Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts

Saturday, October 20, 2018

Abraham's Promised Possession Could Only Come Through the Resurrection Part 5

By John Foll, written between 8/11/2017 and 8/13/2017, 9/14/2018 - 9/25/2018.
© Copyright 2018 John Foll

List of Articles

If you have not read Part 1, we recommend that you read it first: Abraham's Promised Possession Could Only Come Through the Resurrection Part 1

Abraham’s Promised Possession Fulfilled:

We declare to you that ‘the everlasting possession’ made to Abraham, is an ‘everlasting possession,’ possessed only by those who live forever. Everything we have discussed and brought up thus far is to bring us now to this point: this is the great focal point of human history, in the Bible! Everything prophesied in the Bible eventually moves us to this point: God’s plan to save the world and restore it back to its former state in the Garden of Eden, that He promised to Abraham! Yes God promised to save the world through Abraham’s offspring, but Abraham did not have all of the details of this plan. Oh what a joy it is to serve God! Oh what a privilege! Abraham will indeed have a very rich reward in Heaven for all of the souls he helped to get there! God is so wonderful!

Now let’s examine the evidence for Abraham’s promised ‘everlasting possession’ from the book of Hebrews, and we will then proceed to what it means: By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Hebrews 11:8-10 NASB. Or ‘whose builder and maker is God,’ as the KJV puts it. From this we learn that Abraham didn’t receive it in his lifetime since it says:by going to a place he was to receive for an inheritance,” and because it says “he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land.” He was living in the land promised to him and his offspring by faith, believing that God would carry out His promise to him. Isaac and Jacob did not receive this promise in their days either, because they were ‘strangers’ too, and because they were also ‘fellow heirs of the same promise.’ This means that in all of Abraham’s days he himself did not have this land as an ‘everlasting possession,’ that was promised to him, because he was a foreigner in the land. And none of his posterity would get any of it for 400 years when they were slaves in Egypt either. So the only way God could keep His promise to Abraham, to give him his everlasting possession in the land of Canaan, was through the Resurrection, when Abraham would be raised from the dead, with all of his descendants who were true to God! Furthermore, our above passage in Hebrews declares that Abraham was looking for ‘the city whose architect and builder is God.’ This is the New Jerusalem of Heaven! Because this is the inheritance of God’s people only after * the Resurrection, and it is built by God, not man.
* We will not go into the proof of this here: that the righteous saints go to Heaven after the Resurrection, not before. We have articles on this in our How To Please God Blog, but hope to add more articles on this too.

How do we know that the New Jerusalem was the city that the book of Hebrews declared that Abraham was looking for, and not the old Jerusalem built by man, or the modern day Jerusalem in the modern state of Israel, or some other city? Because it says in Revelation 21:1-4, that we will list below, that after God brings the New Jerusalem down to earth, then He will wipe away every tear from every eye, because He will *destroy death for all time! And because its architect and builder is God. This can ONLY happen after the Resurrection, and the New Jerusalem can only be fully the everlasting possession of Abraham and his offspring, after death is finally destroyed in the Lake of Fire!

The New Jerusalem is clearly built by God, not man – therefore it is the only possible city whose maker and builder is God, and it is the only city whose entrance depends on the Resurrection, or by translation to Heaven without seeing death by the righteous, who are alive at Jesus’ Second Coming. God’s promise to Abraham, which was for an ‘everlasting possession’, could only be had by someone who is righteous and lives forever.  – The only place this can happen is in Heaven and on the Earth made new! This is the great focal point of human history - all of human history moves towards this point in time. Thus the New Jerusalem in Heaven, which is brought down to earth, is the only city which could be Abraham and his seed’s everlasting possession, including His ‘spiritual seed’ - Gentile Christians.

Yes, the New Jerusalem will come down out of Heaven, which was built by God, not man, then Abraham and his offspring will inherit it forever! In this land there will be no sin, suffering or death! Just life everlasting, joy without end, love without end, and hope without end!
* We have already written articles, and posted articles by another writer, on our How To Please God Blog on how God will destroy death for all time, and related truths, under different title names than this topic. We are still running part of this series.

The Revelation of John: The New Jerusalem:


Then I [John] saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’” Revelation 21:1-4 NASB.

On this day, Abraham and his offspring finally receive their promise that God made to him fully, through the Resurrection! Then they will walk on the streets of gold in the New Jerusalem, and have it for their eternal, everlasting possession! Then they will never die and never lose it! God always keeps His promises! Amen!

Since God declared that all nations of this earth would be blessed through Abraham’s seed (which is Jesus Christ), therefore it seems obvious that the blessings given to Abraham will also be extended to faithful Gentile Christians as well; they share in the blessings that God promised Abraham! So the promise of the New Jerusalem is also for faithful Christians as well! We will show the evidence below that the New Jerusalem will be for both Israelites and Gentile Christians.

Let us catch a glimpse of Heaven here, where Revelation reveals to us that the kingdom of Heaven will be made up of both Jews and Gentiles alike, when it talks about the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles. Read John’s description of the New Jerusalem:

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Revelation 21:10-14 NASB.

So the New Jerusalem has 12 gates on its surrounding wall: one for each of the tribes of the sons of Israel, and it has 12 foundation stones, with the names of the 12 Apostles of Jesus written on them.
This makes it clear that the saved in the New Jerusalem will be made up of the faithful children of Israel (the offspring of Abraham), and the 12 Apostles, with their spiritual children: faithful Gentile Christians. Together they all make up the nations of the saved!

The Earth is burned with fire: Every trace of sin on the Earth, man-made or not, will be destroyed by fire. Peter declares, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10 KJV. Peter makes it clear that: 1) ‘The heavens shall pass away with a great noise’, 2) ‘the elements shall melt with fervent heat’, 3) the earth shall be burned up, and 4) “The works therein shall be burned up.”We think this covers all that is on the Earth, don’t you? What could be left? Even the elements are burned up!

The New Jerusalem comes down out of Heaven and settles where the current Jerusalem is, but it will be much bigger! Based on the name Revelation gives it, we think it is obvious God will put it where the old Jerusalem was. Then why is it called the New Jerusalem? Because God makes all things new!And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’” Revelation 21:5 NASB. By making all things ‘new,’ this would also include Jerusalem as well, so the Jerusalem on the Earth made new must necessarily be the New Jerusalem, for it cannot be the old one, which was man-made, or contain any trace of sin in it! These words are faithful and true, as God said! “Then I [John] saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.” Revelation 21:1 NASB. So not only is it a new Earth that the saints will inherit, they will also inherit the New Jerusalem as well.

Sin, suffering and death will be destroyed, and God will wipe away every tear! Revelation 7:17; 21:4; 20:14-15; 21:8. The book of Hebrews refers to the city that Abraham was searching for, as the city ‘whose builder and maker is God,’ Hebrews 11:10 KJV, which we discovered is the same city. So this is the city which God built, but it is new to the Earth when He moves it there. God makes all things new, and replaces the old, man-made earthly Jerusalem with the New Jerusalem from Heaven, built by God! Ever since David made this city his royal city, the city of his royal residence, it has figured into the beliefs of Israel, and then later into Christianity, as being symbolic for God’s people. Nearby is the hill where Jesus was crucified. The Bible has much to say about Jerusalem and Zion, and with so much associated with this city of Jerusalem and mount Zion, it seems like the probable location of the New Jerusalem. So God moves the New Jerusalem from Heaven to earth, and He and Jesus will dwell with the redeemed of mankind forever! The New Jerusalem will be Their new temple or throne! For more on this, see the ‘For Further Study’ section, after the conclusion of this article.

Abrahams Everlasting Possession, the New Jerusalem, will be a massive city of 1500 miles wide by 1500 miles deep, or 2.25 million square miles! Wow!
We think that it is safe to say there has never been a city this big on Earth of this size in any of its recorded history! “The city [the New Jerusalem] is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.” Revelation 21:16 NASB. Did Abraham ever dream that his everlasting possession for himself and his offspring, both physical and spiritual, would be a massive city of 2.25 million square miles? We think not! To give you an idea how big the New Jerusalem will be, consider that the * circumference of this earth is 3,963 miles at the equator. So a city 1500 miles in width or depth would be 0.385 times the circumference of the equator! Wow! That’s a really big city! Quite big enough to house the nations of the saved!
* https://www.space.com/17638-how-big-is-earth.html

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.” Revelation 21:21-27 KJV.

This is wonderful news! This gives us a glimpse of the wonder of Heaven! God will dwell with His people! There will be no more night! No more tears! That city will have no need of the sun, for the glory of God will lighten it! And the Lamb of God will also lighten it as well! They love everyone so much! And they have finally brought their children home! Home forever to be with Them! No more sin! No more suffering! No more death! No more saying goodbye to loved ones! No more hungering and thirsting for God, all who are thirsty and hungry will on that day be satisfied with the fullness and goodness of God and His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit! Jesus shall look at the travail of His soul, for the death that He died for all who made it there, and be satisfied! Isaiah 53:10-12. His death paid the price for the sins of His people, and the Holy Spirit changed their hearts, so that they were able to love Him and the Father with all their heart, mind and soul, and to live a righteous life for Them! Now they will be with Him and the Father forever, to share in everlasting joy! And share in the eternal possession of Abraham!

This will be the most wonderful day in all of human history! Abraham will be there! His faithful offspring will be there! The nations of the saved will be there! People from every nation, kindred and tongue will be there! “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou [Jesus] art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;” Revelation 5:9 KJV. The Gentiles who accept the invitation from God to be saved, given by Jesus’ disciples, the offspring of Abraham, and by the Gentile preachers and evangelists who came after them, will also share in the promise that God made to Abraham, and will receive an ‘everlasting possession’ with them in Heaven too! There is room enough for all! The New Jerusalem is big enough for all, who would accept God’s invitation to join faithful Abraham and his faithful descendants!

There is room enough for all who accept God’s wonderful salvation in Heaven and on the Earth made new! No reason for anyone to not be there, it has been provided by God for all! Won’t you come and go with me to that bright and fair land? Amen.

And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Genesis 13:14-16 KJV. Yes, God has kept His promise to Abraham! All the land promised to him is finally his! And he is alive to see it and enjoy it, with his children, children’s children, and great, great, grand children, etc. forever! It’s no longer just a promise, it is now finally his! To the north, south, east and west! All his and for all his offspring forever! His offspring will be a numberless multitude, the nations of the saved! Way too many to count! The massive multitude of the saved of Israel and Gentiles!After this I [John] beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9-10 KJV.

And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” Revelation 19:5-9 KJV.

Yes! You can believe that God will keep His promise to Abraham! God always keeps His promises! God’s promise to Abraham for the ‘everlasting possession,’ was the promise of the Resurrection to him, eternal life in the New Jerusalem! And God’s promise to Abraham is also for all who are his spiritual offspring as well, faithful Israelites and Gentile Christians! Amen.


Oh Water of Life,
Fill us with Your sweet Presence!
I love You!

Please help all who read this
Know the wonder of Your love,
And the wonder of Your ways.

How pure, righteous, kind and loving you are!
How perfect are Your plans,
How just are Your ways!
Oh how I love You!
You always keep your promises!

Please fill us with the Water of Life,
And give us life everlasting!
And take us to our everlasting possession
That you promised Abraham,
And to all those faithful to You
In the New Jerusalem,
On the Earth made new,
For the Bride of Christ.

Amen!


May the grace of God, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all! Amen.

To Be Continued…


The song for the day:
Therefore the redeemed of the Lord:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pdVtpYTKXI
 
Therefore the Redeemed (Isaiah 51:11):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVcwk0o45g0



Blog Edited by John Foll.

List of Articles




From the Editor: The Everlasting Covenanthas had a very great impact on my life! These articles, with its stories from the Bible, led me to fall in love with God, there is no other way of putting it. The thing I was needing the most in my life was given to me after I learned how much He loved me in “The Everlasting Covenant” by E. J. Waggoner.

It is my prayer, dear reader, that God will richly bless you, as you learn more and more about His great love for you as presented by E. J. Waggoner in “The Everlasting Covenant, as we continue to present more articles from it.

May the grace of God, and the priceless, precious fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you, as you go down this journey of falling totally in love with God! Riches beyond measure await you, if you will just get to know Him and His great love for you!


Listen to these articles at:  http://www.whiteraimentevangelism.com/recommended.


Watchword:

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.'” John 14:23 NASB.

White Raiment Evangelism Revelation 3:18:

In Revelation 3:18 Jesus said, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, and white raiment, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and that thou mayest see." (Paraphrase of the KJV.)


#Faith #Abraham #Promise #Fulfilled #Heaven #Earth #New #Jerusalem #God #Everlasting #Possession #Joy #Resurrection #No #Tears #Death #Life #Nations #Saved #Lamb

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Abraham's Promised Possession Could Only Come Through the Resurrection Part 1

By John Foll, written between 8/11/2017 and 8/13/2017, 9/14/2018 and 9/25/2018.
© Copyright 2018 John Foll

List of Articles

See the related article by E. J.  Waggoner’s The Everlasting Covenant: 09 The Test of Faith.

And you may also want to read our related commentary article: 09 The Test of Faith: Editor’s Notes (The Everlasting Covenant)


Recap From Our Previous Commentary:

Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.’” Genesis 22:1-2 NASB.

The story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son on a mountain in the land of Moriah is such an amazing story! Abraham had been promised by God that through his seed, all nations of the earth would be blessed, which was a prophecy about Jesus. Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-8; 18:18. Jesus, the Messiah could only be born through his son Isaac, according to God’s promise to Abraham, so if Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac who was childless, how could Jesus be born through Abraham? And only through Jesus’ death on the cross can anyone ever have forgiveness of sin. And only through Jesus death and resurrection can anyone ever be resurrected after they die, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life! John 11:25. And if Jesus wasn’t born as a babe, who is the Resurrection and the Life, how could Abraham be resurrected? And if Abraham wasn’t resurrected, how could he ever get his inheritance? (Because he never got his inheritance while he was alive, as we will see.) Do you see the problem that Abraham had? (He most likely didn’t have a full understanding at this time, of the plan of salvation like we have now, because God was starting to unfold it; he only had the testimony of the patriarchs who came before him.)

From a human standpoint, Abraham was asked to sacrifice his own eternal life! Or ‘to put a knife to his own throat, and to cut off the hope of his own salvation,’ as Waggoner put it! From a human standpoint, he was also asked to sacrifice the eternal life of everyone in the world! Wow! We learned from the previous articles listed above that he would receive his promised inheritance through the resurrection. So how could he receive the promise if he had to take his son’s life as a sacrifice to God? Would he continue to believe God’s promise, that he would personally have an ‘everlasting possession’ (Genesis 17:8) in the land of Canaan, which could only come to him through the * Resurrection, and that from one born to him would all the nations of the earth be blessed? Or would he lose his faith in God’s promise? This was the test! Wow! What a test!


God’s Promise of the Everlasting Possession:

We want to show you from the Bible what God had promised Abraham, and why this promise to Abraham could only come to him personally through the Resurrection, and why the children of Israel could only fully get this promised inheritance through the Resurrection as well.

* Many years before God had asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, note what God said to him: And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Genesis 13:14-16 KJV. And later God said to Abraham: “And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he [Abraham] said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” Genesis 15:7-8 KJV. God had him make a sacrifice of a 3 year old heifer, a 3 year old ram, a turtle dove and a pigeon, then Abraham fell into a deep sleep and God answered him, saying that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and enslaved and oppressed for 400 years, and then they would come out with much possessions. Genesis 15:13. It is clear that Abraham’s descendants, during their 400 years in their captivity as slaves, never received their possession that God had promised Abraham and his descendants. But God had promised all of the land that Abraham could see northward, southward, eastward and westward to him and his descendants forever, not just to his descendants after they left Egypt.

Note again what God promised Abraham regarding the land the He showed him: ‘to thee will I give it’ and ‘to thy seed forever.’ God promised this land to Abraham personally and to Abraham’s children forever! It was to be their possession forever! Do not miss this! If either Abraham or Abraham’s children (those faithful to God) did not receive this possession forever, then this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Note what Abraham said: ‘How will I know that I shall inherit it?” This makes it clear that Abraham expected to receive the inheritance for himself, not just for his posterity. For those who think that the children of Israel, delivered from their bondage in Egypt, coming into the Promised Land of Canaan was the complete fulfillment of this promise, think again, because it was not forever. In the dream that Abraham had, God answered Abraham and said that his posterity would come out of the land of Egypt with ‘many possessions.’ We believe that this was a partial fulfillment of the promise, when they got their inheritance in the land of Canaan. This was the beginning of the fulfillment of this promise.

Abraham did not have the Promised Land as an eternal possession for himself, since he died and was never in control of the land at any time in his life, that was to be given to him (and to his descendants). Yet God had promised it to him and to all of his descendants, which also includes those who came after him, before the children of Israel came out of Egypt, since it included all of his descendants. (But based on other places in the Bible its continued possession was dependent upon being faithful to God, or by God’s grace.) There is no place in Genesis that ever declared that Abraham was ever in possession of it. So there is simply no way that the promise was fulfilled in Abraham’s day, to the days of the children of Israel’s slavery in Egypt! After David and Solomon’s day it wasn’t totally fulfilled either, because the children of Israel lost a lot of it. But God had promised Abraham and his descendants that they would get it as an eternal possession forever, including Abraham himself! God always keeps His promises! Please do not think of this promise as merely a returning of the Jews to the land of Israel for a modern Israeli state, an ‘earthly kingdom,’ which some today think is the fulfillment of prophecy. This promise was for a spiritual kingdom that would last forever, not just for temporal blessings, as we shall see!

Some may think that we are making too big of a deal about ‘the everlasting possession’ that God promised Abraham in Genesis 17:8, as meaning that the possession must be everlasting. They may think that it is a figurative expression that God made to Abraham. The rationalistic humanistic mind is ever ready to try to turn everything into the mundane and ordinary, to match their ideas and non-belief in God or their non-belief in His miracles. Many people probably think that He didn't really mean that Abraham himself should personally, literally have the promised possession. Or that those who followed after Abraham, until the generation of those who came out of Egypt, would personally have it either.  Meaning that the promise was fulfilled only when the children of Israel came out of Egypt to receive their inheritance in the Promised Land, and that was the complete fulfillment of the promise, end of story. And they probably think that the ‘everlasting possession’ means that the many generations of Abraham’s offspring living in the Promised Land was the fulfillment. This is the way human beings think a lot of the time. More than likely many people haven’t studied this out, and have no thoughts on it whatsoever. Some people may think that they have everlasting life vicariously through their children, and their grand-children and their great grand-children, etc. Another words eternal life only happens through having children and that we ourselves won’t get it; that our life is passed down to our posterity from generation to generation. This humanistic view of eternal life is incorrect, and is not eternal life by any means! It leaves out God and His supernatural power, and it leaves out the salvation that God wants to provide us and leaves out real eternal life. And it throws out the teachings of the Bible. It is not much different than someone thinking that they can save themselves by their own merit, skill or will or ability, or by their own hard work, etc. This is salvation by works. No miracles needed for the humanist, they die at death, and this is the end of the show for them. Their beliefs can be explained only in naturalistic terms and human philosophy. But where does this leave God? Where does this leave the Bible and its teaching of salvation? As we shall see, God has a better plan, much better! And you will see that God’s salvation is salvation indeed! It is miraculous and supernatural, completely beyond the ability of mankind!


To Be Continued…



Blog Edited by John Foll.

List of Articles




From the Editor: The Everlasting Covenanthas had a very great impact on my life! These articles, with its stories from the Bible, led me to fall in love with God, there is no other way of putting it. The thing I was needing the most in my life was given to me after I learned how much He loved me in “The Everlasting Covenant” by E. J. Waggoner.

It is my prayer, dear reader, that God will richly bless you, as you learn more and more about His great love for you as presented by E. J. Waggoner in “The Everlasting Covenant, as we continue to present more articles from it.

May the grace of God, and the priceless, precious fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you, as you go down this journey of falling totally in love with God! Riches beyond measure await you, if you will just get to know Him and His great love for you!

Listen to these articles at:  http://www.whiteraimentevangelism.com/recommended.


Watchword:

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.'” John 14:23 NASB.

White Raiment Evangelism Revelation 3:18:

In Revelation 3:18 Jesus said, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, and white raiment, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and that thou mayest see." (Paraphrase of the KJV.)


#Abraham #Seed #Offspring #Faith #God #Promise #Land #Canaan #Everlasting #Possession #Inherit #Spiritual #Kingdom #Forever #Life #Resurrection #Isaac #Death #Jesus #Israel

Saturday, September 8, 2018

09 The Test of Faith: Editor’s Notes (The Everlasting Covenant)

Theme Text from the article by E.  J. Waggoner from The Everlasting Covenant: 09 The Test of Faith, from The Present Truth, July 2, 1896:

So “it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Gen. 22:1, 2.

Please read this article now before reading our notes on them: http://whiteraimentevangelismfaith.blogspot.com/2018/08/09-test-of-faith-everlasting-covenant.html

Editor’s Notes by John Foll:


This is such an amazing story, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son on a mountain in the land of Moriah! From a human standpoint, Abraham was asked to sacrifice his own eternal life! Or ‘to put a knife to his own throat,’ as Waggoner put it! And he was asked to sacrifice the eternal life of everyone in the world. Would he continue to believe God’s promise, that he would personally have a possession in the land of Canaan, which could only happen for him through the * Resurrection, and that from one born to him would all the nations of the world be blessed? Or would he lose his faith in God’s promise? This was the test!

* We will post an article soon on this called: “Abraham's Promised Possession of Canaan Could Only Come Through the Resurrection”. E. J.  Waggoner already covered the fact that Abraham was asked to sacrifice his own eternal life, and that Abraham could only gain the promised inheritance through the resurrection, but we want to go through it again and ‘make it plain’ in a separate article.

How many people are willing to go through the test of faith like Abraham went through? Without faith it is only natural to question how God could save the world through Jesus, if Jesus had to be born through Isaac, the child of the Promise, but then Isaac was slain! How could this even be possible? But this is not the path of faith!
 
How many are really willing to do whatever God asks, regardless of the cost to themselves? This was the strongest test that any human being has ever been asked to do by God, which was put on Abraham, but thank God he passed the test for all of humanity! Did you know that what Abraham did here was for all of humanity? Abraham was a type of ‘Christ’ here or a type of the ‘Father.’ What would have happened to God’s promise to save the world through the offspring of Abraham, if Abraham had failed? God would have still found a way to keep His promise, but Abraham would have lost out, and it would have brought dishonor upon God. John the Baptist said, ‘God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones.’ Matthew 3:1-2, 9; Luke 3:2-3, 8. Another words, God can raise up someone faithful to Him from the very rocks if needed, like Abraham. How God would have kept His promise to Abraham, if Abraham had failed, we cannot tell. Would Abraham believe that God is love, pure, just and holy? Would he believe God’s promise to him of eternal life, through the offspring of his son Isaac, if he obeyed God’s command to sacrifice his son? But by faith Abraham did not fail! Yes he did believe! WOW! That is faith! Thankfully Abraham passed the test! This is why he is called the father of the faithful or the father of them that believe. Romans 4:11-16.

Abraham passing this test shows everyone that God does indeed keep His promises, and that He will save all to the uttermost who put their trust in Him for salvation! What God did for Abraham He can do for you too, and for everyone else who puts their full trust in His mighty power and promises to save! The blessing of Abraham passing this test has been passed down to mankind, through God being able to keep His promise directly and literally to Abraham, that through his offspring (of Isaac) all nations of the world would be blessed. Genesis 22:15-18. Does this really matter? You bet it does! This was when God sent His only Son Jesus to this world to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16, 17), and when Jesus showed us how to live, have peace, and be full of love and joy and have eternal life! The result is an object lesson in faith, and that Abraham trusted God enough to be willing to sacrifice his own eternal life to obey God! Wow! Do you see now why it was so important for Abraham to pass this test? It was so Jesus could be born through the offspring of Isaac and die on the cross for our sins! What is the big deal about Him being born through Isaac? It is because God promised it to Abraham! So what is the big deal about whether God kept His promise to Abraham or not, for us today? You had better believe it was a big deal! In this world of evil and shades of grey in between good and evil, great hypocrisy and lies, it is a most wonderful thing to have someone to believe in who is perfect in love and purity, who always keeps His promises. So where would we be now if Jesus had not been born and died for our sins? Where would we be now if we couldn’t trust God to keep His promises?

Isn’t Abraham’s struggle in passing the test of faith similar to what Jesus went through? Jesus had a great struggle too in the Garden of Gethsemane over the fate of all sinners. It tested His resolve to save humanity, and the fate of the entire world hung in the balance! What if His sacrifice hadn’t been accepted by the Father? What if He had sinned even once? Perhaps these were some of the thoughts that Jesus struggled with before and after He came to this earth as a babe, grew up, was baptized and went through that great struggle in the garden and won it, and went through with His great sacrifice to save us, praise God! This in some ways was like Abraham’s struggle to sacrifice his son, only much more severe! Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 22:44-46. Jesus sweat great drops of blood during His great struggle in the garden of Gethsemane!

At the beginning of the world Jesus was asked by the Father to sacrifice His life for the sins of the world, which was like asking Him to sacrifice His own eternal life, because He could have failed in His mission when He was asked to die! Revelation 13:8; John 3:16, 17; Ephesians 1:3-4. Jesus was tried and tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15. He could not have been tried and tempted in all points like we are without sin, if there was no possibility of His failure. Think on that! The Father asking Jesus to die on the cross for our sins was like Abraham telling is son that he was the sacrifice, and putting him on the altar and getting ready to slay him. Isaac could have easily overpowered Abraham, who was quite old when this story took place! So Isaac cooperated with his father to be the sacrifice, like Jesus did when he cooperated with His Father to be the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world! Beautiful parallel! Jesus had eternal life and power within Himself, and could have changed His mind, and backed out of His Father’s plan to save the world if He had wanted to. But like Isaac he cooperated with His Father to be the sacrifice! He could have called 10,000 angels or 1 Trillion angels to save Himself from the cross, and could have easily slain all of His accusers and those who nailed Him to the cross. He had the power to do this! But He did not, because He loves you and me!

He could not have saved you and me, if He had saved Himself. The priests and rulers said, ‘He saved others, but He cannot save Himself.’ “Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” Matthew 27:41-43 KJV. Little did they realize the truth behind their mocking statement! - He wasn’t trying to save Himself, but all of mankind! There was no way to save Himself from the death on the cross, and save us too! Oh how most of us, if we had been in this position and had the power He had, would have really given it to our accusers and to the ones torturing us, and would have let them have it and destroyed them all! But thankfully Jesus was not like us! What Jesus did, especially after all of those unholy taunts that were hurled at Him, showed His infinite love and pity for us! The test for Jesus to get revenge on His torturers and abusers would have been very great, considering His Godly power and ability of issuing payback and punishment! This was Satan’s goal in all the abuse that was heaped upon heap upon Jesus.

It has been said that Jesus died ‘the second death’ of unrepentant sinners, to pay the price for our sins, for Him who knew no sin! He died as someone who will die who is lost, without hope. We deserve to die as a lost sinner without hope, but Jesus took our place so we don’t have to, if we believe in Him. He died the death that we deserve, in our place, just like the ram that God gave to Abraham to die in the place of his son Isaac too! Beautiful parallel!

From a human standpoint, all hope was cut off for Jesus when He died, and so His disciples and the world thought. But Jesus had to lose His life in order for God to keep His promise to Abraham! He had thought He was cut off from His Father when He was dying on the cross and said, ‘My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken Me?’ Matthew 27:46 KJV. From a human standpoint, all hope was apparently cut off to Abraham too, by God’s request that he sacrifice his son Isaac! Abraham was probably tempted with the thought that if he sacrificed Isaac’s life and God didn’t resurrect him back to life, then he would lose his son and the promise of eternal life for himself, and for everyone else in the world! Think about that!

Abraham had to have great faith to do what God had asked him to do. Abraham had to believe the promise of God, against the command of God! Wow! God’s command seemed contrary to His promise. If he had taken his own son’s life that would have been murder, which is sin! Wow! What a test! Jesus could not save the Jews from the hated Roman government rule if He died. This was what the Jewish nation was expecting from the Messiah. But He did die. From a human standpoint at the time of His death, He had failed in His mission, but from God’s promise and plan He had succeeded! His goal at this time was the salvation of the whole world from sin, suffering and death – for all who would believe, not saving the Jews from the Roman rule! So the hopes of those who hoped in Jesus died when He died, or so they thought. But it was only through His death and resurrection that He is able to forgive our sins and impart eternal life to us! It was only through His death that God was able to keep His promise to Abraham!

“And Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.’” John 12:23-25 NASB. This was not only what Jesus taught His disciples to do, it is also what He did Himself! He lost His life for our sake, and gained His own life back again and thus helped us gain eternal life too! Don’t you love Him? He had to trust in the Resurrection, just like Abraham did and we do. But He is the Resurrection and the Life! John 11:25; 10:17-18. From a human standpoint, it was foolishness for Christ to die on the cross for our sins!For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18 KJV. But thank God, Jesus did just that – dying on the cross for our sins! Otherwise we would have no hope. So Jesus went through a very great struggle to save humanity, and won it for our sakes! Amen.

So now we see more clearly why Abraham had his big test of faith, where God asked him to sacrifice his only son. It was a type of what God and Jesus went through, when Jesus agreed to die on the cross for our sins, all the way until His death on the cross! Note what Abraham told Isaac, when Isaac asked him where the lamb for the sacrifice was: he said, ‘God will provide.’ Genesis 22:7-8. And that is exactly what God did! Genesis 22:10-13. God provided! What faith this was! God did provide, not just the ram caught in the thicket to die in the place of Abraham’s only begotten son Isaac, but He also provided His only begotten son Jesus too, as ‘the lamb of God’, to die in the place of every believing sinner in the world, including Abraham and Isaac too! Praise His name forever! Amen!

May the grace of God, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all! Amen.

© Copyright 2018 John Foll


Blog Edited by John Foll.

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If you were blessed by this article, why not read all of it starting from the beginning of it?
Click here to read Part 1 of the Everlasting Covenant.




From the Editor: The Everlasting Covenanthas had a very great impact on my life! These articles, with its stories from the Bible, led me to fall in love with God, there is no other way of putting it. The thing I was needing the most in my life was given to me after I learned how much He loved me in “The Everlasting Covenant” by E. J. Waggoner.

It is my prayer, dear reader, that God will richly bless you, as you learn more and more about His great love for you as presented by E. J. Waggoner in “The Everlasting Covenant, as we continue to present more articles from it.

May the grace of God, and the priceless, precious fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you, as you go down this journey of falling totally in love with God! Riches beyond measure await you, if you will just get to know Him and His great love for you!


Listen to these articles at:  https://www.whiteraimentevangelism.org/recommended.


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Saturday, December 30, 2017

Lessons on Faith: Part 14 of 14: Walk in the Spirit

By A. T. Jones

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"Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Gal. 5:16.

What a blessed promise! And as sure as it is blessed, to everyone who believes.

Think of the lust of the flesh. How all-pervading it is! How stern are its dictates! How oppressive its rule! How dismal is the slavery that it lays upon man!

Everybody has experienced it -- longing to do the good that he would, yet doing only the evil that he hated; having ever a will to do better, but how to perform it, finding not; delighting in the law of God after the inward man, yet finding in his members another law, warring against the law of his mind and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin which is in his members; and at last, crying out, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom. 7:14-24.

Thank the Lord, there is deliverance. It is found in Christ Jesus and in the Spirit of our God. Rom. 7:25; 8:1,2. And the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus having made you free from the law of sin and death, then "walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." There is not only deliverance from the bondage of corruption; there is also the glorious liberty of the children of God for every soul who receives the Spirit and walks in the Spirit.

"Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

See the list of the workings of the lust of the flesh: "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like." None of these shall you fulfill, over all these things you have the victory, when you walk in the Spirit. It is the faithful word of God.

Is not that a most desirable prospect? Is not such a thing as that worth having? And when it is had for the asking and the taking, then is it not worth asking for and taking?

Accept the deliverance that Christ has wrought out for you. Stand, and stand fast, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

"Ask, and it shall be given you." "For everyone that asketh receiveth." "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." "Be filled with the Spirit," yea, "Walk in the" "Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

RH Mar. 14, 1899 

By A. T. Jones in the Review and Herald periodical in 1899.


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Monday, April 10, 2017

The Divine Human Family 2 of 3: All in Him

By W. W. PRESCOTT

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I DO not ask this evening that you should comprehend the lesson of this hour, but I do ask that whatever the Word says may be received and believed; because it is only in that way that we can do anything with the lesson of this hour. The Jews lost one of the very best lessons, in fact the lesson of all lessons that Christ endeavored to teach them, because "they strove among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat’," and the same spirit would shut up our minds and hearts to the lesson of this hour.

Col. 2:10: "And ye are complete in him." And the special thought of our study at this time will be the further development of that idea expressed in Heb.7:9,10: "And as I may so say, Levi also who received tithes, paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him."

Our study Friday evening was to learn concerning the head of this divine human family. "Levi paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him." What did we do in him, the father of this spiritual family, this divine-human family? "And the Word was
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made flesh and dwelt among us." John 1:14. I wish to read three or four texts to show that according to the general tenor of the subject and at the same time following more strictly the original text, we may read this: "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt in us." To express the general idea that God was manifested in the flesh among men, we have the text in Matthew's gospel, first chapter, 23rd verse. "Behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us," and this is a different expression, both in the English and in the original, "Emmanuel, God with us." But here are other texts where the rendering follows the same original and translates it "in us." 1 John 4:13: "Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us," not among us, but "in us." Third chapter, 24th verse: "And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in Him and He in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us," not among us, "in us, by the spirit which he hath given us." "That they all may be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us." John 17:21. R. V.

In all these texts you will observe that it would destroy the whole meaning to say "among us," and while it does not destroy the meaning in John 1:14 to say, "He dwelt among us, yet it seems to me to lose sight of the very best of the meaning." "He was made flesh and dwelt in us." That is to say that Jesus Christ was the representative of humanity, and all humanity centered in him, and when he took flesh, he took humanity. He took humanity and he became the father of this divine-human family, and he became the father by joining himself in this way to humanity, and the flesh which he took and in which he dwelt was our flesh, and we were there in him, and he in us, just as Levi was there in Abraham; and just as what Abraham did, Levi did in Abraham, so what Jesus Christ in the flesh did, we did in him. And this is the most glorious truth in Christianity. It is Christianity itself, it is the very core and life and heart of Christianity. He took our flesh, and our humanity was found in him, and what he did, humanity did in him.

Now, let us follow the development of that idea further. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Eph. 1:3. R. V. That is, when he put all those spiritual blessings upon Christ when he was here in the flesh, he put those blessings upon us, because he was made flesh and dwelt in us, and we were there in him, and the time when we were blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ was when those blessings were put upon Jesus Christ who dwelt in us; and the only question for us is, Have we enjoyed, have we received, the blessings that he gave us in him? Fourth verse: "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world." When he chose Jesus Christ, he chose us in him, and we were chosen before the foundation of the world in him; not you and I as individuals chosen above other individuals, and our salvation personally assured as distinct from others, but every one in him was chosen. Every one in him was chosen. Every member of this divine-human family was chosen when he was chosen, because we were there in him, and because he was made flesh and dwelt in us.

Sixth verse: "To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved," and when the Father said to his Son, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," he said the same words to every son in this divine-human family. "Thou art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased" in him, in him. Was he accepted? So are we in him. Are we accepted because of any thing that we are, or have been, or can be? No, but we were accepted in him, in the beloved. It is so, in him, accepted.

The 11th verse: "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance" in him. Did he redeem the inheritance? Did he buy back the inheritance? Did he pay the price? Did the thorns rest upon his brow in token of the fact that he bore the curse of the earth, and that he bore suffering for the earth, and that he was removing the curse from the earth, and that he was bringing back the inheritance? We obtained the inheritance in him, and so he obtained the inheritance and redeemed the inheritance, and bought back the inheritance. We obtained it, because we were there in him, and because he was made flesh and dwelt in us.

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." When the new man, the divine human man, the man Christ Jesus, was created, we were created in him. All members of this divine human family were created in him, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God aforetime prepared that we should walk in them." Eph.2:10. R. V. When did he prepare the good works in which we are to walk? Why, in him. What are we to do? To walk in the good works that God hath before prepared, that we should walk in them, so the Scripture says in 1 John 2:6, "He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked," not so much as an obligation, but as a consequence. Why? Inasmuch as God prepared aforetime the good works for us to walk in why, "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself so to walk even as he walked," not as an obligation, but as a consequence, he "ought so to walk even as he walked," because he is in him.

So we read in Col.2:6, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." In him. Now we were created in Christ Jesus for good works, and God has prepared those good works aforetime for us to walk in them, and how shall we walk in those good works which he has prepared for us to walk in? Why, walk in him. Let us read Eph.2:6, and I will read the translation in the Syriac Version of the clause that I wish especially to emphasize, "And hath raised us up together;" and the fifth verse shows that is together with Christ, because it says, "Hath quickened us together with Christ:" "And hath raised us up together, and seated us with him in heaven in Jesus the messiah." "He hath seated us in heaven in Jesus the Messiah." He was made flesh and dwelt in us, and with that same flesh of humanity he went to heaven, and when he had purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high. When he went to heaven, we went in him. When he was seated on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high, we were seated there in him. Humanity is in heaven. We, our humanity, our flesh, is there, and we are seated there in him, because he is the Father of this family, and because every son is in him just as Levi was in Abraham, and when Abraham paid tithes, Levi paid tithes in him, although he was not born yet. And when Jesus Christ went to heaven, every child of his went there in him. When he took his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high, every child was seated there in him; thank the Lord!

Every one of these truths is worthy of an hour's study. The whole thought is overwhelming; what God has done for us, the human family! What he has done to bring us back to him, to restore his image in us, to redeem us, the condescension of Jesus Christ to come here and dwell in us! To take our flesh, our sinful flesh, to unite himself to the human family, to become the Father of the family, to join himself with us by birth, in those closest ties, never to be broken! That is the love of God in Jesus Christ! And he did not simply come here as an outsider, and do something, but he came here and became what we are; he dwelt in us! He gathered together in himself all humanity, and he invited the Father to treat him as the representative
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of humanity, and so what he did we did in him, and are receiving the benefits of it. What we have done he did not do; but he was treated as if he had done it, and he received the benefits of that, completely changing places with us! That was the love of God in Jesus Christ.

We read again in Romans 6:6, Revised Version, "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that we should no longer be in bondage to sin; for he that hath died is justified from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." Tenth verse: "For the death that he died (and we died with him), he died unto sin once, but the life that he lives, he lives unto God, even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus." He died, we died with him.

2 Cor. 5:14 expresses the same idea, and brings it out clearly in the Revised Version. "For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judged that one died for all, therefore all died." Read it in Hebrews 2:9: "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." How could he taste death for every man? Because every man was in him; because he clothed his divinity with humanity; because humanity was all centered in him. Notice how many ways this is touched upon in the Scriptures. "He was tempted in all points like as we are;" the temptations of humanity met in him. "All of us like sheep have wandered, each to his own way we have turned, and Jehovah hath caused to meet on him the punishment of us all." Isa.53:6, Dr. Young's Translation: "Everything met in him." "Made him to be sin," not a sinner, but "made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin." He took it all, he bore all our sins. See it in this same 53rd chapter of Isaiah, 4th verse: "Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted; but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Why? Because our humanity bore those stripes, and we received those stripes in him.

See how this thought is further brought out in Romans 7:4, R. V: "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ:" "were made dead." Notice the form of the expression, "were made dead." It refers to a definite point of past time when this thing all took place. Now notice further on that idea. Hebrews 10:5: "Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me." Margin, "thou hast fitted to me." Syriac Version, "thou hast clothed me with a body." He was made flesh, and dwelt in us; so we were the body, and he put us on, in order that we might put him on, because the Scripture says, "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." But we never could have put him on, had he not first put us on. But, Heb.10:10, R. V.: "By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Now how was it possible that we should be made, or were made, dead to the law through the body of Christ? Because he was clothed with a body, he was made flesh and dwelt in us, and we were there in him, and that body of flesh was a body of sinful flesh (Rom.8:3), so we may be sure it was like ours. So when he was offered, he paid the penalty of the law. But that body was our flesh, and we were there in him. And by the offering of the body of Christ, we became dead to the law through that body, because humanity (humanity in which divinity was enshrined) was paying the price. Divinity and humanity were joined in the body of Christ, and the penalty was paid. "Thou has caused to meet on him the punishment of us all;" and we were all there in him receiving the punishment. So we became dead to the law. We were made dead to the law at a definite point in past time. We were made dead to the law through the body of Christ.

Let us read further in the sixth of Romans, seventh verse, R. V.: "For he that hath died is justified from sin." "The wages of sin is death," and when one has died, he has paid the penalty. So he that hath died is justified from sin, and the whole choice with us lies just here, Shall we prefer to die for ourselves? We were there in him and received the punishment and paid the penalty; shall we avail ourselves of that fact? or do we prefer to pay the debt ourselves and die ourselves apart from him? We can do so, but "he that hath died is justified from sin." The eighth verse: "But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." So if we accept that fact and make it our own, that we died with him, that we died in him, it is thus that we receive life in him, and through him.
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Read this same idea in Gal.2:20, Revised Version: "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." I read the same idea in Col.2:11. Revised Version: "In whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ." "In whom ye also were circumcised;" do you not see this idea, that everything that he did, we did in him? And do you not see that the only question to be settled is, Are we in him? That is all. Are we in him? If so, just as soon as we come into the family, we avail ourselves of all the rights and privileges of the family. Just as soon as we come into the family, we come into possession of all that the Father of the family did. It is feebly illustrated when children are born into the earthly family. They have certain rights in all that the father has done, represented by his property. The child has certain rights and claims, and the law recognizes them. It is a feeble illustration, and yet it is in the line of thought, because when we are born into the divine-human family, and become really in him, by our own choice, it is not simply true that we have a right to certain things that he has, and has done, but all that he has done, and all that he has, belong to each member of the family. Is it any wonder that the apostle John broke out and said, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God"? Then as sons and as members of the family, all that he did, ours; all that he has, ours; everything comes to us just as soon as we are born into the family, just as soon as we become sons of God.

The next question that arises is, but what about Christian experience on any such basis as this? It is all in him. If we do, it is in him, if we strive, it is in him. It is all in him, and Christian experience may be summed up in this, what we did in him, then, without any choice on our part, he is to do now in us by our choice. Then we will have plenty of Christian experience of the right kind. All this that we did in him was without our choice or consent, without asking us if we would like it done, he came and by taking our flesh, and dwelling in us, he did it in us and we did it in him without even asking for it, without any choice, without any effort on our part whatever.

Now his desire is that what was done then in him without any choice or will on our part, he shall now do in us by our choice and by our will, and our choice is all the time to be exercised on this point: Shall I remain in him? Shall I continue to choose him, and be in him? That is Christian experience. That is the experience set forth by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians, first chapter, fifteenth and sixteenth verses: "But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, to reveal his Son in me." It is now a good time to say that this union by which we are in him is of that nature that it is impossible except as he also is in us. And so reveal His Son "in me."

See this thought in 1Timothy 1:16; "Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering." Jesus Christ showed forth all long-suffering. It was shown forth when Jesus Christ was here, and he desired that the same thing should be shown forth in the apostle Paul. See this thought in 1John 4:2, 3 and 4: "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus is come in the flesh is of God." Now it is not every one who confesseth that Jesus Christ did come in the flesh, but every one who confesseth, who is confessing, that Jesus Christ is come in his own flesh. But you say, It cannot mean that. We will stop a moment. Every spirit that does that is of God. Now when Jesus Christ was here in the flesh, every time the devils met him, they recognized him as Jesus Christ in the flesh. They said, "We know thee who thou art, the holy one of God." Were they of God? Does it meet this idea to say every one that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come, that he did come? The devils confessed that very thing, and that is the very kind of faith that is being pushed upon the people now. The devils believe and tremble, but they do not believe unto righteousness, and believing unto righteousness is the gospel, is Christ in you the hope of glory, and every one that is confessing that Christ is come in the flesh is the one that is confessing that Jesus Christ is in him the hope of glory. That spirit is of God. Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, and it is that spirit of antichrist, and it does not make any difference where you meet it, nor when you meet it. Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is an opposer; he is antichrist and is of the spirit that opposes, and it is the very essence of antichrist to deny that fact which is the basis, in the first place, the general basis of Christianity, and in the second place is the life and the all and in all of every individual's Christianity, and that is that Christ is come in his own flesh, and that Jesus Christ is in him the hope of glory.

INTEREST in the Bible studies forenoon and evening is deepening and we are appreciating more and more what we have known for a long time, that the Bible is a wonderful book. It is the product of the Infinite mind, and like its author is perfect and complete.
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