03 The Call of Abraham - The Promise to Abraham (The Everlasting Covenant)

The Promise To Abraham:

In studying this promise, two portions of Scripture must ever be kept in mind. The first is the words of Jesus: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:39, 46-47 NKJV).

The only Scriptures in the days of Christ were the books now known as the Old Testament; these testify of Him. They were given for no other purpose. The Apostle Paul wrote that they are able to make men wise to salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 3:15); and among those writings the books of Moses are specially pointed out by the Lord as revealing Him. He who reads the writings of Moses, and the entire Old Testament, with any other expectation than to find Christ, and the way of life through Him, will utterly fail of understanding them. His reading will be in vain.

The other text is 2 Cor. 1:19, 20: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us — by me, Silvanus, and Timothy — was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” No promise of God has ever been given to man except through Christ. Personal faith in Christ is the one thing necessary in order to receive whatever God has promised. God is no respecter of persons: He offers His riches freely to everybody; but no one can have any part in them except as he accepts Christ. This is perfectly fair, since Christ is given to all if they will but have Him.

With these principles in mind, we read the first account of the promise of God to Abraham. “Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3).

At the very outset we may see that this promise to Abraham was a promise in Christ. The Apostle Paul writes: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (Gal. 3:8, 9). From this we learn that when God said that in Abraham all the families of the earth shall be blessed, He was preaching the Gospel to him. The blessing that was to come upon the people of the earth through him was to come only upon those who had faith.

Abraham and the Cross

The preaching of the Gospel is the preaching of the cross of Christ. Thus the Apostle Paul says that he was sent to preach the Gospel, but not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. And then he adds that the preaching of the cross is the power of God to them that are saved. (1 Cor. 1:17, 18). And this is but another way of saying that it is the Gospel, for the Gospel is the power of God to salvation. Therefore since the preaching of the Gospel is the preaching of the cross of Christ (and there is no salvation by any other means), and God preached the Gospel to Abraham when He said, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” it is very clear that in that promise the cross of Christ was made known to Abraham, and that the promise thus made was one that could be gained only through the cross.

This fact is made very clear in the third chapter of Galatians. Following the statement that the promise of blessing is to all the nations of the earth through Abraham, and that they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham, the apostle continues, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:13, 14). Here we have it stated in the most explicit terms that the blessing of Abraham, which was to come on all the families of the earth, was to come only through the cross of Christ.

This is a point that needs to be well fixed in the mind at the very beginning. All the misunderstandings of the promises of God to Abraham and his seed have arisen through a failure to see the Gospel of the cross of Christ in them. If it be continually remembered that all the promises of God are in Christ, to be gained only through His cross, and that consequently they are spiritual and eternal in their nature, there will be no difficulty, and the study of the promise to the fathers will be a delight and a blessing.

We read that Abraham, in obedience to the call of the Lord, went forth from his father’s house, and from his native land. “Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants [“Unto thy seed” KJV] I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord” (Gen. 12:5-8).

It is best for us to perceive the real meaning of God’s promises and dealings with Abraham from the very start, and then our subsequent reading will be easy, since it will be but the application of these principles. In this last Scripture there are a few subjects introduced, which occupy a very prominent place in this study, and so we will note them here. First,

The Seed

The Lord said to Abraham, after he had reached the land of Canaan, “Unto thy seed will I give this land.” If we but stick to the Scriptures we shall not have a moment’s difficulty in ascertaining who the seed is. “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “and to your Seed,” who is Christ” (Gal. 3:16). This ought for ever to settle the matter, so that there could be no dispute about it. The seed of Abraham, to whom the promise was made, is Christ. He is the heir.

But we also may be joint-heirs with Christ. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:27-29).

Those who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, and are therefore included in Him. So when it is said that Christ is the seed of Abraham, to whom the promises were made, all who are in Christ are included. But nothing outside of Christ is included in the promise. To say that the inheritance promised to the seed of Abraham could be possessed by any except those who were Christ’s through faith in Him, is to ignore the Gospel, and to deny the word of God. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). Therefore since the promise of the land was to Abraham and his seed, which is Christ and those who have put Him on by baptism, and who are therefore new creations, it follows that the promise of the land was only to those who were new creatures in Christ, — children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. This again is additional evidence that all the promises of God are in Christ, and that the promises to Abraham can be gained only through the cross of Christ.

Let this principle, therefore, never for a moment be forgotten in reading about Abraham and the promise to him and his seed, — that the seed is Christ and those who are in Him. This and nothing besides.

The Land

Abraham was in the land of Canaan when God said to him, “To your descendants [“Unto thy seed”] I will give this land.” Turn now to the words which the martyr Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, and his face shining like that of an angel, said to his persecutors: “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, “Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you. ’Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell” (Acts 7:2-4).

This is but a repetition of what we have already read in the twelfth chapter of Genesis. Now read the next verse: “And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants [seed] after him” (v. 5).

We learn here that although it is sometimes merely stated, “To your descendants [“Unto thy seed”] I will give this land,” Abraham himself was included in the promise. This is made very evident in the repetitions of the promise that follow in the book of Genesis.

But we learn more, and that is that Abraham actually received no inheritance of land. He had not so much of the land as to set his foot on; yet God had promised it to him and to his seed after him. What shall we say to this? — That the promise of God failed?—Not by any means. God “cannot lie.” “He remains faithful.” Abraham died without having received the promised inheritance, yet he died in faith. We must therefore learn from this the lesson that the Holy Spirit wished the Jews to learn, namely, that the promised inheritance could be gained only through Jesus and the resurrection. This also is made very clear by the words of the Apostle Peter: —

“You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, “And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities” (Acts 3:25-26).

The blessing of Abraham, as we have learned, comes on the Gentiles, or all the families of the earth, through Jesus Christ and His cross; but the blessing of Abraham is connected with the promise of the land of Canaan. That also was to be possessed only through Christ and the resurrection. If it had been otherwise, Abraham would have been disappointed, instead of dying in full faith of the promise. But this also will appear more plainly as we proceed.

By E.  J. Waggoner — The Present Truth, May 21, 1896


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From the Editor: “The Everlasting Covenant” has 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!

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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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The Divine Human Family 1 of 3: The Head of the Family

By W. W. PRESCOTT

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THE one object in all our Bible study should be, not to establish theories, but to feed upon the living word. And it seems especially desirable to call attention to this principle when a large number of us who are accustomed to teaching the word come together to make a special study of it. Hence the principle should not be to learn some theory which we can tell to others, but to obtain a life which may be lived before others; and this will be the purpose in our study of the word, - simply to feed upon the word which is Spirit and which is life. And this will be the case, no matter what special phase of truth we may study. Our whole purpose will be to break the bread of life so that we may together feed upon it.

The subject which we will consider together, for a time at least, during this Institute may perhaps be designated as the Divine-Human Family. In Eph.3:14,15 we read: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." The whole family in heaven and earth. And it will be our purpose to consider this idea of the family, but from this special stand-point, the Divine-Human family; and our topic for this hour will be to consider the Head of the family.

I would like to call attention, first, to the fact that the human family, considered as a human family, has one common Father. Acts 17:24-26. "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men." This is our authorized version; the revised version leaves out the word "blood." "And he made of one every nation of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." Hath made of one all nations of the earth; that is, Adam was the father of the human family as a human family; and when God created Adam he created the whole human family. He created all nations that are upon the earth when he created Adam. That is, in creating Adam and conferring upon him the power to beget in his own image, he saw, as it were, a fountain of life in him; and when he created Adam, he saw in Adam every human being that has been or will be upon the face of the earth, and he created every human being upon the face of the earth in Adam.

You will see how this thought is suggested in the 25th chapter of Genesis, where the birth of Jacob and Esau is recorded. Verses 19 to 23 give the record. But I call special attention to the 23rd verse. When Rebecca inquired of the Lord, he answered her, "Two nations are in thy womb." Two nations, - Jacob and Esau. In Jacob, God saw all the descendants of Jacob; in Esau, God saw all the descendants of Esau; and so, as he viewed it, there were two nations struggling together.
The same thought is further emphasized in Hebrews 7:9,10: "And as I may say so, Levi also, who received tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him."

These scriptures are sufficient to bring out the principle, that in Adam were all the descendants of Adam, as he was the common father of the human family. But Adam the first failed in his work, and so there came Adam the second. 1Cor. 15:45 and onward: "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven." And this second man, the Lord from heaven, sustains the same relation to his family that Adam sustained to his family. That is, he became the second father of the family.

In Col.3:9,10: "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." Eph.4:22-24: "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Dr. Young's translation of this same text gives a little different wording, which is important. Instead of reading, "Which after God is created in righteousness," he translates more literally, "Which according to God was created in righteousness." Now with these scriptures before us, we can see readily the teaching. Adam was the first man, and by yielding to sin, he received sin into human flesh,
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and his flesh became sinful flesh. Christ was the second man, the second father of the human family. He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. After humanity in Adam had admitted sin into the flesh, that became the old man, and the old man is humanity with sin working in it. That is to say, the old man is humanity under the control of the devil, and those who are in that condition are spoken of by the Saviour in John 8 as being of their father the devil. 42nd verse and onward: "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." The old man is humanity with sin working in it; the old man is humanity under the control and direction of the devil. The new man is humanity with divinity in it, and above all and first of all, the new man is Christ Jesus, "which according to God was created in righteousness and true holiness." So we are instructed to put on the new man. Rom.13:14.

"Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ," the new man, "and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof."

Now how did Jesus Christ become the second father of the human family? And what does it mean to us that he did become the second father of the human family? This is told in Heb.2:14: "Forasmuch then as the children" [he is the father] are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Notice carefully; it is because the children were partakers of flesh and blood that he also himself likewise took part of the same flesh and blood. Why? In order that he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.

This thought is suggested in 1st John 3:5." And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins." Notice what it says. "Ye know that he was manifested." He WAS MANIFESTED to take away our sins. How was he manifested? He was manifested in the flesh; by becoming partaker of flesh and blood he was manifested. John says in the first chapter and second verse, "For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us." And he was manifested to take away our sins; and he was manifested by taking part in flesh and blood, that he might be seen, capable of being looked upon. But he was manifested to take away our sins. For it was necessary, in order to take away our sins, that divinity should suffer. But how could divinity suffer simply and solely as divinity for the sins of humanity? So divinity was clothed with humanity, was manifested in humanity, that there might be a human side to divinity for the suffering; that it might be possible for divinity to present a human side for the suffering; that there might be, as it were, a vulnerable side to divinity, that divinity might receive the wound: because prophecy said that his heel should be bruised, and that must be in humanity. There must be a human side to divinity in order that divinity might suffer in humanity. But divinity must suffer to take away our sins, so divinity was manifested, put into humanity, clothed with a body; clothed with flesh, with our flesh, in order that divinity might present a side capable of receiving the wound; so, "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," and he partook of the same flesh and blood in order "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver them who through fear of death [and death comes only through sin] were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

How did he take upon him that nature, that flesh and blood? He did it by birth, by being born of a woman, and the agency through which he was born of a woman was the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35: "And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." But he was also the Son of Man, and the head, the second head of the human family was a man, the new man, the divine-human man, the man Christ Jesus.

Now what does it mean to us that Jesus Christ became the second head of this human family? It means this: Just as, when Adam was created, all the members of the human family were created in him, so also when the second man was created "according to God in righteousness and true holiness," all the members of that family were created in him. It means that, as God saw in Adam all the members of the human family, so he saw in Christ, the second father of the family, all the members of the divine human family; so he saw in him all his sons, all his daughters, all his descendants; all that belong to the family. No matter whether they were born into the family or not. Before Jacob and Esau were born, God saw two nations there. No matter whether born into the divine human family or not, yet God created
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in Christ Jesus, the new man, all the members of the divine-human family that should afterward be born into that family.

Now the fact that Christ took our flesh, and that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, means a great deal more than that there was a good man who lived then, and set us a good example. He was the second father, he was the representative of humanity; and it was when Jesus Christ took our human nature and was born of a woman, that humanity and divinity were joined. It was then that Jesus Christ gave himself, not simply for the human family but to the human family. That is to say, Jesus Christ joined himself to humanity and gave himself to humanity, and identified himself with humanity and became humanity; and he became we, and we were there in him. It means that Jesus Christ in himself joined humanity and divinity to all eternity to take our human nature and retain it to all eternity, and is to-day our representative in heaven, still bearing our human nature, and there is a divine-human man in heaven to-day, - Jesus Christ.

Read it in Heb.10:11,12: "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God." There is a man sitting on the right hand of God, and we sit there in him. That is what this scripture in the seventh of Hebrews, to which we have referred, has illustrated, how it is that God saw in Adam all the human family, and how that when he created Adam he created all the human family. This Scripture means a great deal more than that. Read again Heb.7:9,10: "And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him." When Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec, Levi paid tithes in him, for he was in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him. All that Abraham did, Levi did in him.

Read further in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, verses 21 and 22: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." You may stop a moment to think that they both came by a tree; death came by a tree, life came by a tree. Adam ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree, so death came upon the human family. Christ bore all our sins upon a tree, and by that means brought life to the human family. "By man came death; by man came also the resurrection of the dead, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Adam is the man through whom death came; Christ is the man through whom comes the resurrection from the dead. 

Read also Romans 5:12 and onward. As we read this scripture, bear these principles in mind, and this parallel between the first Adam and the second Adam, and what we gained through the first Adam and what we gained through the second Adam. From the first Adam, sin, transitory life, death; from the second Adam, righteousness, life, - eternal life. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Revised Version, "for that all sinned." Just one act in a point of time wholly past. For that all sinned; for all did sin.

"For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure (or type) of him that was to come. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift; for if through the offense of one many be dead (Revised Version, many died) much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification," or righteousness. So the contrast is between condemnation and justification, or righteousness. Death came by sin. "For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made [or 'became,' or Dr. Young's translation, 'many were constituted'] sinners; so by the obedience of one shall many be made [or constituted] righteous."

Now see the contrast between the first Adam and the second Adam; the first father of the family and the second father of the family. From one, judgment to condemnation; the other, justification of life. Through the disobedience of one, many were constituted sinners; through the obedience of one, many were constituted sinners; through the obedience of one, many were constituted righteous in him.

And the idea further that Jesus Christ gave himself to us. Think of that for a moment. It is not that Jesus Christ, as some one apart from us, as it were entirely outside of our connection in any way, just simply came forward and said, "I will die for man." No, he became man, and divinity was given to the human family in Jesus Christ. But divinity
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was joined to humanity by birth, and Jesus Christ became flesh and blood relation, - near of kin to every one of us.

Read the foreshadowing of that in Lev.55:47-49: "And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself upon the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family, after that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him, either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself." Now that is where humanity is. Humanity is sold under sin. Now if humanity is able, it may redeem itself. Is it able? Is humanity able to redeem itself? No. Well, then, some one that is nigh of kin may redeem it. But who is nigh of kin that is able to redeem it? He who took part of our same flesh and blood. So that, as is expressed in Eph.5:30, "We are members of his body and of his flesh, and of his bones." And he is nigh of kin.

Now read again in Heb.2:11, and see how this relation is recognized. "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren." You remember in his last prayer, just at the close of his work (John 17:26), he says, "And I have declared unto them thy name." "I will declare thy name unto my brethren." And he did it; and one of his last words was, "I have declared unto them thy name." They were his brethren. "I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee." And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again, "Behold, I and the children which God hath given me." Second father of the family. Behold the children.

Mark 3:31: "There came then his brethren and his mother [Now these were those that were actually related to him by the ties of the natural flesh], and standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them that sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." That is, whoever is born into this family of God is as closely related to Jesus Christ, and that by flesh and blood, as is a mother to her own son.

Read in Luke 11:27,28, and it is a touching thought: "And it came to pass as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked." As this woman looked upon Jesus Christ and heard his teachings, there arose in that mother's heart a feeling of what a wonderfully blessed thing it must be to be so closely united to that man as is a mother to her child. What did he reply? Oh, he said, "Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." Because they are united every one of them to him just as is a mother to her own child. That is, by the very closest ties possible in this world is every son of God united to Jesus Christ, his Brother, his Father, his Saviour, his Redeemer.


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Lessons on Faith: Part 3 of 14: Cultivating Faith

By A. T. Jones

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"The knowledge of what the Scripture means when urging upon us the necessity of cultivating faith is more essential than any other knowledge that can be acquired." 

Notice that it is the knowledge of what the Scripture means as to the "necessity of cultivating faith" -- not particularly having faith but cultivating it. 

There is not much said in the Scriptures about any necessity of our having faith, while very, very much is said about our cultivating faith. 

The reason of this is that to all people there is given faith to begin with, and all they need to do is to cultivate faith. Nobody can have more faith than is already given him without cultivating the faith that is already given.  And there is nothing known to man that will grow so fast as faith, when it is cultivated --  "faith groweth exceedingly." 

Faith is the expecting that the word of God itself will accomplish what that word says, and the depending upon "the word only" to accomplish what the word says. To cultivate dependence on the word of God, "the word only," itself to do what the word says is to cultivate faith. 

Faith is "the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8), and that it is given to everybody is plainly stated in the Scriptures. "God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Rom. 12:3. This measure of faith which "God hath dealt to every man" is the capital with which God endows and starts "every man that cometh into the world," and every man is expected to trade upon this capital -- cultivate it -- to the salvation of his soul. 

There is no danger of ever lessening this capital when it is used; as certainly as it is used at all, it will increase. It will grow exceedingly. And as certainly as it grows, the righteousness, the peace, the joy, of the Lord, are assured to the full salvation of the soul.

 

Again, faith comes by the word of God. Therefore, it is written, "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach." Rom. 10:8. Thus faith, the very word of faith, is in the mouth and in the heart of every man.  [Editors note: If they hear the word of God preached or if they read it.]

How is this? Thus: When the first pair sinned in the garden, they wholly believed Satan. They gave themselves wholly to Satan. They were taken completely captive by him. Then there was perfect agreement and peace between them and Satan. But God did not leave it so. He broke up this agreement; He spoiled this peace. And He did it by His word, saying to Satan, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed." Gen. 3:15. 

"It is God alone that can continually put enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent's seed. After the transgression of man, his nature became evil. Then was peace between Satan and fallen man. Had there been no interference on the part of God, men would have formed an alliance against heaven, and in the place of warfare among themselves, carried on nothing but warfare against God. There is no native enmity between fallen angels and fallen men. Both are evil and that through apostasy, and evil, wherever it exists, will always league against good. Fallen angels and fallen men join in companionship. The wise general of fallen angels calculated that if he could induce men, as he had angels, to join in rebellion, they would stand as his agents of communication with men to league in rebellion against heaven. Just as soon as one separates from God, he has no power of enmity against Satan. The enmity on earth between man and Satan is supernaturally put there. Unless the converting power of God is brought daily to bear upon the human heart, there will be no inclination to be religiously inclined, but men will choose to be the captives of Satan rather than to be free men in Jesus Christ. I say God will put enmity. Man cannot put it. When the will is brought into subject to the will of God, it must be through man's inclining his heart and will to be on the Lord's side." Unpublished Testimony. 

This enmity against Satan, this hatred of evil, which God puts in every person by His word, causes each soul to long for deliverance, and the deliverance is found alone in Jesus Christ. Rom. 7:14-25. 

Thus this word of God, which plants in each soul enmity against Satan, this hatred of evil that calls for deliverance which is found alone in Jesus Christ, this is the gift of faith to men. This is "the measure of faith" which God has dealt to every man. This is the "word of faith," which is in the mouth and in the heart of every person in the world. 

This "is the word of faith, which we preach: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Rom. 10:8-10. 

Therefore say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven, to bring faith to us? Neither say, Who shall descend into the deep, or, Who shall go far off to find faith and bring it to us? For "the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach." Deut. 30:11-14; Rom. 10:6-8.

Say that -- and exercise the faith which God has given to you, as to every other person in the world, for "understanding how to exercise faith, this is the science of the gospel." 

RH Jan. 10, 1899 

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

Blog Edited by John Foll.

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