Houma Bible Study Notes: Salvation History #2

Last week we traveled through the Old  Testament starting with creation. God’s purpose for creation was to give man a place to dwell, and He gave him dominion over the creation, but Adam’s disobedience through the fall allowed Satan to usurp Adam’s rightful authority. Immediately after the fall, God began the process of restoring man to his intended position. God performed the first sacrifice when He made skins for them.

After the fall, matters only worsened. The fallen angels became aware that God planned to destroy their power through the seed of the woman. Their counter strike was that they intermarried with the daughters of men and produced a hybrid race of giants that the Bible calls the Nephilim. It is my belief and the belief of the ancient Jews that the spirits of the disembodied Nephilim are the demon spirits that attempt to draw us away from God today.

If the fall was an individual rebellion of the first family against God, the Tower of Babel was the first corporate rebellion. The plans of Babel live on today. Whether we realize it or not, the world that we live on is blanketed with a Satanic plan of darkness (1 JN 5:19) that is speeding towards an attempt to topple God’s authority on earth. While most people would say that they don’t believe that can happen (I don’t either), but most of these same people are oblivious to the fact that it’s even occurring.

It was with the character Abraham where we concluded our journey. Specifically, we discussed the Genesis 22 narrative that is so reminiscent of the story of Jesus’ life that it’s hard to believe that it’s accidental.

Abraham, the father of a supernatural son, supernatural in the sense that Abraham was 99 and Sarah was 90. Interestingly, the Genesis 22 narrative also describes Isaac as being a willing sacrifice, who carried wood up a hill. We correlated the Similarities between the Genesis passage, and John chapter 3, where the word of God says that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. We compared that to the Genesis 22 narrative where God told Abraham to take his son his only son, and to offer him as a sacrifice on the mountain that he would be shown. And after the class it was noted by one of the participants that mount Moriah (where Abraham was instructed to offer Isaac) is considered by many to be the very same mountain upon which Jesus was crucified.

Tonight, Abraham has a large influence on our discussion again. Let’s reconsider the thought of justification by faith. There are 3 words that must be considered when discussing this topic: 1) the word itself— justification, 2) faith,  and 3) righteousness.

It is important to note that justification and righteousness are very similar in their meaning; however, there is a slight variation. The word righteousness describes the believer’s right standing with God, which is a gift given to Him by Jesus through His work on the cross. Justification describes God’s agreement that the believer is now justified. The catalyst that caused this transaction was the believer’s willingness to believe by faith in the plan of God, which I will explain is Jesus Christ and Him crucified and can also be labeled as the seed and the sacrifice.

Here is an illustration that may be helpful: Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world. God has given every human being a measure of faith (Romans 12:3) and a freewill. That means that man can choose to believe God’s word, or he doesn’t have to, it’s completely up to him. Salvation is paid for, it’s like money in an ATM machine, but in order to enjoy the benefits, a person has to drive and enter the pin. Faith is the pin that accesses the account of righteousness.

God went through great lengths and thousands of years of human history to bring us to the place where he released Jesus to the world. He created a nation out of one man named Abraham, and that through that one man he gave the nation of Israel to the world. Ultimately, through Israel, the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one, whose name was Jesus, was born into the world of a virgin and and whose Father is God.

The scripture says that Jesus is the righteousness of God (Romans 3:27). One of the main points that I want  to get across tonight describes the object of our faith. This thought is important especially since faith is somewhat of an abstract thought. The simplified version is that God’s plan for salvation is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When the believer hears the gospel (good news) and accepts it by faith, a spiritual miracle takes place on the inside of his heart, and he becomes born again. Jesus said, unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God, nor can he enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:3).

In the discussion that Jesus had with Nicodemus, the Pharisee, he explained that a man must be born both of water and of the spirit (JN 3:5), to enter the kingdom of God. Then he repeats what he is saying, and says that a man must be born in the flesh, but also in the spirit (JN 3:5).

Many people believe that this is speaking of water baptism when he uses the word water in the first verse that we just discussed; however, there is an obvious comparison taking place between verses 5 and 6. In verse 6, the word flesh is clearly speaking of natural birth; whereas, the word spirit is clearly speaking of spiritual birth. If we work backwards, into verse 5, there is no question that Spirit relates to spirit, after all, it’s the exact same word being used in both verses. But what about the word water? What does the word water here mean? Most people automatically jump to the thought of water baptism and the reason they do that is because they view the scriptures from the mindset that water baptism and conversion work together in the New Covenant, but Christian baptism was not even in existence yet when Jesus made this statement. Yes, there were forms of baptism, or shall we call them ceremonial cleansing, but John the Baptist’s baptism was not the same as Christian baptism.

The word water in verse 5 is not referring to water baptism, rather, it is referring to natural birth. A baby is situated in amniotic fluid, and while, they didn’t call it that, they were certainly aware that when a baby was born, the water gushed out with the baby.

The first birth in Adam, is a natural birth in the flesh and the baby comes out in water. The second birth in Christ is a spiritual birth where the believer is baptized first by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13) into Jesus, where they become one with Him in His body, and water baptism is the outward expression of that inner truth. Then there is the baptism of the Spirit (MT 3:11).

There are 3 specific forms of baptism recorded in scripture:

1. Baptism into Christ—the Spirit baptizes the believer into Christ

2. Baptism in water a—believer or pastor baptizes another believer into water

3. Baptism of the Spirit—Jesus baptizes the believer into the Spirit

When discussing the object of faith, I like to use the terminology the seed and the sacrifice to describe what ultimately finds it’s fulfillment in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What we need to understand is that God has been giving promises, regarding the plan of salvation,  ever since the fall took place in the garden. Last week we discussed the fact that scholars and commentators describe the proclamation that was spoken in Genesis, chapter 3, as the Proto- evangelium. We discussed the fact that that was the first time that the gospel was preached, and if that be the case, then God was the first one to preach the gospel.

When He preached the gospel, God preached to the serpent that it would be the seed of the woman that would crush the (the serpent’s/his) head. In addition, during the process the heel of the seed of the woman would be crushed. The idea would be that in the crushing of the serpent’s head, his (the serpent’s) authority was destroyed, but during that process, the seed of the woman was injured. certainly, we can state that Jesus was injured even to the point of death on the cross, however, he did not lose his authority by dying on the cross, instead he gained the fulfillment of his authority in his active obedience towards the Father’s will. At the same time, through this crushing, the serpent’s authority was destroyed.

The seed and the sacrifice, is the unfolding of God’s salvation plan that becomes more clear as the pages of His word are turned.

The seed

The idea of the seed describes the offspring that God promised through the ages. For thousands of years, He used the mouths of His prophets to repeatedly foretell the coming of Messiah [Hebrew for anointed one]. This part of the teaching will only briefly hit specific points in Israel’s history that pointed to the promised one.

Seed of the woman

The first promise was foretold in the garden after the fall, God said, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel—Genesis 3:15 [KJV]

Seed of Abraham

The next stop on the journey is with Abraham, so before Israel was even a nation, the seed was promised through Eve and now through Abraham. There are multiple places where God speaks about the promised seed of Abraham, but Genesis 22:18 says it well, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”      

Abraham had a son named Isaac, Isaac had a son named Jacob, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. Israel had 12 sons and these 12 sons became the 12 tribes of Israel. We will call him Jacob for now, because that was his name when he married Laban’s two daughters Leah and Rachel. Judah was Jacob and Leah’s fourth son. You will soon read Jacob’s prophecy over his son Judah when he was an old man and about to die, but it’s important to understand that Judah was the kingly tribe of Israel:

Seed of Judah

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,

nor a lawgiver from between his feet,

until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be Genesis 49:10 [KJV]

Scepter= a king’s staff

Lawgiver= a governor, or one set in place

Until Shiloh come= Shiloh 1; he whose it is, that which belongs to him_ Strong’s Hebrew dictionary

In other words, the king’s staff [scepter]will go through the Judah seed and it will rest in the hands of the one who it belongs to.

Seed of David

2 Samuel 7:12-13 12 When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 *He shall build a house for My name, and I will *establish the throne of his kingdom [forever]

The seed of the woman, Abraham, Judah and David is the Word that became flesh

The final stage in God’s plan of bringing the promised seed to earth is found in the gospel of John:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The sacrifice

A sacrifice for the first sinners [a couple]

The first sacrifice is alluded to in Genesis after the fall. First, the bruising of His [the seed of the women’s] heel from the head of the serpent is a direct reference to the injury of the cross. Furthermore, Genesis 3:21

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them; it is likely that most people would skip over this passage and never consider the fact that this is referring to a sacrificial offering performed by God to cover the sin of Adam and Eve as humanity awaits the arrival of the Lamb of God. However, when this scripture is compared to (Genesis 1:29), other options become limited. Before the fall, men did not eat animals, they were herbivores. Unless God spoke the skins into existence, the first animal death occurred to provide the skins that were needed to cover sin.

As we move forward in the scriptures, the portrait of forgiveness slowly develops. God’s plan of forgiveness starts and finishes with the innocent dying for the guilty. Adam and Eve transgressed God, not this innocent animal from which these skins were acquired.

A sacrifice for a family

The next sacrificial offering in the progression is found in the book of Exodus: Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household Exodus 12:3.

From a couple to a family, the range of forgiveness broadens. The story of the Passover lamb is very powerful. God’s people had been Egyptian slaves for 400 years and He was ready to deliver them from bondage. Ultimately, the Lord instructed them to take the blood from the lamb and paint it on the door posts and side posts of their houses; then they were instructed to go inside and eat the roasted lamb; as they stayed inside and ate, the death angel passed through and judged Egypt [the world]; whereas, God’s people remained safe.

What a powerful picture of salvation through Jesus! We were born slaves to sin and in bondage to the world like God’s people in Egypt, but through faith in Jesus and His death on the cross, His blood is applied to our hearts. One day judgment will come upon the world, but for those who have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ, their sin was judged on Him!

A sacrifice for a nation

There is a special day on the Jewish calendar known as the Day of Atonement. This feast is described in Leviticus 16: With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it NASB Leviticus 16:19.

God instructs that the High Priest must sprinkle blood on top of the mercy seat once per year to provide a covering of the sin for the entirety of the nation. Leviticus 16:24…and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people NASB.

The previous types find their fulfillment in the declaration of John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan river: John 1:29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the day that the darkened world engulfed by sin had been waiting for.

Jesus is the righteousness of God (Romans 3:27), He was the sinless lamb, sent in human form from heaven to earth to pay the penalty for sinful man. He died and paid the sin debt (Romans 6:23). He had no sin; therefore, death had no right over Him and He rose in victory over death, Hell, and the grave (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Now, when the gospel is preached, and a sinner believes in this truth by faith, they are saved (Ephesians 1:13). Upon believing, they are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13), they are given the gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17). They are given the gift of Jesus’ righteousness, in God’s mind, they are now clothed with His righteousness (Galatians 3:27).

There are two more thoughts, at least for the purpose of these notes:

1. Access to grace through justification by faith

2. Abraham’s meeting in the King’s valley

Justification by faith provides us access into grace, and it is our connection to Grace that gives us the power that we need in order to be able to stand in the face of adversity and continue to live our lives for the Lord throughout this journey (Romans 5:1,2)

Jesus’ righteousness was offered on the cross to God to pay for our guilt. When we heard that truth and believed it by faith, His righteousness was given to us based on our faith in God’s truth. Now, clothed in His righteousness, the Father sees us in Christ! He no longer sees our guilt, He sees the blood of Jesus! Now, we’re in right standing, and God agrees, so His declaration [verdict] is “Justified” in other words, God agrees and says that we are righteous.

Now, that we are justified, Romans 5:2 explains that we have access into grace in which we stand. Grace has multiple applications, but for brevity let’s keep it to [2] concepts: 1) forgiving or saving grace and 2)  standing or power grace.

Grace- A divine influence on the heart and it’s reflection in the life_ Strong’s Greek dictionary

Close with a story the King’s valley:

Abraham believed the word of God and left his father’s home. Like a pilgrim he began the unknown journey of faith looking for the destination that God promised would be his. He looked for a land where he could settle, a place where God would provide the promise of making Him a great nation, a place where his promised seed would provide a blessing for the entirety of the world.

His nephew Lot joined him on the journey. Along the way, the hand of God’s blessing was upon Abraham and Lot. God’s hand of blessing will always be on the child of God who keeps faith in the Lord and obeys the will of God as he/she continues their spiritual journey. Abraham and Lot were herdsmen and their flocks became so abundant that it became hard for them to find enough grass to feed their herds and this caused contention and strife between the two different crews.

Abraham recognizing that it wasn’t godly for them to quarrel, said to Lot, “we are a brothers, let’s not do it this way. You take whatever direction you want and it will be yours and I will take the opposite and we will go our separate ways.”

The scripture says that Lot looked on the plain of Jordan and saw that it was well watered. He chose that part for himself and Abraham went another direction.

There is an extremely powerful spiritual truth found in this part of the story. Walking in the Spirit is not the same as making decisions based on human intellect or wisdom. Abraham was making his decisions based upon the promises of God. Faith brought him on this journey and it would be faith and faith alone that would get him to the destination. It should be understood that Abraham made many fleshly decisions, but thank God that in God’s mercy, Abraham made it to the destination and more importantly, God is a covenant keeping God.

Unfortunately, Lot did not make his decision based on faith. His eyes saw the land and it made sense. He was a herdsman and the plain was well watered, but his decision put his tent facing Sodom.

As the years passed, he moved closer towards the city of Sodom, until one day, we read that he is conducting business at the gates and he has moved his family into the city. We must be vigilant child of God. The enemy will set many traps of bait and attempt to slowly pull us back into the world.

The result is that Lot gets caught up in the mess of the world. Five kings descend on the city of Sodom and others and take hostages. Lot is caught in the skirmish and is now taken captive. What a powerful spiritual truth is found in this aspect of the story. The enemy sets a baited trap that looks pleasant to the eyes, but is not God’s will for the life. Lot, a type of the believer, makes a decision that pulls him into the world, and now, he’s caught up and made a slave of sin. How many well intentioned believers have lost their freedom from compromise with the world.

Abraham hears that Lot was taken, and with an army of 318 servants, defeats the kings and releases the captives. I went backwards in the narrative to bring you to this amazing spot in the scripture that I have found through the years of study. I would call this the king’s valley.

In chapter 14, we are told that name of the king of Sodom is Bera. After the battle, Abraham is in a place called the king’s dale in the KJV and the king’s valley in other translations. While Abraham is in the valley, Bera, king of Sodom goes to meet him. Bera makes an offer The king of Sodom said to Abram, “21 Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.” Genesis 14:21

He wants the souls or people to make slaves for himself, this was a common practice in these days. He is trying to exchange material possessions for the souls of men. This should sound very familiar to our ears, in that Satan is constantly offering material possessions, success and worldly pleasures in exchange for the souls of men.

22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ Genesis 14:22-23

There is another king that meets Abraham in the king’s valley his name is Melchizedek. He is only mentioned 3 places in the Bible, but his name and purpose to the plan of God are extremely important. What’s amazing to me is what he offers Abraham and then Abraham’s response: 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. Genesis 14:18.

Then Melchizedek…blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,

Possessor of heaven and earth; Genesis 14:19

And Abraham, V20… gave him a tenth of all. Genesis 14:20

So let’s recap what just happened before we dig deeper. Abraham went to save his family from being a captive. During the process many were saved. One of the kings, Bera of Sodom, offers him material possessions as a trade for the souls of men and the other king, Melchizedek of Salem brings bread and wine [communion] and then speaks a blessing over Abraham’s life. Abraham’s response for the communion and the blessing is that he gives him a tithe of the possessions, which is a tenth. This is the first tithe ever recorded in the Bible.

The amount of New Testament truth contained in this story so far is amazing! How powerful that God would allow this story in Abraham’s life to be played out in reality 2,000 years in advance and it is so similar to our new life in Christ. We were captives in bondage to the world. God sent Jesus to save us. He sent Jesus as an offering of communion. Communion is a compound word by the way— Common-union. Those who are part of the body of Christ through faith in His sacrifice have a common- union. The bread and wine that represent His sinless life and sacrificial death on the cross represent and remind us that God saved us. We pay tithes, not to a church, not to a man, but to God. Our willingness to be obedient to His word is one powerful way that we can worship God. When we do, we acknowledge God’s ownership over our lives.

Now, let’s dig a little deeper. Consider the names and reigns of these kings. Bera reigns over Sodom, a city famous for the vilest of sin. His name in the Hebrew language literally means, son of evil.

Melchizedek reigns over Salem. Salem was the name of ancient Jerusalem. The name Jerusalem means peace. Melchizedek is also a compound word. Melch means king and zedek means righteousness. Melchizedek is king over peace and he is the king of righteousness.

Abraham, the father of the faith found himself in a valley in the midst of the battles of life. He was forced with a choice. Would he choose to serve the king of evil or would he serve the king of righteousness and peace? Every human will have to enter the king’s valley, and in that place, they will not leave until they have made a choice and decide who they will serve.

A Raging River in my Soul

Psalm 23

A raging river in my soul

I often think about the lives of Bible characters and then remember messages that I have preached. These thoughts intersect with thoughts that I think about people that I know today.

Maybe you only think about a couple people, but I think about most of the people in the church pretty regularly. I consider the things that I know about each person’s life. I consider where they’ve been and where they are. I consider the trials and circumstances and the battles that they may face.

What happened to Tamar after Amnon threw her out and locked the door?

What could have Absalom done differently that would have prevented his anger and bitterness that resulted in his tragic death?

What made the little girl from Israel stay hopeful even after she was taken captive and forced to served in Naaman’s house? How was she not full of sorrow and heartache over losing her parents and able to witness about God’s power and help Naaman the leper get healed?

What would have happened to Peter after the denial had Jesus not helped him?

Did Paul just conveniently forget Stephen’s stoning?  Or was there a time, not mentioned in scripture where his heart was overwhelmed with sorrow for the things that he had done in the past?

Surely, he allowed God to heal his heart and turn his failures into victories instead of letting the devil use them in his life to make him want to quit.

He must have allowed the Holy Spirit to enter in to those deep places of his soul and bring healing? Or do you think that he just buried those thoughts somewhere deep in his heart, in one of those compartments in his soul— you know throw it in a room of the mind, close the door, lock it and forget about it?

I don’t know. The Bible doesn’t speak on that. Sometimes the Bible is either silent or synoptic on things and we can only wonder.

But we do know that in the world there are tribulations: the word means to be pressed. Life is full of trials that cause pressure and pressure that we just try to pretend isn’t there is not really being dealt with properly. These hidden problems can be quiet and peaceful one moment and suddenly swell into raging river the next.

Hurts and pains can occur anytime along the life span. We can be hurt as a child by our parents. Some people have had harsh childhoods. They grow up in an environment where there was either some type of abuse or neglect: verbal, physical, sexual… or maybe it’s not that, maybe it’s just neglect. Sometimes you can just feel like someone doesn’t love you or care much about you and that they are rejecting you and it can be painful. So what do we do about that? What are we supposed to do about that?

I know you people are pretty seasoned in the word. Maybe someone will watch on video and say, “Well, I’m over here waiting to hear preacher, what must I do?” You must, I must, the people in this room must learn how to allow God to heal them.

“Nah, I’m good preacher. I’m a man and now you’re talking about girl stuff. Feelings and all that kind of stuff.” Well, maybe you think right now that you don’t need healing from hurt that has been caused to you, but is it possible that someone else needs healing from hurt that has been caused by you?”

In one of the recent messages I preached, I mentioned that the veil is torn and access has been granted. In His presence there is fullness of joy and where the presence of the Lord is there is free-dom. Would we enter in and let Him minister to these places of hurt in our hearts.

Have we let Him into the deep places of our hearts? To turn on the light, to search the heart to try the reins, not looking for sin alone, but looking for sick spots, disease, infections of the heart, poisonous plants or roots of bitterness that have been placed by other people, or will we let Him reveal the hurts that we have caused others?

No, I like locking it away in a compartment and hiding it. That works for me. No, it really doesn’t because many times this is the weight that besets you. Many times this is the weight that breaks in on you and messes up you race.

Hebrews 12:1

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Weight- a bulky mass, a hindrance, an encumbrance.

I have to be honest, as we move further into the plan of God, I’m realizing that this church isn’t going to be for everyone. This church is for people who want to know what God is really saying to the churches, a church for people who are willing to let Him start with them and from there use them to start on someone else, but don’t be deceived, once He starts, He will never stop because He wants to deal with both the sins and the weights that are trying to beset you. Satan, through sins and weights is trying to wall you off in the race [illustration].

I’m over here running...

But there are weights, burdens and I don’t even realize it but they’re getting in the way. They change the way I treat other people. I’ve been hurt, so I hurt. Oh man you’re talking Psychology. No, I’m talking Psuchology.

The pains that we suppress and refuse to give to God can affect our spirit man? They can cause a heaviness or cause one to become broken, which results in us not handling our business right towards others.

Sometimes we’re the one that caused the pain, but we’re so busy thinking about how we’ve been wronged that we’ve moved past what we did to others and we’re  ready for our blessing from God, but He’s got me stuck in a spot and I can’t move. Why can’t I move from here? Why does it seem like I’m stagnant in my walk? Why do I not grow? Maybe He wants to deal with these things in our heart. The issues of the heart. The weights and the sins we caused others or that have been caused towards us. He wants to heal us.

It doesn’t matter whether you use the word soul, heart or mind it doesn’t matter— all these words speak about a certain layer in the inner person that we really don’t know much about. The word has some things to say about it:

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God wants the entirety of our person to be separated from the world and to be made holy unto Him. We know that this is an ongoing process. We understand that this is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. We understand that the Holy Spirit works through the work of the cross and like a surgeon He’s cutting away flesh and planting seeds of fruit that will result in a new harvest of hope that will result in joy for you, your family and others around you.

If you were already wholly sanctified, if your soul was already where it needed to be then He wouldn’t warn you:

Romans 12:2 (a)

And be not conformed to this world…

He wouldn’t tell you that there was work to be done in  your mind if it was already completely fixed. I had a conversation with a man of God recently who made the point but the mind is nous and the soul Psuche. Yes, I know that but the mind, nous is a smaller part of a larger compartment called the Psuche or the soul, which is the mind, the will and the emotions. The mind is a smaller part of a larger compartment, but in a sense it’s really the control center of the soul, which is who you are as a person.

In the life of the believer, the Holy Spirit is supposed to be the dominant controlling force in our lives and under that our mind, which influences the soul is supposed to be subject to the Spirit of God and help the Spirit render our soul in its proper order. Once it’s under the domination of the Spirit, then the other two parts of the soul can be in order: the will and the emotions.

Romans 12:2 (b)

…but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

God doesn’t want us hiding the weights and pains from the past in a deep compartment in our soul. He doesn’t want us:

• “drugging” it away,

• drinking it away,

• taking pills it away,

• going to therapy it away.

• He wants us to bring it to Him.

• He wants us to let Him in so He can speak to us, have His way with us and do a deep work in our hearts.

Prayer of a Pauper and Declaration of a King

Read Matt 18:1-4

Introduction

Sometimes there seems to be a dichotomy or contradiction within the teachings of scripture. He said this… but then He said this…

Ex. …unless you are converted and become as one of these little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. What does He mean by that? Does He want adults to become literal children. The child is the illustration, a believer is supposed to behave like a child when they approach kingdom business. The context is: who will be the greatest in your kingdom, Lord? The response is, unless you become converted like one of these little children, you can’t enter.

Converted- Strong’s: turn quite around, twist, a change of direction. Oxford American: having been adapted to be suitable for a new purpose. The house was converted to a duplex, and you Christian must be converted to a child.

This is talking about learning how to live in His kingdom now, so we can enter His kingdom then. What attribute of a child would Jesus want—What is it about a child that Jesus wants His followers to emulate? The simple answer, one word—dependence! Quit being independent and doing things your own way and learn how to depend on God!

Juxtapose- to place close together or side by side in a way that invites comparison or contrast

Juxtapose that against this: Proclaim the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Cast out devils, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers (MT 10:7)…What I say to you in the dark, tell it in the light. What you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim it from the rooftops.

Proclaim- a public crier, herald the king’s declaration

Father in the name of Jesus help me to teach/ preach the:

Prayers of paupers: declarations of a kings!

Let’s talk kingdom how it ended

Matthew 27:28-29 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

The beginning

Matthew 3:1-4 1 -- In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Then He starts speaking and He says:

Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Poor- lowly, afflicted, destitute of the Christian helpless, powerless to accomplish an end

The citizens of the Lord’s Kingdom are expected to come to the conclusion that this kingdom operates differently; this is not the American dream, the strength is not we the people, the power is the Holy Spirit working through His people!

Matthew 5:4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Mourn- means to feel deep sorrow or regret. As a citizen of your kingdom, I am sorrowful Lord that man has rebelled against you. I am sorrowful that so many churches and so many leaders have not taken heed to your word, that we your people have fallen asleep and not stayed spiritually sober. Wake us up Lord, cause our hearts to mourn with you over this lost generation, over the souls that are perishing.

Jesus was humble and bold, and His people are called to be the same way. Both of these traits will make God’s people look different than the world around them.

The world puts faith in their own strength and resources. God’s people draw from Him. The world builds its own kingdom. God’s people work with Him, as He builds His. In the purest form of the word, we all have an  Apostolic calling, and what I mean by that is, the strict definition of the term is that an Apostle is a sent one, also, an ambassador. Ambassadors are a representative of another nation as they live in a foreign land. The American ambassador to Italy, lives in Italy but represents and conducts American business on that foreign soil. An ambassador for the Kingdom of Christ, lives on earth, but represents the heavenly realm

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Meek- mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness - Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good.

Meekness is a fruit of the Spirit. There will be many circumstances in the life of the believer that he will not like. The thorns and thistles hurt and bristle; however, the believer cannot afford to become angry or bitter towards God.

Galatians 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Matthew 5:6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?

What are we hungry for? What are we thirsty for? In life what do you crave? Is your appetite that your son or daughter make the travel ball team? Is everything thing in life focused so much about your business and your job that you have to forsake the gathering of the brethren? Do you find joy in the fellowship of the saints?

Jesus was hungry to do His Father’s will. Those that are citizens of His kingdom hunger and thirst for what their King desires. He desires that this wicked world be made right. The citizens of His Kingdom are called to live in a different realm. They are called to seek the things that are above:

The letters of the Apostles repeatedly remind the saints to keep their eyes and minds on the things God  and the more we study His word, it becomes clear that this world is not our home.

1 Peter 2:11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Philippians 3:20 NASB For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;

The kingdom of darkness has power and is destroying people’s lives. Jesus has come so that people can have abundant life. In order for that to happen, He had to give His people power that is greater than the powers of darkness.

1 John 5:19 NASB We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

The demons knew who He was and were fearful of His presence— Now, we’re talking about the authority of Jesus!

Matthew 8:29-32 29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.

The people of His Kingdom are called to be humble and meek but they are also called to walk in His kingdom authority:

Matthew 28:18-19. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Matthew 10:7-8 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

The Lord’s kingdom is already but not yet. It means that Jesus has already come to earth and taken authority over the world of darkness. He has already established His kingdom on earth. He will rule and reign physically on earth in the future and He is ruling and reigning now, through us…

Until then He told the Pharisees:

Luke 17:20-21 20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

If He is the kingdom, and the King is in us, then the kingdom and all its power and authority are in us!

Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

The prayer of a pauper and the declaration of a king!

The submissive prayers of kings

Psalms 18:27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.

Psalms 77:1-3 ESV In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. 2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. 3 When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

Matt 27:46 …My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”

Matthew 26:39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Hebrews 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. (KJV “Feared”)

I still don’t feel like we properly reverence the presence of the Holy Spirit in our church. I have tried to say things and I want you to know that I don’t want to be controlling its one thing if you talk while I’m preaching. It’s still not right. I wouldn’t do it to you, but what about when we’re asking the Spirit of God to show up and inhabit the praises of His people and instead of worshipping the Lord, we’re in here talking to earthlings, we’re looking at our phone as though we’re bored with God. “Well, I don’t feel Him!” Maybe you don’t feel Him because you have no reverence for His presence!

Declaration of a king

1 Samuel 17:45-46 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day  the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

1 Chronicles 28:20 Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.

Psalms 23:4-5 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Access

2 Chronicles 26:11-15

2Chronicles 29:27-29

2 Chronicles 30:1,5 Passover

2 Chronicles 31:5,6,7 tithes

2 Chronicles 32:2,3,5-8 prepared for war

**2 Chronicles 32:20-22 prayer**

Matthew 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Hebrews 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Most of us here tonight understand the idea that the veil was torn so that we can experience God’s presence in an intimate way. There are so many benefits, to having access to the presence of the Lord:

• Psalms 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy  presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

• James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded—we have access to his presence

• 2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty

From what you’ve learned so far in your walk with God, has everything been given to you all at once, or have you found, like the song says, “the more I seek you, the more I find you”?

Knowing that the veil is torn, Have you even entered in?

Romans 5:1-4

Peace with God Through Faith

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

So we have been granted access. We have been given peace. The veil is torn, and he says: when you seek me with all of your heart, you will find me Jeremiah 29, 13–14

So access is a major aspect of the work of the cross!

1. Through the cross and our being made right in the eyes of God,  we can seek him and enter His presence—do we?

2. When we get in there, do we ask Him to search our hearts and try our reins?

3. When we do that what does he show us?

Do you want God‘s will for your life. For your children’s lives, your family, your church? do you want God to move through you? Through us as a body? More importantly, do you want your heart to be right before him?

• Matthew 7:22 on that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’Jesus said there comes a day when those that worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth

• Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.

• Psalm 119:105. Your word is a lamp into my feet and a light into my path.

If we have his word in our heart and have allowed him to turn the lamp on, why would we not change? Why do we stay the same?

How do you reckon the Lord works the cross into all of this? How do you reckon the Lord is going to crucify our flesh man or woman of God? If we do not allow him to search us and when we do and when He does, what do we hear? The cross works in multiple ways: once we avail ourselves to the access…

I. Results of access

• Access/presence—Isaiah 6 – don’t tell me you’re OK, or that we all don’t have something new that He’s working on in us.

• Grace- grace to forgive/grace to change—a divine influence on the heart and it’s reflection in the life

• Revelation – because we are made right, we have access to the spirit to be our teacher John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. KJV calls Him comforter—Strong’s “one who brings aid”

II. Revelation results in truth

1. You shall know the truth and it will make you free (John 8:32)

2. Truth about God through the life of Jesus

   1. His character

   2. How he handles business

         a) He is humble – if a brother has ought, we  should go to our brother (Matthew 5:23-24).

         b).He prefers others over himself (MK 10;45)

         c).prays for people that harm him (LK 23;34)

     d). He prays for them and corrects them privately

(MT 18:15)

     e). He helps people and doesn’t get a megaphone so that the whole world knows about it – he looks to the heavenly reward (MT 6:1-5)

      f). He doesn’t let other people’s opinions change his mind, “I rebuke you, Satan“—Peter (MT 16:22)

     e).  He likes to play in the dirt – you without sin cast the first stone (JN 8:7)

     f). He doesn’t want to receive praise from men, because he knows what is in the heart of man (JN 2:24-25;MT 23)—He told the religious, “you are like a bunch of whitewashed tombs filled with Dead Man’s Bones.”(MT23:27)

In the end self is supposed to die, and Christ arises in us. Why doesn’t it work more quickly? Is it the:

• drugs

• alcohol

• ongoing other acts of sin of any flavor of disobedience, that we pretend isn’t disobedience. But the Lord already showed us in the past it was, and we ignored him, so now we are living in sin and disobedience, because he who knows to do right, but doesn’t do it to him, it is… [SIN].

• or is it our response to what he tells us. I honestly believe there are people in churches who, when they hear a message, think about someone else, Yep, that right there is for Bill, that is for Brennan or Matt’s mom. Or when They pray, and the Lord does speak. All right, I will tell Pastor about what you showed me about him Lord:

– you who just said amen in your head. Like (yeah, there are people like that. They just won’t listen to what the Lord is trying to tell him, you may be the one he’s preaching to right now!“

He was obedient to the point of death!

Have we become obedient to the point of death? Has the death of Christ entered our members to produce sanctification or has it remained a theory on the page? Until we yield to this great truth, it remains that— a great truth!

• truth to be trusted

• a truth of hope.

• a truth of God

• but it’s not ours yet.

  * it’s paid for

  * he willed it to us— it’s our inheritance

But until it comes alive for that sin or that situation, it lies dormant on the page.

What will make it come alive— Jeremiah 29:12,13 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes….

**2 Chronicles 32:20-22

2 Chronicles 26:11-15 Uzziah- the strength of a warrior— soldiers, war machines that throw arrows and stones

Hezekiah 2 Ch 29:27-29 commanded that the burnt offering be burned and offered praise at the same time

2 Ch 30:1-5 sent letters to keep the Passover

2 Ch 31:5,6,7 they brought their tithes

2 Chronicles 32:2,3,5-8 Hezekiah worked hard to do the practical things for war and preparation, prevented the flow of water, great military tactic, armies need water, he rallied the troops and told them the truth that God was able to give them the victory

2 Chronicles 32:20-22 when it was all said and done it was when Isaiah and Hezekiah prayed that the Lord sent an angel and brought the victory

Vision of prayer and bombs hitting a beachhead and then a fortified city.

You are a Vehicle for the Glory of God!

Numbers 13:23-14:21

Numbers 14:21

but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD

Numbers 14:6-10

6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” 10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

I titled my message: You are a vehicle for the glory of God! Originally, I was going to title it: God couldn’t do it, because Christian wouldn’t let Him. Then I struggled with the title. I couldn’t figure out why the struggle, was it because it was too negative and God didn’t want me to be negative? Then, I realized, no it wasn’t that. The reason why is because it simply wasn’t true. The truth was that God promised He would fill the earth with His glory, and the way that He is doing it is by using His people to bring his glory where He asks them to bring it. But it is also true that He could not do it through the 10, because they would not let Him, so with that said, which one will we be?

Will Christian let God work through Him?

When we face something that looks impossible, we need to remember that God’s work is performing the impossible. Christian’s work is believing God to do the impossible.

I can only imagine the chaos and confusion that was going on at that time. Fear had stricken the majority and confusion had gotten the best of the 10 spies, there was no turning back for these guys. Their faith was destroyed! They saw the enemy and gave up. Joshua and Caleb tried to speak godly truth, but it just made them more angry. They wanted to stone them.

• hatred,

• variance

• wrath

• strife

• seditions

Troubles sometimes arise in our lives like a sudden storm on open water, and there are other times that there are chronic problems in our lives that never seem to go away. And whether it’s acute or chronic, there is danger that the believer will not keep his part of the agreement for the circumstance, and his part is to trust, believe, surrender and act in faith.

As I was praying and thinking about the tactics of the enemy: fear and chaos are tools Satan uses to bring doubt and unbelief. These feelings can quickly spread amongst God’s people like they did in the story. The purpose of the enemy is to focus the eyes of God’s people on the problem instead of God’s power and without even realizing it unbelief takes root and faith  erodes.

We can be certain God watches over His people:

Psalms 121:5-8 NASB

5 The LORD is your keeper;

The LORD is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun will not smite you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will protect you from all evil;

He will keep your soul.

8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in

From this time forth and forever.

Psalms 33:18-20 NASB

18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,

On those who hope for His lovingkindness,

19 To deliver their soul from death

And to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the LORD;

He is our help and our shield.

In prayer, God reminded how, His presence is poised and ready to move in chaos

…without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep…

• without form- waste; a desolation. A place of chaos

• void- ruin, waste, emptiness

…And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

As I prayed, I also heard: “Haman’s gallows”

Haman built a 75 ft high execution device to kill Mordecai because he refused to worship anything but God.

3:14…A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province..3:15…Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews…the city of Susa was in confusion…

In the end, God turned the whole plan around and Haman was executed on his own device. When it looks like the devil is winning child of God, we must remember that God is faithful to deliver! God is planning to turn the whole situation around. His job is to deliver and our job is to believe, surrender and pray!

Believe and trust God… Job 39:11  “Will you trust him because his  strength is great And leave your labor to him?

Surrender… Surrender your will to God’s will—James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Make self subordinate, bring self under subjection to the will of God

Pray- 2 Kings 6:17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha—you’re not alone child of God, it  might feel like it sometimes, just pray, “open my eyes Lord”

Seek the face of God, call on His name and put Him in the battle. But it’s getting worse! That means it’s time to press in, not retreat. But the more I seek God, it seems worse. You’re in an ongoing battle for your faith— Satan wants to make you quit and walk away.

In the end, anything that can be shaken will be shaken.

Hebrews 12:25-29

25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

There is true Christianity and there is something else, that something else will be shaken and will not remain, the something else will lead you to focus on yourself and your best life now, and then, there is Jesus! True Christianity will always result in the magnification of Jesus,

But I just want to go to a church where all my girlfriends are like me and we sip coffee and get our toenails done together. Hold on, I thought of something. That’s not a bad idea.

There is nothing wrong with you and your girlfriends sipping coffee and getting your nails done, as a matter of fact, could you do me a favor and try to arrange something like that for the ladies that would be interesting, but do me one favor when y’all go, we can add verses to the song. “Jesus on the mountain, Jesus in the streets, Jesus with our coffee and while they do our feet, Jesus for my family. I speak the Holy name Jesus!

Jesus when you pick up your kid from school speak Jesus, but they’re going to think that I’m weird. They won’t think that you’re weird if you’re filled with the Holy Spirit and when you say His name, it sounds like honey dripping off your lips. No! They will want what you  want, or they will think your weird then, and when they lie in bed at night, they will toss and turn as the Lord reminds them of your words and He speaks Jesus to their hearts.

Jesus on the mountains. Jesus in the streets. Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. I speak the holy name Jeeessus. Your name is power!

Unbelief will cause death to the promise

Hebrews 3:17-19

17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Carcasses- a member of a body, particularly the more external and prominent members esp. the feet a dead body, corpse, in as much as the members of a corpse are loose and fall apart—the scattered corpses like individual members that didn’t make it, but it represented a whole portion of the congregation

Jacob wrestled with God

Genesis 32:24-25

24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

Chaos, Esau was around the corner…the story says that God could not prevail. The mind asks what kind of God can’t win a wrestling match with a man? It’s not that He can’t. He will not transgress man’s free will.  Jacob refused to give in, and the word says that when God saw that He could not prevail, he touched him in his hip. It’s not that God can’t out wrestle a man. And if you choose to refuse to surrender, at some point, He’s going to allow something to touch you to the point that you will give in to Him.

Paul said that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood; instead we wrestle against spirits It’s not always spirits that we’re wrestling, many times, it’s our own will and our own flesh

Galatians 5:24

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Luke 9:23

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

I love Caleb

Numbers 13:30

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”

Doesn’t that sound like the voice of faith? The HOLY spirit speaking to the child of God and encouraging him to trust and put his eyes on Jesus, to move forward with the plan, instead of looking at the problems, look to the solution.

The Lord has been telling me in prayer I want my Son magnified. I want the name of Jesus preached. I want to pour out my Spirit and move in the lives of my people, and I want this church exalting HIM. I have a hard time believing that He doesn’t want that from every church. I have a hard time believing that he doesn’t want to speak to every Pastor and tell him the same thing, but I’m not them, I’m me and all I know is that this is what a he’s telling me.

The voice of unbelief, is a voice that displeases God

God is asking His people to carry His glory into the land and the  question is… will He find someone faithful to do what He is asking? Will people have the fortitude, the tenacity, the sticktoitiveness to finish the race? Not without the help of the Holy Spirit they won’t, but even with His help, if they want their own will rather than the Lord’s will they won’t endure, because part of learning God’s will requires a willingness to let the cross have its way, a willingness to let self and self desires go

Numbers 14:19-24

Moses: 19 “Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

The LORD Pardons and Rebukes

Yahweh: 22 Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23 shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.

Sometimes the battle looks too fierce, the enemy seems too big, the chaos and confusion starts to wear us down and for a moment, we wonder if we will make it. Some points that we should be made aware of:

1. God made promises in the past v23

2. People who refuse His voice, will not see the promises

3. When people don’t listen, he takes it personal spurn-treat w contempt

A dream – the glory of the Lord is in the earth, it is going deep into the mud deep into the earth, The glory is moving through the depths of the earth, in and out of the earth and it’s breaking up the earth. It’s breaking up the fallow ground!

A Vision, a man on an old plow. He’s plowing the earth. He seems alone to the eye. He seems weak, he seems feeble and small, he plows with an old plow, I can’t see the animals, there are no animals, there is something else that cannot be seen pulling the plow.

It doesn’t look like much to the physical eye, but the same one that is pulling the plow is the same one that is releasing his glory into the earth, and breaking up the fallow ground!

Don’t take your hand off the plow child of God! Then the seed starts flying, the seed is raining in the air and falling onto the broken ground, entering into the broken ground. The Spirit is plowing hearts, the Spirit is breaking the fallow ground, in the breaking, ugly is revealed, confusion, chaos, irritation, it’s because it’s within the heart, within the heart, things are being exposed: your heart, my heart. Its being exposed, so it can be moved out of the way, wrong intentions, wrong thoughts, God wants them gone!

And then the seed enters the plowed earth, and what looked like gallows for the hanging, for my hanging, for the church’s hanging is suddenly turned into a victory. For a while, the chaos and confusion looked momentarily looked like an opportunity for Satan to prevail, it was an opportunity allowed by me, says the lord for you to trust me. Trust me, child of God, trust me, Church, let me cleanse you deeply, let me reach into the depths of the soil of your heart include you in preparation for your personal harvest, so I can use you in my harvest!

Let my glory, fill the Earth!!

Houma Bible Study Notes: Salvation History #1

The Flood

Genesis 6:9

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Satan and the fallen angels intermarried/ intermingled with the human creation— what would be the purpose for that? 1). War against God and His plans for the human creation 2). They knew that through the seed of the woman (Jesus), God would destroy their authority. Genesis 3:15 … it (seed of the woman ‘Jesus) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

God instructed Noah after the flood to replenish the earth. It is His will that the earth be filled with His glory. There is a day coming in the future where Jesus will sit on the throne of David and literally rule the world as King. God’s presence will dwell on a new heaven and new earth. This time is called the Millennial reign of Christ. At that time, God’s glory will completely cover the earth. The presence of evil will be locked away for 1,000 years. Until that time comes, God’s plan is that the earth be filled with people, that His truth be preached, that they receive His truth in themselves, and that in this way, the earth is filled with His glory.

Genesis 9:7

And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

Revelation 5:8-9

8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou 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;

The Tower of Babel

Genesis 10:8-10 8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

Genesis 11:1-9

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

The Tower of Babel is a tale of many Biblical truths: 1) direct rebellion against what God told Noah—multiply in the earth, 2) Man coming together to help man without the help of god, creating a society without God, 3) there are pyramid and ziggurat (tower) structures all over the world and near some of these structures, it’s been proven that there was human sacrifice involved, 3) so when they say, “Let us build a tower that reaches into the heavens, do they mean into the sky, or through occult worship to engage the power of fallen angels and demon spirits? 4) there is more to think about but one last thought: At Babel, man is trying to build his own city and a tower that reaches the heavens. But the Bible says that God is building a city in heaven and will bring it down to man (John 14:2,3; Revelation 21:10)

"About 101 years after the Flood we find a vast number of 'em [the offspring of the sons of Noah], if not the whole race of Noah, in the vale of Shinar, employed in building a city and large tower, in order to make themselves a name and to prevent their dispersion. And tho' they carried on the work to a monstrous height, and by their vanity provoked God to confound their devices, by confounding their speech, which occasioned their dispersion; yet their skill in Masonry is not the less to be celebrated, having spent above 53 years in that prodigious work, and upon their dispersion carried the mighty knowledge with them into distant parts, where they found the good use of it in the settlement of their kingdoms, commonwealths, and dynasties. And tho' afterwards it was lost in most parts of the earth it was especially preserved in Shinar and Assyria, where Nimrod, the founder of that monarchy, after the dispersion built many splendid cities, as Ereck, Accad and Calneh in Shinar, from whence afterwards he went forth into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calch, and Rhesin— Masonic Encyclopedia

"At the makinge of the Tower of Babylon, there was Masonrye first made much of. And the Kinge of Babylon that height Nemrothe was a mason himselfe, and loved well the science as it is said with masters of histories. And when the City of Ninyve and other citties of the East should be made, Nemrothe the Kinge of Babylon sent thither three score masons at the rogation of the Kinge of Nyneve, his cosen. And when he sent them forth he gave them a charge in this manner. . . . And this was the first tyme that ever Masons had any charge of his science."— Masonic Encyclopedia

The last thought from Babel is that God confused their languages, which forced them to be spread across the globe into separate people groups. This resulted in establishment of multiple nations. We should be reminded that it was God’s will that the whole world would be filled with His glory and the way that He does that is by having the world inhabited with humans that willingly accept Him as Lord and are filled with His presence

Isaiah 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

And as we saw in Revelation chapter 5, the song praises God because Jesus redeemed humans back to God with His blood from every tongue, tribe and nation.

Abraham

The next major move by God is the calling of Abraham, which led to the creation of His own nation Israel.

Genesis 12:2-3 2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy  name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Abraham> Isaac> Jacob [Jacob’s name was changed to Israel (Genesis 35:10), Jacob had 12 sons. His sons/ grandsons— Joseph’s sons {Ephraim & Manassah} became the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 tribes ofIsrael became the nation known as Israel. God brought them into the land of Canaan after the Exodus and the 40 years in the wilderness. When Moses died, God allowed Joshua to bring them into the Promised Land— formerly known as Canaan.

Let’s focus on Abraham. The New Testament calls him the Father of the faith ( ). God asked him to leave his father’s house ( ). Jesus said that we are to leave our old life and live in the new ( ).

The new life starts with death to the old one through faith. The old man dies in Christ and the new man resurrects in Him.

Genesis 22

The story of Abraham and his son Isaac in this chapter is undoubtably parallel to the story of God the Father and His Son Jesus. Scholars or commentators call these OT findings types and shadows. Abraham waits his whole life for the promise of God. He waits for the fulfillment that God will send him a son so that the promises that he will be a great nation. It is quite a long story, but there were many times along the way that Abraham became weary in his journey and seemed, momentarily, to question God, and even at one point took matters into his own hands when he and Sarai, his wife made a plan to have a child with Hagar their Egyptian servant ( ). The name of this child was Ishmael. The Muslim religion comes from the descendants of the Ishmaelites, Mohammed was an Ishmaelite. Christian’s are constantly being tested to either make decisions in the flesh (Ishmael), where they try to fix their situation their way, but it’s outside the will and word of God; instead of patiently waiting on the promises of God.

But God told Abraham that the promised seed would be Isaac a child born to Sarah, and that even though she was 90 and he was 99, the child would be born the way that God said— under supernatural circumstances. There are are multiple supernatural births in the pages of scripture, at least four I can think of off the top of my head: Isaac, Samson, Samuel, Jesus. Why? I believe it’s because God’s plan of new birth in Jesus is so supernatural! Have you been born again? Have you asked Jesus to forgive you? Have you experienced new birth? You will know you have when a love for the things of God and a desire towards obedience in His word have entered your heart.

After all this time Abraham finally had his promised son and, now, in Genesis 22, God requires of Abraham to take Isaac, the supernatural child and to offer him as a sacrifice on a mountain that God will show him. It is the details of the story that are so intriguing to me. The details intrigue me because 2,000 years before Jesus, God the Father was already writing the story of His only begotten Son. Look at these similarities:

Genesis 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, 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.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Genesis 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

John 19:17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

In both stories, a son of supernatural birth, carries wood up a hill on his way to being offered as a sacrifice in obedience to his Father’s will.

Next time, we will talk more about Abraham and his connection to the New Covenant, but, just a couple points:

God has a plan for humanity. He is love and He created us with a free will so that we could choose to love Him, so that He could pour out His love on us. Creation shows me that all this that He did, He did for love!

God has an enemy. The enemy of God is full of hatred. His choice to rebel against God, resulted in a perversion of his purpose. He was intended to bring God glory. Now, he is driven to get his own glory and to take God’s glory for his own.

God looks for people to believe His truth and obey. Through these people, He performs His will upon the earth and His plan is manifest through the hands and mouths of His people as they preach the truth about His kingdom,  Matthew 7:14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. NASB—the Lord said that the laborers are few to work in the fields of the kingdom (Matthew 9:37-38). There will also be few that follow the straight and narrow path that leads to life.

Satan and his kingdom of darkness use the free will and hands of man also to build his kingdom on earth, like Babel, they make bricks and build a name for themselves, instead of building the name of God. Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. NASB— the majority of people and the majority of the church world today is building this kingdom. There will be many of that day that will say, “but Lord Lord—didn’t we…” (Matthew 7:21-23)

God called Abraham to leave the life he knew before: Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: KJV

When you believe God’s word, the Bible says we become born again: John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

When we are born again, we are translated into the Kingdom of God: Colossians 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, NASB

LOVE

First Corinthians 13

V1 NASB, …tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.:

maybe there’s a distinction in sound that would be noticed by a percussionist, but most people would not take notice at the difference between those two sounds.

Clanging sounds would become irritating, the of a believer speaking if God’s word whether it be through prophecies, tongues, preaching, if it’s done without the love of God it just doesn’t sound right, but how do we define God’s love in the day we live in, what is the definition of God’s love in these modern times? Many people talk about love, but how do they define it? Ex of when the youth pastor said that about the Samaritan woman.

So is the new definition of love that we never tell anyone that sin will destroy them? We never say homosexuality is wrong, transgender, fornication, adultery, gossip, lying slander, smoking, vaping, drugs, alcohol? Is it not love to tell the truth? So is it love to let people go to hell without them knowing they’re on their way to hell and not tell them they don’t have to go?

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NASB

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, , nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

It’s true that sometimes God’s love is uncomfortable, but God’s love heals and restores. God so loved He sent His Son into a fallen world. How bad is this world church? How hostile towards God and HIS Son do you suppose this place is? What a love, that in the face of hate and bitterness and jealousy and anger, as they wag their  head and cast in His teeth, “Save yourself!” His response, “Father forgive them”, It’s not a pretty, clean or romantic love. It’s heartbreaking, it exposes, it convicts of wrong, but this love is so full of passion, selflessness, sacrifice  it’s  unforgettable; yet, so many carry on without change. “Don’t talk about change, I don’t like change”, but He died, so we could change. The world was dark and He is light. God is light in HIM is no darkness at all.

What kind of love is this?

Numbers 21

Well, it’s a love like you’ve never seen, a love like you’ve never heard of:  “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. The people are perishing for their murmuring and complaining against God and rebellion against God’s will. He sends the poison of asps. God is not opposed to chastening His people. They rebelled, they murmured, they complained. He sent the serpents, but He also made a way of healing.

Look to HIS plan child of God – look to God‘s plan Christian on that pole sin was judged. The son of God was placed, upon that pole, and there He bore the weight of man’s sin. Your body can be healed— that is love, the bitterness in your heart healed, the brokenness of your heart healed, what love! Remember the problem began with— murmuring and complaining. This is the love of God. It doesn’t look like it, it doesn’t make sense, it’s bloody, it’s dirty, but if you accept that it’s for you, if you let it into your heart, love will flood your heart and change your life.

John 1:12

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Children reflect the image of their father. True children of God are molded into the image of his son and His Son is the image of the invisible God Colossians 1:15

God is love 1 John 4:7-9 7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

When the sacrificial love of Jesus enters our heart, it changes everything because the revelation of His love changes everything. Lost and hopeless, humanity was stuck in a world of darkness. We don’t think much of history, we tend to only view the world through our personal experience, but what you and I were born into is far different than the rest of human history. If we could really understand the light of His love, the transformation power of the Love of God, we would so appreciate the Lord more. Without Jesus, there is only sickness, sin, disease, darkness and trouble, nothing but hopelessness; we were without him: yet, he loved. In spite of ourselves, he still loved us. He showed us his love (demonstrated) his love in that, while we were sinners, Christ died for us. When did he die for you? I would say he died for you when you were your worst.

Was that when you were doing drugs, and living a lifestyle of sexual sin or was it when he saved you and then you cheated on him again? You can figure that out between you and God. He and I will figure that out for myself. But while we were yet sinners, he died for the ungodly:

Selfless, sacrificial, relentless, a pursuing love that refuses to quit. Refuses to give up— He will not give up on you child of God. Please, let us agree in the Holy Ghost, we never want to give up on you Lord!

Until that love enters our heart. We will sound no different than the rest of the world. We will just be another noisy sound in the middle of a noisy world – it is the love of God that will give our words distinction.

Unless that love is in our hearts and manifesting the fruit produced from the Holy Spirit in our lives, you can have all the gifts you want, you will still be a gong or a clanging cymbal.

1. v2 you can have faith to move mountains. No love – you have nothing.

2. v3 give all your money to feed the poor – no love – nothing!

Visual manifestations of love:

1. It suffers long— it’s patient.

2. It is kind – useful

3. It’s not jealous or full of envy.

I’m happy God is using you. I am thankful to God that he is blessing you. I was praying for you brother or sister while you were in that spot. It is good to see that he pulled you through.

4. Not easily provoked – man you really hurt me. I don’t really understand why you did that to me. But 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.… you hurt me but you can’t really hurt a head man.

4. Love does not rejoice in iniquity.

5. Love rejoices in truth not lies.

• Prophecies will fail

• Tongues will cease

• Knowledge will vanish away

Remember Because there is coming a day when those things will no longer be needed, because all those things are currently simply tools used by God for the purpose of revealing Himself to a world that is sick with sin, and full of hate towards God.

But one day love will come, that which is perfect will come— when He comes, the fulfillment of God‘s plan— Jesus, when the manifestation of God’s love returns to this earth, The part will be done away with.

You see right now the love is only partly seen, and can only partly be seen by others through us. It’s sad that there is a world out there that is hurting so bad and need His love so much. They are drowning in hate and sin, and His own people called by His name struggle to love one another:  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 1 John 2:10 We must always be on guard: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. Matthew 13:25 But Jesus said not to pluck up the tares, because in plucking out tares, we could damage the wheat that is around the tares and the wheat is O’ so precious to our Lord; for the wheat are the very souls that He purchased with His blood.

**John under the tree crying and saying with tears in his eyes, “The Master told us to love”

Currently, we see His love through a glass darkly but when love comes, we will see him face-to-face.

So what is the revelation?

The revelation is the manifestation of God’s love. His love manifested on the earth in the form of His Son. Now being ascended, the great Comforter has descended and the great love has entered our hearts through the person of the Spirit. The revelation is that it’s not about my gift being greater than the next person, my tongue or interpretation, being more important than the next person. It’s never about me, it’s always about HIM. That’s why I can’t afford to be:

Provoked

Envious

Seeking my own or full of jealousy

That’s why I have to embrace truth and not lies

That’s why I would rather patiently bear with you rather than display your sin in front of the world (13:7) Proverbs 17:9 He who conceals a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.

That is why I have to endure all things – – which means not to recede— erosion, reveals the root

Revelation 3:2 Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.

Because you see anything else is me acting like a child. When I was a child, I understood as a child, and I thought as a child but now I have love I have the love of the father and the heart of God, and in Christ, I am made a mature man or woman of God! I no longer act like a child or act like: you take my toy, I take yours. You’ve be mean to me, I be mean to you. No, I learn to allow my old man to die and allow God’s love to live through me.

The love of God made me a man, and when I became a man I put away childish things.

1 Corinthians 14:1

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

Lord, it’s a big deal, please help me get it right!

1 Corinthians 2:9-14

9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Starting question:

Question: in everyday life situations, how do we go about comparing spiritual things with spiritual things?

Answer: A right understanding of God’s word mixed with the discerning help of the Holy Spirit!

Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but [WE] will remember the name of the LORD our God.

Israel is about to go to war and before they do, King David does a wise thing. He goes to the house of the Lord and along with the congregation, they all pray together for victory.

This is what some of the rest of the prayer sounds like:

Psalms 20:1 The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;

Psalms 20:2 Send thee help from the sanctuary —this is where His presence dwells…Zion/sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion;

Psalms 20:3

Remember all thy offerings, Sing praises to the Lord O ye His saints & give thanks His holy name ps 30and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah—God remembers and accepts the worship of His anointed!

Psalms 20:5

We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.

Psalms 20:6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

Praise God. The Lord saves His anointed. In the New Testament you are the anointed of the Lord. He wants and expects you to do more than just come to church and sit down. And when you go out there to minister, you will be covered by the Lord. He desires for you to walk in the plans that He has for your life. You have been smeared with the oil of His presence. His word says that He will hear from heaven and He will save with the strength of His right hand. Your enemies may come against you. Family members, people that you thought were brothers and friends may come against you. People may secretly and maliciously want to see you fall, they may feel animosity in their heart towards you, say one thing to you and something else to someone else, but the God of Jacob will hear in the day of your trouble and He will deliver you. If God be for you who can be against you. Watch it! Watch how you treat the anointed of the Lord. That goes for everyone in this place. Look around, the eyes that you make contact with— these are the eyes of the people of God. The people that are anointed by their God.

The King said, “Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but [WE] will remember the name of our Lord!

Man, that’s good—- remember the name of Jesus!

Yahweh— The existing one

Jehovah Rapha—healer

Jehovah Shalom— peace

Jehovah Shammah— presence w us

Jehovah Tsidkenu —righteousness

Jehovah Nissi—our banner

Jehovah Jireh—provider

El Shaddai God almighty—all sufficient—omnipotent

Adonai— Lord God— you are my master— Abraham called him that

Life as a Christian would be so much simpler if there was a period at the end of that saying:

“Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but [WE] will remember the name of our Lord!

or better yet an exclamation point. I mean there is literally a form of punctuation, at least in the translation, but I’m talking faith. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of our God [exclamation point— period]!.

But O’ God, we your people repent. I repent Lord for myself and for all your people of all times when we place: a semi colon, a comma, a dash-dash, a comma and a coordinating conjunction comma [and] comma [but]

Isaiah 30:1-3

1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: 2 That walk to go down into Egypt— going somewhere else and haven’t asked the Lord about it and have not asked at my mouth;to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

PRAY

Isaiah 30:1-2 NASB

1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin; 2 Who proceed down to Egypt without consulting Me, To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh. And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

Isaiah prophecies and Israel lives in rebellion. They are no longer serving God. They go through the rituals of religion while living in rebellion and sin, like a Christian in church hearing the word but living in sin. People in the world and the church live like one day it’s not going to come to an end, like there won’t be any judgment to face, whether it’s a great white throne judgment or a judgment seat of Christ, both are final, and they are both rapidly approaching.

Much of the church world today doesn’t want to talk this way. It sounds mean, too harsh. We’ve been trained to accept the worlds ways in the church because we’ve grown accustomed to accepting the world into our lives.

Israel had been in sin, Judah, was also in sin, and their sin will result in bondage. Anytime, a child of God finds themselves in sin, or anytime they have a problem, they should go to God, no-one else, nothing else— Okay, if you have a friend or a spouse that tells you to go to God, that’s good, but YOU MUST GO TO GOD!

If you are living in sin right now and hear my voice, you need to know that you have an advocate waiting for you, but do not let a preacher lie to you and convince you that it’s okay.

We have an advocate…

1 John 2:1-4

Christ Our Advocate

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

1 John 3:6-7

6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.

Succor…. Hebrews 2:18

For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour (Give aid) them that are tempted— it doesn’t mean that He wants to comfort you while you’re in your sin! No He has come to rescue you from its chains and fetters. He has come to release you from the snare of the Fowler

What the Lord has placed on my heart this morning are

Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses:but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

&

Isaiah 30:1-3

1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me;and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: 2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth;

The word that the Lord gave me this morning started with the thought of alliances that we make for ourselves. From that thought, the Lord gave me this scripture about improper coverings and alliances.

But in this case, they’re not going to God. They’re being tempted to go to Egypt to form an alliance or agreement to get help from another source instead of God and God calls that adding sin to sin.

God is chastening them because of their sin, and instead of them being willing to hear the rebuke of their Father and receive His correction— the correction is captivity, it’s what God has chosen, sin has consequences. Their consequence is a foreign country taking them into captivity— it’s going to happen Christian! If God plans a course of chastening, its coming, and the word clearly states to trust Him through it and endure the chastening of the Lord, endure and understand that the Lord chastens those whom He loves.

Alliances and coverings.

In my mind, prayer is one of the most powerful things that Christians can do and when we consider our own lives, we can probably admit that there have been seasons that we have neglected the privilege of bringing our petitions before God?

He already knows what we need, but He wants us to bring our needs before Him. Wednesday night they were singing that song, “You tore the veil! You made a way when you said that it is done!”

That means to me that you and I can bring our needs before the Lord. Jesus chose a parable about a wicked judge and widow that refused to stop asking:

Luke 18:1-8

1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

You know there are some really important things in our lives that we should pray about:

Our marriage

Our spouse

Our children

Our job

The church we go to

There is so much more that we should pray about

Our nation

Our friends

The rest of our family

Christians should pray all the time about everything. If that makes you feel irritated in your spirit because you don’t pray much, I’m not sorry! Get your heart right and what I just said will feel better!

Matthew 7:7

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray without ceasing.… whatever your definition of praying without ceasing is, it’s probably safe to say that most of God’s people are probably not praying as much as they should.

I didn’t say that they aren’t talking— Christians I mean— I didn’t say that they’re not talking. They’re talking, just a lot of the time, they’re talking to someone else besides God.

***Israel planned to sit down and talk to Egypt. God saw what they were doing. They were about to make the world (Egypt) their covering.

The word for alliance, more specifically the word covering used in the KJV is used multiple times to describe a molten image. The idea is that people are putting something before God. The covering is something that they are using for protection or comfort, support or even advice instead of God. It could be a multitude of things. It could be:

AA, NA, Alanon

It could be a Psychiatrist

It could be a counselor

It could be a medicine

It could be a job

It could be a church

It could be a Pastor

It could be a spouse

A friend. It could be a friend at work. It could be a spouse or a friend that mean well.

The point is, you’re talking to them instead of God. So, I can’t talk to my friend or my spouse? I’m not saying that we never talk to friends or spouses. I’m saying that it’s a slippery slope when alliances and coverings are trusted instead of God. When I speak to earthlings instead of God!

READ: This amazes me. Five different Christians, filled with the Spirit, have read the Bible for years, and all five have a differing opinion about the topic, and each will leave the situation convinced that they are right and the others are wrong. The reason that they believe that is because they pray and hear from God, but what if they all pray and they all hear. The only answer left must be that I am more spiritual than them, and they can’t see what I see. What about a spirit of humility? What about a teachable spirit that says, “Maybe, I’m wrong about this situation, or better yet, maybe all of us have some elements right and some elements that need to be tweaked and we all need to keep seeking Him and humbling self and when we do, we all may get closer to His truth? O’ Hallelujah I feel the Lord on that. We might be on to something church. The answer is to humble self, have a teachable spirit, talk less to earthlings and talk more to God! And everything must be aligned with the written word.

How should a Christian determine an answer to a situation? God’s word and God’s Spirit? All this garbage about, “I think or I feel needs to go!” It’s okay to think or feel a position on scripture but bring your biblical position, not just your opinion. That’s how the natural man makes a decision, not the spiritual man. Now, in the end if you don’t like something that’s fine too, that’s called an opinion, but that’s what it is an opinion, not the word of God.

Okay, I will stop, and leave you with this, since God’s people can’t agree that we all have the ability to hear from God, can we at least agree that we would be better off talking to God than other earthlings when we have an issue regarding important matters?

What is this covering or alliance that you have placed over yourself? It could be anything that you have in a place that is positioned between you and God and prevents you from going directly to God for the things that you have need of or the things that you have concerns about

Back to the things that we should pray about:

• Church

• Family

What happens when something good like a friend, more specifically a brother or sister in the Lord becomes my source of information regarding God’s will about my marriage or the way that things are going at the church? Maybe they agree with me in my frustrations. Yeah, I agree with you about the way that your husband does that, that needs to stop or you need to get rid of him, or vice versa, that needs to stop or you need to get rid of her. I’m not saying that there is never a scenario where this could be true, but do you realize how easily we can manipulate our own story in our mind and share it with others who will agree with us, and just because we agree with each other it doesn’t mean that the Lord agrees with us.

We can take this scenario into the church. I don’t agree with Pastor on that. I don’t like the way that is being done. I believe that is wrong, what about you what do you think? Yeah, I kind of agree with you about that. Let’s see what he says or she says… We all agree that Pastor is wrong about this, and surely we’re right because look how many of us agree with each other. We have formed an alliance, and there is a bunch of us, so we must be right. And we pray and we hear from God.

In your experience in the world, when things aren’t going the way you want to, what is the normal course of action that you have moved towards? Say for instance you go to work or even a family get together and you’re around people that you’re familiar with and something is heavy on your heart, what is it that you’re likely to do at that moment?

You will likely begin to talk about the things that are concerning you—right? And  then the person that you’re talking to, what will be their likely response? They will likely give their opinion on the matter. They may not influence your thoughts on the matter, but it’s hard to think that their opinions or words and your opinions and words would not likely influence the thinking on the situation. And if we have allowed our opinions to influence our thinking, is it possible that we have influenced our thinking and brought it outside of the will of God?

David was about to go to war and at that time, he knew what to do, and he wrote:

Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we will remember the Lord our God!

The Whole Earth is Filled with His Glory

Discuss the Millennial Reign

Isaiah 6:1-3 Numbers 14:21, Psalm 72:19

1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

Jeremiah 18:1-6

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

This is what God offers:

Romans 8:29

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Potter

Conformed

Earthen vessels

God is molding clay, conforming people into the image of His Son that they might be vessels used for His glory. Earthen treasures. Go to the potter’s house and allow yourself to be conformed from married clay into a vessel that is made worthy to contain the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7

6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

…and while God offers this fashioning with His hands, so that His glory can fill the land, man, like at Babel, uses his own hands to form bricks and with clay and mortar forming his own will. At least he thinks it’s his will, but in reality, if it’s not the will of God, then it’s the will of evil, the will of evil to take from God His plan and His (God’s) glory from the earth.

Isaiah 6:1-3 The earth is filled with the glory of God Isaiah 6. Who will I send? Send me Lord!

Isaiah 6:4-8

4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips,

And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

Isaiah’s Commission

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Okay, now, I’m excited. God is going to send me and He is going to use me to speak truth to those who are lost! And they are going to receive God’s truth, and they are going to be thankful that I told them truth, and many times they are.

Isaiah 61:1-3 1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me;because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

But many times they are not…

Isaiah 6:8-11 KJV

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. 9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not;

and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered,

Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach truth. The same anointing that results in salvation, is the same anointing that brings conviction, and the feeling of conviction brings the opportunity for repentance, or refusal to repent, but he who refuses today may accept tomorrow. The gospel is a seed and sometimes lies dormant in the soil until it’s watered again by the Spirit.

If they reject you, it’s not you they reject but me.

Luke 10:16. “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

Man rejects because he makes his own bricks and builds and rebels against God’s will to multiple on the earth. If man follows the will of God, and receives God’s truth then God’s glory fills His people and He sends them where He wants them to go: Noah (replenish the earth), Israel (enter the land of Canaan), Isaiah (wherever he tells him to go), the disciples (where He sends them), you and I, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel— and the earth is filled w His glory

There will be a day when my King, your King will sit on the throne of David and rule on the earth as Sovereign. At that time God’s glory will literally fill the earth. Today, there is an earnest in the air, a down payment for the future, a down payment for us individually as believers, so our lives can produce that sweet smelling fragrance, but that earnest also reminds of the final deposit when you receive your glorified body, but it also represents the truth that His glorified body will conquer evil and rule and reign on the earth. And, at that time, the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.

At Babel, they came together in one mind and in one language under the command of Nimrod in rebellion against the word of God! God confused their language.

In the upper room they came together in one mind and one accord and the spirit of God fell and they were all filled and they were not drunk as you suppose, but these men be filled with the Spirit of God. This is what the prophet Joel spoke of that in the last days the Spirit of God would be poured out and you sons and daughters would prophesy and your old men would dream dreams and what you hear them say in your own tongue even though you all come from different nations and speak with different tongues caused by the rebellion at Babel. Now, through this miracle of God, through the outpouring of the Spirit of God, you hear them speak the wonderful truths of God! The glorious gospel of Jesus Christ that is the manifestation and fulfillment of God’s plan that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all.

Joel said that judgment is coming, the day when grace ends and judgment begins is vastly approaching, will you be part of God’s plan of salvation, will I? Will we allow God to use us, no matter how small or big? Or will we, with a spirit of rebellion allow the voice of evil draw us towards the rebellion of Babel that says, “Come let us make a name for ourselves”

While the humble lamb, Hebrews 5:7

Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Let’s worship the one who pioneered the way for us

Hebrews 2:10

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Buy Truth and Sell It Not

The very first act of rebellion recorded in God’s word was the result of the serpent’s deception. He caused her to yield to his will through veiled lies. The serpent of the garden is the dragon in the end. If the pages of scripture contain any clue to the diet that causes his growth, it would seem that his ability to deceive the nations would be the main dish. Furthermore, with the attention that he places towards deceiving Israel, it is apparent that God’s people are a delicacy in His diet. It is believed by many that the entire world has been evangelized with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, the entire world remains bathed in lies, and America, who has the most knowledge of truth, is accepting more lies everyday.

Everyday, some new frenzy takes us by storm and attempts to change the way we were taught to think. There was a time, not long ago, that America agreed that when we talked about God, we referred to the God that sent His Son to die on a cross for the sins of the world. The gates have been opened and laws purposefully passed to dilute the Christian values that once dominated our society. It was what we knew, and it was what we believed. And now the American people are force fed lies. And each generation grows weaker as the dragon grows stronger.

There is a remnant of people on earth who hold to truth. The words in this book supply a foundation for a building called the church that will not crumble, because it has as its power, the Spirit of God! Even religion that masks itself in holiness lies according to Jesus:

John 8:43-47 NASB

43 Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

Comparing a Biblical history of Jesus’ time in the Roman Empire to the current state of American culture, reveals some similarities. The Roman Empire was full of commerce and multiple cultures travelled the roads of Rome. The various cultures carried with them the differing forms of worship connected to their gods. I turned 10 in Singapore, so I was exposed and made aware at an early age to other deities. I saw images of the Buddha everywhere. I saw them dancing in the streets with the dragon costume as the multiple bodies in unison caused the dragon’s body to writhe through the streets. I didn’t understand it, but I knew it wasn’t God. I was a privileged little American boy and didn’t understand how significant the privilege of knowing Jesus was to me.

It seems like I started to notice a change in the late 80’s early 90’s, a change that revealed America was being influenced by the other cultures that were crossing our borders, seeking opportunity in this nation that has allowed me so much freedom to seek after prosperity. A land that I firmly believe, no matter the complete back story, has been blessed by the hand of God, he has used our great nation to send more missionaries throughout the world, and much of the American church still partakes in that endeavor.

But she has become like Ezekiel’s prophecy. She has played the harlot with corruption. It’s so much worse than I would ever attempt to expose on a Sunday morning, but I think that the church world as a whole should be made aware that we are responsible for the current condition of the state of our nation. I’m not saying that you personally haven’t prayed for the leaders or the nation, but as a whole, the church has fallen asleep, and while she sleeps an enemy has entered in and sown tares amongst the wheat. And what concerns me most is that the church has  allowed political opinions to divide her from her main purpose on earth, which is to seek God in unity that His kingdom, not our kingdom would come upon this earth. That Jesus would establish His reign as sovereign upon this land.

When I was a young man in the 80’s I was influenced politically by others around me. I will say that there is right and there is wrong in the political world. But this is just an example of the deception that I want to expose. The Republican Party championed Ronald Reagan as the answer for the day. Mostly, because of his trickle down economics. He cut taxes, and the thought was that the increased revenue in the average American pocket was used to purchase, and the purchases increased revenue for businesses and through prosperity, everyone benefited. He told Gorbachev to tear down the wall of communism, but let me ask you this, “How did we Christians so conveniently ignore the fact that the Regan’s practiced the occult through astrology, calling on demons for wisdom?” Was it easy to ignore because we believed he put more money in our pockets?

The connection point so far is that Israel as a nation was deceived. Jerusalem as a city had given herself over to idolatry and allowed her self to be sold into the lies of the dragon. America today has allowed the same. The corruption in the land is so grave and yet we have become so anesthetized that we act like it’s not even here. Let me tell what is in the land: deception and lies are rampant in the land, but let me tell you what else is present… you are here my friend. You a vessel of truth, a vessel of honor. You that carry the light of God in the last of these darkened days that we live in. I firmly believe that God plans to allow the light to burn brightest before the end.

I want to transition from introduction to scripture, but my transition is Pontius Pilate. History says that he was the cruelest of men, but I kind of feel sorry for him. He ruled at a time when there was so much deception and lies. There were so many options for gods to be served. Israel was God’s people and the only nation that held truth, but their rebellion resulted in a position of weakness, no one could see the power of their God. And one day, out of nowhere he is face to face with Jesus. The King of the Jews. The person who called Himself Truth:

Look at this quick conversation

John 18:36 My kingdom is not of this realm

37 “So You are a king?”

37 “For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?”

What a stressful situation! History claims that Pilate was under Caesar’s microscope because the Jews had been causing trouble and skirmishes. The zealots looked for a King that would free them from Roman tyranny, so they caused trouble when they could to the Roman Empire, and here comes Jesus, talk of a king, talk of miracles, now, the Jewish leaders want His blood and Pilate’s wife has a dream, and truth stands in his face… I used to think he said it this way, “What is truth—with a smirk?” Now, I imagine, he runs his hands through his hair or rubs his bald head with uncertainty in his heart and stress on his chest, when he asks, “What is truth? All my life I was told as a Roman to pray to my dead family members. The Greeks introduced us to the pantheon of gods and we can choose Zeus, Apollos, Bacchus, so many to choose from, they offer so many promises, and you Jews only believe in one, O’ what is truth?”

How many times has that question been asked through the years since that memorable day? How many world leaders, how many mothers or fathers, how many Christians have asked that question? How many times have you been in a pressured situation and were faced with truth, Jesus standing before you? Faced with a pressured decision on whether you will choose truth or a lie?

Jesus said to His disciples that He was going away but they knew the way, because He was the way and the truth and the Life. The way to the Father’s house is through Him.

John 14:6

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

He has been telling them the truth, but they don’t want to listen. When you don’t have patience with someone else because they don’t see the truth you see, do you stop and consider your own shortcomings and failure to see the truth that is before you? Or do you only see the spots where they are wrong and you harbor truth?

John 8:32

and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

The vision the Lord gave me— the truth unlocked the door, and you can walk out free, and by the way, His name is Jesus.

Danielle’s testimony of the men in actual prison

The truth that comes from the Father’s house  has the power in it for Physical healing, emotional healing, psuchological healing, deliverance, freedom from sin. The grace of God that is poured out from heaven through the Holy Spirit, made available to us by Jesus through the cross is available to us. His kingdom is not of this realm, His truth is truth of another kingdom. God is not governed by the rules of this earthly realm. He can break in any moment and anytime He chooses and do whatever He wants to do:

Miracle of Dion

He told the religious

John 5:39-40

39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

Is it possible for Christians to become so accustomed to the word of God that we become apathetic? That we can know the written word so well that we would no longer believe in the life that it produces. The supernatural change that it holds, the life that it is ready to release.

The Psalmist said: Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.

Psalms 25:1-5 NASB

1 To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me.3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. 4 Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.

God has a people and He places truth in their hearts and He asks that the Truth placed in the heart be spoken out of the mouth.

Psalms 40:7-11

7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, 8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. 9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. 10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. 11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.

Proclaim His truth

Psalms 30:7-9 KJV

7 LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. 8 I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication. 9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit?Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

The truth is that God doesn’t want you to perish. Don’t believe the lies of evil. God has placed His truth in your heart. It’s not His plan that the rocks or the dust praise Him and tell the world of His wondrous works. It’s His plan that you tell the world of His truth. His truth will make them free.

Armed with truth for spiritual battles

Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Just as a belt is worn close to the body, we should hold God’s truth close to us and allow it to surround us. When we remain in His Word, we can distinguish what is true from what is untrue.

In a world full of lies and unrighteousness, we must be armed with truth. The belt girded the loins. It provided support and security. It supported the loins in that it prevented interference from obstacles. I’ve said it many times, but the long, flowing clothing had to be moved out of the way for travel or movement in the right direction to be able to take place. So many things get in our way in life and there are so many lies that try to pull us in so many directions. The belt of truth helps to keep the obstacles of the world’s lies out of the way, so that we don’t trip in our travels as we war in the spiritual battle.

It supports the breastplate of righteousness. God’s truth is righteousness. God’s truth is Jesus— Jn 14:6. God’s righteousness is Jesus— Romans 3:2,22

Conclusion

Pilate posted truth with a placard on the cross:

John 19:19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

20 and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek