who fail to metabolize doctrine (JAM 1:22-24).7. Those that are the enemies of the Cross (PHI 3:18-19).There are no divine blessings without the execution of the spiritual life, "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? (MAT 7:16). There are many believers who understand the spiritual mechanics of the PPOG but don't put them into operation and therefore there is no spiritual dynamics. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves (JAM 1:22). This verse refers to Bible doctrine understood as the spiritual mechanics, resulting in the application of those spiritual mechanics, which produces spiritual dynamics, (the life or the fruit). You become a doer of the word with your heart first, which is epignosis doctrine. You are not a doer by overt action. The right lobe is where divine viewpoint is doing it, a frame of reference is doing it, and spiritual mechanics are developed. The spiritual skills are producing the spiritual mechanics, and the application from the heart, or the right lobe, brings forth spiritual dynamics. You cannot learn doctrine until you know the meaning of words, so your technical vocabulary must increase. Words must become meaningful, and must be accurately understood with the original languages of scripture.Being merely hearers of the Word refers to those who hear the spiritual mechanics (perception), and for whatever reason do not metabolize those mechanics (metabolization), or they do not apply those spiritual mechanics (application), which is the only way to spiritual dynamics. They may understand the spiritual mechanics, but fail to go beyond that to the function of the spiritual skills producing spiritual dynamics, or spiritual fruit. The believer who takes doctrine into his mind, and allows it stop there, and does not allow the spiritual mechanics to result in spiritual dynamics, only deceives himself. Any believer priest can take in Bible doctrine. This doesn't mean what he hears will be understood or applied, because doctrine is built upon doctrine. A person can know a lot of doctrine, and still be carnal and in reversionism. They have never really transferred it, or they are arrogant, and refuse to apply it. Their refusal to apply the spiritual mechanics means no spiritual dynamics, and no godly fruit. This will especially be manifested inwardly, because they will be minus an edification complex, or a soul structure.The Four Spiritual Mechanics:1. Filling of the Holy Spirit,2. Metabolized Bible doctrine circulating in the soul,3. Ten problem solving devices,4. Execution of the PPOG.Many believers only go as far as knowing and learning the spiritual mechanics, but not manifesting spiritual dynamics, which is why we have winner and loser believers mentioned throughout the Bible.But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. (JAM 1:22)Being a doer of the word means to be a poet, a master of verses, it refers to Bible doctrine that is understood in the left lobe (mind) as the spiritual mechanics resulting in the application of those spiritual mechanics in the right lobe (heart) which produces spiritual dynamics. You become a doer of the word when you apply the spiritual mechanics with function of the spiritual skills producing spiritual dynamics resulting in spiritual fruit.There are Three Spiritual Skills:1) The filling of the Holy Spirit is the first spiritual skill in the spiritual life. Without the filling of the Spirit you do not have the power to live the Christian way of life. The filling of the Spirit converts human I.Q. into spiritual I.Q., so that we have equality to learn spiritual phenomena.2) The second spiritual skill is the word of God circulating in your soul.3) The third spiritual skill is the problem solving devices deployed on the FLOT line of the soul.So again, being merely hearers refer to those who hear the word, spiritual mechanics (perception), and for whatever reason do not metabolize those mechanics (metabolization), or they do not apply those spiritual mechanics (application), therefore no spiritual dynamics. They have even turned the learning of doctrine into some form of religion, or ritual, or program spirituality, or obsession with knowledge of doctrine, and man-made opinions and rules. In some cases you are just following some rigid man-made system which was originally designed for your own benefit, but you turned into some system of religion. You compromise your spiritual life, and refuse to separate from those who are hindering you from going forward to the next step of spiritual growth. There comes a time when God's people need to learn the importance of separation. Separation is the technique of switching from personal love to impersonal love when dealing with friends and loved ones who are living in the cosmic system."For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." (MAT 10:35-38)There must be a mental separation from those who would distract you from going forward following the Lord. To avoid this negative influence, the believer must have correct priorities, mental preparation and separation, switching from personal love to impersonal love. Mental separation emphasizes the integrity, honor, and doctrinal application of the believer residing in God's plan. Impersonal love emphasizes your personal love for God and so is perpetuated and functions on its own integrity. That's why you do not judge, gossip or malign. Impersonal love sets aside personal love for antagonistic believers, and places personal love for God above them. Impersonal love emphasizes your honor and integrity, and does not compromise the believer's status inside the PPOG. This is the warning behind such passages as PRO 13:20; 2TI 3:5; 2TH 3:6; 2TH 3:14; ROM 16:17-18. Separation is also important in social life (JER 15:16-17; 1PE 4:3-4). The believer is to separate from a superficial social life, a fun crowd which always has a false scale of values.For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; (JAM 1:23)So the believers refusal to apply the spiritual mechanics means no spiritual dynamics, and no fruit. This will especially be manifested inwardly because they will be minus an edification complex or a soul structure. There are some Biblical references to the edification complex of the soul in the New Testament:"Put on the armor of light." Used for the PPOG as well as the edification complex of the soul (ROM 13:12)."Christ formed in you." This connotes both the edification complex of the soul and spiritual self-esteem (GAL 4:19)."The new man," refers to the edification complex of the soul (Eph 4; Col 3).The perfect or mature man, (JAM 1:4)."Imitators of God." There is a direct relation between the adult spiritual life and the edification complex of the soul (EPH 5:1)."The fullness of God" (EPH 3:19)."Christ at home in your hearts" (EPH 3:17)."Christ in you" (2CO 13:5).All of these are results of spiritual mechanics being parlayed into spiritual dynamics.You construct the following building when you execute the PPOG and fulfill your personal sense of destiny by learning the spiritual mechanics and applying them, which results in the spiritual dynamics:Foundation: This is your eternal salvation.First floor: Perception and metabolization of Bible doctrineSecond floor: Dispensational orientation, understanding the uniqueness of the Church-age.Third floor: Problem solving devices.Fourth floor: The fruit or production of spiritual self-esteem, the first stage of spiritual adulthood.Fifth floor: Spiritual autonomy, the second stage of spiritual adulthood.Sixth floor: Spiritual maturity, the point at which we execute the PPOG. This is the ultimate, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain (PHI 1:20-21).For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; (JAM 1:23)The one who is a hearer of the word only is the believer who is generally characterized by three things:1) He is interested in the dissertation of doctrine and in learning the points, spiritual mechanics only.2) He will pick and choose the doctrines they want to apply as they go through certain situations in life.3) He will inevitably reject the authority of the one who communicates Bible doctrine, attack and criticize him, and he will start to bounce around, going here and there from one spot to another.In James 1:23 the Greek word for “man” is not the normal word anthropos, but here it is the noun “andri” which refers to a nobleman. This is a nobleman who is born into nobility, and at the point of salvation we are all born into nobility, we are entered into union with Christ. However, a believer can be carnal, reversionistic, have an emotional revolt of the soul, or be mature, but he is still a nobleman. This is positional truth. The analogy is even found in our natural family. Just because a person has your last name, or is your child that doesn't mean that they are to receive all the benefits of you being their father. The analogy belongs to believers only.The Greek verb translated “looks” is “katanoeo” a compound verb. Kata means norms or standards, noeo means to think. So the word means to think in terms of norms and standards. Remember, here is a nobleman and it means he is to look in the mirror, and to think about himself. Nothing wrong with that providing that you think of yourself in terms of reality with humility, and not with arrogance. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (GAL 6:3)All of us have some idea as to how we look in the mirror. No matter what you look like when you walk away from the mirror, very shortly you are doing something else, and you forget how you look. The word “katanoeo” means to give some very serious thought so that you know yourself. Your norms and standards are yourself. The word does not mean just to glance, it means to look at yourself thoroughly, to be able to, as it were, memorize your own features.Memorizing your own features and looking in the glass or the mirror of the word of God is like doctrine in the left lobe first, and then through the spiritual mechanics, doctrine is in your heart. However, doctrine in your heart is not designed for you to concentrate on yourself and for you try and apply the spiritual mechanics. Doctrine in your heart is for you to use the spiritual mechanics to concentrate on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and behold Him in the mirror of the Word of God.But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2CO 3:18)So we use the spiritual mechanics; Filling of the Holy Spirit, Metabolized Bible doctrine circulating in the soul, Ten problem solving devices, execution of the PPOG. We use these to behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. The purpose of these spiritual mechanics is that we are being transformed into the same image of the Lord from glory to glory, by means of the Holy Spirit. This is spiritual dynamics in action or the fruit of the spiritual mechanics in our life being manifested. You do not know what you really look like, or what you really are, unless you have doctrine in your soul. You can be a phoney and fool some of the people sometimes. But you have to remember, And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do (HEB 4:13). You may be able to know and understand the spiritual mechanics, but if you have not had them parlayed into spiritual dynamics, you have only deceived or deluded yourself. Spiritual mechanics parlays into spiritual dynamics manufacturing the fruit of the Spirit in the believer's life. Most believers understand the spiritual mechanics but fail to go beyond that to the function of the spiritual skills producing spiritual dynamics or spiritual fruit.So, memorizing your own features and looking in the glass or the mirror of the word of God is like doctrine in the left lobe first, and then through the spiritual mechanics, doctrine is in your heart. But no matter how it turned out, good or bad, you finally walked away from the mirror, and sooner or later you either apply the doctrine resulting in spiritual dynamics, or you forget, or reject, the doctrine. That is the way it is when you are a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, or applier of the Word. This is the way you can actually get involved with elevating the written word above the living word. You elevate the means, the spiritual mechanics, above the purpose, spiritual dynamics.For once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. (JAM 1:24)Once he has looked in the mirror, and gone his way, he may know what he looks like in his mind, but he has left the mirror of the Word of God and he forgets the importance of application. James is saying, you stop after you get doctrine in the left lobe or even when you have it in your right lobe, but only as spiritual mechanics and not spiritual dynamics. That is a hearer only. You go away and then come back the next day, go away and come back in a month, you can't learn doctrine that way. It must be habitual preferably every day. You have the spiritual mechanics but not the spiritual dynamics. So, the mirror is used for the Word or doctrine. Here is a person who goes to church once a week, once a month, once every now and then, etc. and then they depart. Over a period of time they accumulate doctrine in the left lobe, and then they leave.But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does. (JAM 1:25)The Greek verb for “looks intently" is “parakupto” which is a compound verb, and it means to stoop down to examine something from its immediate source, to concentrate, to gaze intently.
Tuesday, 08 July 2008
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“Positional Truth”
Introduction
At the moment of faith in Christ, the HS places the believer in union with Christ. This is the baptism by the HS.
A. The baptism by the HS:
1) Identifies the Church Age believer with the strategic victory of Christ in the Angelic Conflict.
2) Did not occur in the Old Testament or in any prior dispensation, and is unique to the CA in which we live. It, in fact, separates and distinguishes us from every other dispensation in human history.
3) While regeneration makes the believer a member of the Family of God, the baptism by the Spirit makes him a member of the Royal Family of God by bringing him into union with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
B. In 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul say’s, “For by one Spirit [HS] we [CA believers] were all [none excluded] baptized into [identified with forever, at / moment of salvation] one body [Body of Christ], whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we [CA believers] were all [none excluded] made to drink of one Spirit [a reference to / eternal indwelling of / HS, another factor unique to / Dispensation of Grace].”
C. Historical usage of the word “baptized” prior to the Koine Greek.
1) The English word “baptized” is not a translation but a transliteration of the Greek verb bapti/zw (baptizo), the essential meaning of which is- identify, that is, identification with a purpose. This word was used by Greek poets, dramatists, and historians to connote the identification of one object with a second so that the nature or character of the first object is changed.
2) Baptizo was used in the Classical Greek of a blacksmith who immerses a piece of hot iron in water, tempering it. Also, of Greek soldiers placing the points of their swords, and barbarians the points of their spears, in a vat of blood. E.g., Xenophon in the 4th cent. BC tells of Spartan soldiers dipping their spears into pig’s blood before going into battle. By identifying the spears with blood, the nature of the spear was transformed from a hunting tool to an instrument of warfare.
3) Euripides, one of the three greatest composers of Greek tragedy, used baptizo in the 5th cent. BC to describe a sinking ship. As it sank, the character or nature of the ship was thoroughly altered, i.e., it was so identified with the water of the Aegean that it could no longer float, and before long was entirely submerged.
4) The usage of baptizo in the preceding examples resolves itself into this technical definition: “The introduction of a person or thing into a new environment, or into union with something else, so as to permanently alter its relationship to its former environment.”
D. The verbal phrase “were all baptized,” from 1 Corinthians 12:13, is the 1st pl., aor. pass. ind. of bapti/zw (baptizo).
1) The ind. mood declares the verbal action of the sentence to be a reality.
2) The pass. voice indicates that believers in the CA are baptized into Christ— never to be taken out again— by the HS. The HS is the agent of this specific baptism; the CA believer is the recipient; and Jesus Christ is the medium into which the believer is eternally identified.
3) The aor. tense denotes action which occurs at a point in time— the point of faith in Christ. It is oftentimes used to express a ‘once and for all’ idea; and that’s precisely the manner in which it’s used in our passage. The ‘constative aorist’ contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety, gathering it into a single whole.
Summary: This particular use of the constative aor. in 1 Corinthians 12:13 cannot be repeated and excludes emotional or ecstatic experience of any kind.
Conclusion: The concept of a ‘second blessing’ or ‘second work of grace,’ as it relates the Spirit’s baptism to a time subsequent to salvation, is foreign to the Word of God!
Body
1. Union with Christ belongs to every believer forevermore, regardless of their spiritual status.
Listen to Paul’s words to the Corinthians in 1:2 of this same epistle, “to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus [positionally, by / HS’s baptism (12:13)], saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their {Lord} and ours;” and in v. 30 he say’s, “But by His doing you are in [that is, ‘in union with’] Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
2. The believer’s union with Christ exempts him from divine judgment in eternity. In Romans 8:1 Paul states unequivocally, that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
3. The believer’s position in Christ qualifies him to live with God forever. The believer shares the following with Christ:
A. Eternal life. 1 John 5:11-12 tells us, that “the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.
He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the Life [of God].”
B. Imputation of God’s absolute righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “He [God / Father] made Him who knew no sin [Jesus Christ] {to be} sin on our behalf [huper + / genitive of substitution from / pers. pron. ego means lit., ‘as a Substitute for us’], that we might become [through imputation] the righteousness of God in Him [Jesus Christ].”
C. Election. In Ephesians 1:4 the Word of God declares, that God the Father “chose us in Him [Jesus Christ] before the foundation of the world [this is our election to privilege in / plan of Grace]….”
D. Destiny. Ephesians 1:5 says, “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.”
E. Sonship.
1) Concerning the Lord Jesus Christ John said, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, {even} to those who believe in His name,” John 1:12.
2) Galatians 3:26: “For you are all [Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female] sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
F. Heirship. The apostle Paul told the believers in Rome, that “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit [‘human spirit’] that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs [co-heirs] with Christ, if [‘since’] indeed we suffer with {Him} in order that we may also be glorified with {Him.}”
G. Sanctification— 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30.
H. Kingdom. 2 Peter 1:11 says, “for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”
I. Priesthood. In 1 Peter 2:5 Peter speaks of believers as “living stones, ...being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood;” and in v. 9 as “a royal priesthood, ...a people for {God’s} own possession, that” we “may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called” us “out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
4. When a person is placed in union with Christ he becomes a new spiritual species.
A. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul wrote, that “if [1st cl. cond.: true statement— since or when] any man is in Christ [positional truth], {he is} a new [kainos- of a new kind, a new form, unprecedented; it speaks of something impressive, better than / old and superior to it] creature [ktisis, lit.- creation, something created out of nothing; i.e., a new spiritual species, / Royal Family of God];
the old things passed away; behold, new things have come [51 grace gifts of salvation; all / divine assets and equipment needed to become a hero of faith].”
B. Again, in Ephesians 2:10 he say’s, “For we [CA believers] are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works [notice he doesn’t say ‘created by good works,’ but ‘for good works’], which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
5. Union with Christ guarantees the eternal security of the believer.
Paul wrote to the Church in Rome, saying “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels [elect angels: those who did not follow Satan in / angelic revolt, those who remained on / winning team], nor principalities [a)rxh/ (arche), a word used in Eph. 6:12 for / ‘rulers,’ / highest ranking demons in Satan’s table of organization], nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers [is used here in a temporal manner, for / power and influence of / rich and wealthy; and for / power and might of military forces], nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing [Paul sums up his argument with a phrase, ‘nor any other created thing,’ which encompasses / entire universe], shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 8:38-39.
6. The characteristics of our position in Christ are:
A. Known only through the Word of God.
B. Obtained at the moment of salvation.
C. Eternal in nature, and cannot be changed by God, angels, or mankind.
D. Not an emotional or ecstatic experience.
E. Not related to human good, merit, or ability.
F. Not progressive, and cannot be improved in time or eternity.
7. Our position in Christ removes the problem of our position in Adam. 1 Corinthians 15:22 says, “For as in Adam [ / realm of spiritual death] all die, so also in Christ [ / realm of spiritual life and eternal life] all will be made alive.”
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