Second Half of Blog Transcript. (Free online bible.)

​Let’s look at a few Scriptures that goes right along with what we’re talking about here, especially when you look at government and you look at churches, and any organization. 
 
Proverbs 29:2: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people mourn.” You can take that and apply that to many different things!
 
Verse 4: “The king establishes the land by justice, but he who takes bribes tears it down.” That is exactly what has happened here in America!
 
Verse 12: “If a ruler hearkens to lies, all his servants are wicked.” We can apply that to how a church is run, and directly to our lives and what we’re covering here: Truth and doctrine!
 
Verse 14: “A king who faithfully judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever.”
 
Now, here’s one for the world today. Remember that Jesus said that lawlessness will be multiplied!
 
Verse 16: “When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases; but the righteous shall see their fall.”
 
Sooner or later it catches up with them, but the ultimate of that will be the return of Christ and the resurrection of the saints.
 
Proverbs 30:5—this applies to exactly what we are doing here: “Every Word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He correct you and you be found a liar” (vs 5-6). That is exactly what has happened to the Church many times over!
 
2-Timothy 1:13: “Hold as the standard for doctrine the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good thing that was committed to you by the Holy Spirit that is dwelling in us” (vs 13-14).
 
Notice how bad things were getting in the Church. We’ve experienced some of this in our lifetime, but back then it was everywhere.
 
Verse 15: “You know this, that all those who are in Asia have rejected me… [Why? Because they brought in the false doctrine and began to believe those!] …of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.”
 
2-Timothy 2:13: If we are unfaithful… [someone goes wrong] …He remains faithful…”--Christ always remains the same; Christ the same yesterday, today and forever, and ‘I, the Lord, change not.
 
Something that comes along that’s a difficulty, and contrary to the Word of God, then trust in God and it will be exposed for what it is.
 
“…—He cannot deny Himself. See that they remain mindful of these things, earnestly charging them in the sight of the Lord not to argue over words that are not profitable in any way, but which lead to the subverting of those who hear” (vs 13-14). So, it gets down to this:
 
·         How strong are we in the faith?
·         Do we really believe it?
 
Here’s how to make sure that you do it right; v 15: “Diligently study… [put forth a lot effort] …to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of the Truth.”
 
That’s how all false doctrines start--we’ve covered a lot of them--by wrongly dividing the Scriptures! One of the major ones was that the Father was the Lord God of the Old Testament. That was wrongly dividing the Word of God! Then believing the conclusion of it, and convincing others. How can you convince others? Maybe they’re not studying and proving things!
 
Verse 16: “But avoid profane and vain babblings because they will only give rise to more ungodliness.” That’s exactly what has happened!
 
Just before the Church fell, they had 120,000 attending the Feast of Tabernacles, and they had an income that year of $200-million!
 
·         it’s not how much you have
·         it’s not the number of people involved
 
It is, the way Christ looks at it, that you are converted and stay converted! That’s what God wants!
 
2-Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed…”
 
Notice how urgent Paul was in writing to Timothy, and how desperate that this apostasy was coming about.
 
2-Timothy 4:1: “I charge you, therefore, in the sight of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is ready to judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom: Preach the Word!….” (vs 1-2). That’s what needs to be preached!
 
·         not the ideas of men
·         not the pet doctrines of men
 
Preach the Word, the Truth of God!
 
“…Be urgent in season and out of season… [showing that they were keeping the Holy Days, otherwise there wouldn’t be seasons] …convict… [that they will be convicted of their sins, there shortcoming and come to God] …rebuke… [when necessary] …encourage… [that’s what we need lots of, lots of encouragement] …with all patience and doctrine.”
 
So, a lot of the things that were happening were those who became ministers and elders who did not fully believe. Then Paul names four of them in these two epistles, that He turns them over to Satan because of the way that they were acting.
 
Here’s what happens, v 3: “For there shall come a time when they will not tolerate sound doctrine…” They won’t take line upon line, here a little, there a little, precept upon precept, and all of that they won’t do.
 
“…but according to their own lusts…” (v 3)--rather than submission to God!
 
That’s why it’s so important, and you’ve hear me say, in God we live, move and have our being! Especially in the Church with the Holy Spirit of God! Even the people in the world live, move and have their being by God! But we, with the Spirit of God, how much moreso!
 
“…they shall accumulate to themselves a great number of teachers…” (v 3). There’s always someone who’s going to come around and…
 
I saw this picture showing a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It showed the wolf with all the sheep’s fleece on it, and his nose up in the air and two little sheep right alongside of it.
 
I thought that was really a well-placed picture to show how these things work. There are those who infiltrate to try and establish themselves in positions of authority. If they get established in positions of high authority, what can they do? They bring in those Who they want and put them in charge! That’s what happened to Worldwide! That’s why it went down so fast.
 
“…having ears itching to hear what satisfies their cravings; and they shall turn away their own ears from the Truth; and they shall be turned aside unto myths” (vs 3-4). That’s what’s wrong with fake Christianity today! Everything they do is a myth except with properly reading the Scriptures.
 
·         Sunday is wrong
·         idols are wrong
·         their salvation is wrong
·         they’re doing away with the Law is wrong
 
but people like it! People like to be told that all you have to do is believe in Jesus. ‘Do you believe in Jesus?’ Oh yes, I believe in Jesus!’ You’re saved!’ How can there be a falling away if you’re saved once forever? It won’t be!
 
Let’s come to the book of Galatians and see how absolutely treacherous this was. We’ll cover certain things in the book of Galatians.
 
Galatians 1:1: “Paul, an apostle, not sent from men nor made by man…” After he was converted he went down into Arabia and was taught for three years by Christ through visions and directly!
 
“…but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead; and all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia” (vs 1-2).
 
Some people like to say that that means Gaul in Southern France, but that’s not true. This is in Asia Minor.
 
Verse 3: “Grace and peace be to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for our sins, in order that He might deliver us from the present evil world…” (vs 3-4).
 
It was evil back then, and think about the multitude of evil that they have today. Watch all of these ads of all the hightech stuff, and they get these goggles and put them on and it’s a make believe reality. You get movies on Netflix and people watch so many things that are nothing by fables and stories and lies.
 
So, when you come along and say that that’s a sin, they’re not going to accept it as sin. So, there has to be something happen in their lives in order for them to come to the point that they see that they need God. But the way this world, it’s a terrible mess out there!
 
“…according to the will of our God and Father; to Whom be the glory into the ages of eternity. Amen” (vs 4-5).
 
I’ve been accosted by people who say that I slam other ministers. Well, I don’t slam them; I point out where they’re wrong when they have false doctrine. We will see what Paul did, and I’m very mild compared to Paul.
 
Verse 6: “I am astonished that you are so quickly being turned away from Him Who called you into the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.”
 
What did we just read? Don’t add anything or take away anything! That’s how you get a different gospel.
 
Verse 7: “Which in reality is not another Gospel…”--because there’s no such thing as another Gospel. There’s one Gospel! The Gospel of Jesus Christ through God the Father!
 
“…but there are some who are troubling you and are desiring to pervert the Gospel of Christ” (v 7). How dangerous is that? Look at what Paul wrote in the next few verses in the strongest possible terms!
 
Verse 8: “But if we… [including himself and all the other apostles] …or even an angel from heaven, should preach a gospel to you that is contrary to what we have preached, LET HIM BE ACCURSED!” That’s really slamming them pretty hard! He repeats it:
 
Verse 9: “As we have said before, I also now say again. If anyone is preaching a gospel contrary to what you have received, LET HIM BE ACCURSED!”
 
Who were the ones coming around? You had two factors:
 
1.       the Jewish factor; and a lot of those who came as Jews (2-Cor. 11) give themselves out as apostles of Christ, but are not
 
Who are they really following? Satan the devil!
 
2.       then you have the Greeks that come along and say that if you read ‘this Scripture’ this way, then it looks like everybody goes to heaven
 
Besides, the Jews have it wrong on the resurrection, but we go to heaven, and that the only resurrection was Christ.
 
Paul had to correct them strongly in 1-Cor. 15 that they didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. So, let them be accursed!
 
Notice how Paul describes what he’s doing; v 10: Now then, am I striving to please men, or God?…. [that takes away all politics; all favoritism] …Or am I motivated to please men? For if I am yet pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Though they may claim themselves to be servants of Christ!
 
Verse 11: “But I certify to you, brethren, that the Gospel that was preached by me is not according to man.”
 
Even though when he got done with his three years of being taught by Christ, he went up to Jerusalem and only stayed two weeks. He talks about that a little later. Those in Jerusalem didn’t want to receive him.
 
Verse 12: “Because neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it by man; rather, it was by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” That’s a special teaching!
 
Paul being a Pharisee, God called him so that would eliminate, as much as possible, Judaism coming into the Church.
 
Verse 13: “For you heard of my former conduct when I was in Judaism, how I was excessively persecuting the Church of God and was destroying it; and I was advancing in Judaism far beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (vs 13-14).
 
The traditions of men really are the key! That if the teachings of men come in and get codified as traditions to keep then you start really getting into trouble!
 
Verse 15: “But when it pleased God, Who selected me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His own Son in me, in order that I might preach Him as the Gospel among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Peter, and I remained with him fifteen days. But I did not see any of the other apostles, except James the brother of the Lord” (vs 15-19).
 
What happened was that Barnabas was on the ball. He said that with Paul being here, we’ve got to get him out of town, because there’s no way that he can be here in Jerusalem. People will hear that he is here and they will come and kill him.
 
So, Barnabas took Paul down to Caesarea and put him on a ship and sent him to where he came from up in Tarsus. He remained there a number of years until the first church of the Gentiles was raised up in Antioch of Syria. So, the apostles decided to send Barnabas down there to help out with all the new Gentile converts that they had in Syria. Then Barnabas went over to Tarsus and found Paul and brought him back to Antioch. Antioch became Paul’s quasi headquarters a little later.
 
Verse 20: (Now the things that I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying.) Then I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. But I was unknown by face to the churches in Judea which are in Christ; they only heard, ‘The one who once persecuted us is now preaching the Gospel—the faith which he once destroyed.’ And they glorified God in me” (vs 20-24).
 
Let’s look at what happens here. Gal. 2 becomes very important. One of the big questions with the Jewish converts is that when a Gentile was converted he had to be circumcised, regardless of how old he was.
 
The Jews would take care of the circumcision on eighth day, so the question came with the Pharisees (Acts 15). They came saying that you cannot be saved unless you keep the Law of Moses.
 
That’s where a lot of Protestants get all discombobulated. To a Pharisee, what does the Law of Moses mean? All the traditions encircling the Truth of God! So, circumcision of adults became a great problem in the Church. There were those false Jewish ministers out there, and a lot of them would say, ‘I was in Judea’ or ‘I was in Galilee’ and ‘I saw Jesus, I heard Him preach and He said this or that, He said the other thing.’
 
Galatians 2:1: “Then after fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me also. And I went up according to revelation, and laid before them the Gospel that I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those of repute, lest by any means I should be running, or had run in vain. (But indeed, Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised.)” (vs 1-3).
 
Why? Because conversion is the circumcision of the heart, which is a higher level of circumcision.
 
Verse 4: “Now, this meeting was private because of false brethren brought in secretly, who came in by stealth to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might bring us into bondage.”
 
So, it was all men must be circumcised regardless of the age, and follow the traditions of the Jews that encircled the Law of God.
 
Note sermon series: Scripturalism vs Judaism. You cannot understand the problems of Judaism and how bad it was unless you get that extended series. I read some amazing quotes that the Jews themselves have given, and how that it was such a furor in the Church.
 
Remember the first Gentile who was converted? Cornelius! Even before God let Peter know about the situation, Cornelius and his household were offering up prayers to God and alms to the local synagogue, the Romans! So, God sent an angle to tell Cornelius that you find Peter—he was at the house of another: Simon—and he’ll come down here and tell you what you need to do.
 
Peter had the vision of all these unclean things, and what did he say? Oh Lord, I’m so happy that we can no eat them. Today we could say that we can be just like the Chinese. NO! He said, ‘I’ve NEVER eaten anything common or unclean!’ then the three men came and he went with them and went to Cornelius’ house. What did Cornelius do? Peter walked in and Cornelius was bowing down to worship him! Peter said, ‘I’m a man like you, but the Jewish law is that a Jew shall not keep company with a Gentile.’
 
So, Peter went there, preached the Gospel and Cornelius’ whole household was converted, and God sent the Holy Spirit on them before they were baptized, to show that God was calling them! Protestants come along and say that you don’t need to be baptized. No! they were baptized afterward.
 
What other way could God show Peter that the ways of Judaism are not going to be in the Church? That was quite a thing!
 
Some of those who were with Peter when he went down there, went back to Jerusalem and told the elders there. Peter came back and they said, ‘What is this that you went into those who were uncircumcised?’
 
Peter told them all about the story, and they praised God and said that God has given them the Holy Spirit the same as us. But in Judaism, even though that was mentioned, Gentiles must be in a separate category than the Jews.
 
Also note our sermon series on Circumcision Wars, and that’s really in great detail.
 
Verse 4: “Now, this meeting was private because of false brethren brought in secretly, who came in by stealth to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might bring us into bondage… [of the traditions of men] …to whom we did not yield in subjection, not even for one hour, so that the Truth of the Gospel might continue with you” (vs 4-5).
 
He didn’t say that they were well intentioned. No, they were not well intentioned.
 
Verse 6: “But the Gospel that I preach did not come from those reputed to be something. (Whatever they were does not make any difference to me…”
 
That’s something you always need to understand: When the Truth is violated by those who are in charge, you do not have to put up with it. If you go to them and bring out what is right, and they don’t change, then you do like Paul, you leave! That’s what happened to the whole Church!
 
“…God does not accept the person of a man.) For those who are of repute conferred nothing upon me. But on the contrary, after seeing that I had been entrusted with the Gospel of the uncircumcision, exactly as Peter had been entrusted with the Gospel of the circumcision; (for He Who wrought in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcision wrought in me also toward the Gentiles); and after recognizing the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, affirming that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision. Their only request was that we remember the poor, which very thing I was also diligent to do” (vs 6-10).
 
Now, here’s the problem: I want you to notice how Paul was absolutely uncompromising, because he knew the dangers of the encroachment of Judaism. Peter was at fault!
 
Verse 11: “But when Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to his face because he was to be condemned… [Paul did this publicly, not privately] …for, before certain ones came from James…” (vs 11-12)--politics! Those in Jerusalem are more important. No, they’re not more important, and they were not in charge!
 
“…he was eating with the Gentiles. However, when they came, he drew back and separated himself from the Gentiles, being afraid of those of the circumcision party” (v 12).
 
‘Oh, I don’t want to get a bad report back in Jerusalem.’ This was a tradition of the Jews that you don’t keep company with, eat with, or have anything to do with Gentiles. This was a tremendous problem! Let’s see what Paul did:
 
“…However, when they came, he drew back and separated himself from the Gentiles, being afraid of those of the circumcision party” (v 12).
 
All of those coming down from Jerusalem ate over here, Peter and Barnabas went over there with them, and over there were all the Gentiles.
 
Verse 13: “And the rest of the Jews joined him in this hypocritical act, insomuch that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
 
That was a very dangerous situation doctrinally speaking, and fellowship speaking.
 
Verse 14: “But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter in the presence of them all, ‘If you, being a Jew, are living like the Gentiles, and not according to Judaism, why do you compel the Gentiles to Judaize?’”
 
If you set them aside in a separate place, you are making them follow a tradition of Judaism. I was a meeting where the deacons and ministers were up on the stage having other deacons come down and take the best of the food from the pot luck and take it up there to give it to the ministry.
 
The minister in charge said to me, ‘Fred, come on up here.’ I said, ‘No, I’m down here…’ He told me three times, and I said, ‘No, I’ll just get my food here.’
 
He destroyed the church; he took over the church from me and I was visiting later, and he ended up committing adultery with one of the nicest women in the church. Terrible situation! You see the whole lesson of a little leaven leavens the whole lump applies in many, many different ways!
 
So, Paul called Peter out before all of them!
 
Verse 15: “We who are Jews by nature—and not sinners of the Gentiles—knowing that a man is not justified by works of law…” The King James says, ‘the works of the law’ and that is absolutely incorrect! Those two definite articles are not there in the Greek and should not be inserted. When they were inserted, they made no difference by making them italicized to show that they weren’t in the original. It’s “…works of law…”
 
Those of you who have The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version, read:
 
·         Appendix Z: Understanding Paul’s Difficult Scriptures Concerning the Law and the Commandments of God\
·         Appendix R: What is Meant by “the Works of the Law”?
 
What were the works of law? The laws of Judaism and all the things that they did! As long as the temple stood, they could still have the sacrificial laws.
 
For those who are uneducated and they read the King James and almost all other translations--the works of the law—they say that you don’t need to keep the Law. That is a complete false interpretation, false translation and should never have been.
 
When I first understood that—BING!—that was like turning on a great floodlight!
 
“…but through the faith of Jesus Christ, we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by works of law…” (vs 15-16).
 
Works of law would justify you to the temple as long as the temple stood. Works of law of Judaism would justify you to the Pharisaic system of Judaism, not to God in heaven above. Our justification and forgiveness of sin comes through faith and repentance, and belief in Jesus Christ! That is to:
 
·         cleanse our mind
·         cleanse our heart
·         draw us to God
 
That’s far greater than all the works of law! Look at all the works of law that the Jews were doing, and what they were plotting against Christ. To kill Him, to destroy Him!
 
·         How many times were they out to get Him? So much for the love of God!
·         What did Jesus say of them in John 5? I know you, you do not have the Word of God dwelling in you!
 
He also said to them, ‘I know that you don’t have the love of God.’ Remember the Pharisee who was the doctor of the Law and ask them Him what was the greatest Law and commandment? Love God! That’s the start!
 
You can probably think of some areas in the Church where they had this to do, and this not do and so forth. They added to it and it shouldn’t have been there.
 
“…because by works of law shall no flesh be justified” (v 16)--before God in heaven above! That’s what that means!
 
We are justified by the sacrifice and shed blood of Jesus Christ through faith by the operation of God, and no work can substitute for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ!
 
So, if they have all of these works from Judaism, that would substitute what God wants us to do. He wants us to:
 
·         believe in Him and continue believing in Him and Jesus Christ
·         believe in His laws and commandments
·         believe in His Word
·         believe in His Truth
 
Verse 17: “Now then, if we are seeking to be justified in Christ, and we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then the minister of sin? MAY IT NEVER BE!” That’s what Peter and Barnabas were doing separating with the other Jews.
 
The Jews came down from Jerusalem all high-falutin and political and wanting to do things that they did in Jerusalem. Don’t do it down there where the Gentiles are.
 
Remember what happened when Paul finally ended up back in Jerusalem? When they found him in the temple? They wanted to kill him!
 
Verse 18: “For if I build again those things that I destroyed…” Everything he did in Judaism was destroyed with the baptism in Christ, and faith and belief in Christ!
 
“…I am making myself a transgressor” (v 18). That’s what Peter and the other Jews were doing!
 
Verse 19: “For I, through law, died to works of law… [the law of the faith of Christ] …in order that I may live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, yet, I live. Indeed, it is no longer I; but Christ lives in me….” (vs 19-20)--by the power of the Holy Spirit!
 
·         that comes from heaven above
·         that comes from the Throne of God
·         that comes from the Temple of God in heaven above
 
All these other physical works and things in the exterior that they were doing were not of God! Paul was doing his utmost to make sure that it never got into the Church.
 
“…For the life that I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith--that very faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me” (v 20).
 
That faith comes from God, not by doing a work of law. That has nothing to do with whether we keep the commandments of God. That is how we stay justified to God and having forgiveness of our sins.
 
Verse 21: “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness is through works of law, then Christ died in vain.”
 
Paul lambasted those people directly! He didn’t care if they were from James. He didn’t care what Peter and Barnabas thought of him. They were going against God, and going against the Truth and following the works of men, which leads to destruction! They had to be corrected publicly and vociferously! 

Scriptural References: (free online bible) 
​Bible Hard Copy - The Original Bible Restored
 
1)      John 14:4-6
2)      1 Corinthians 1:19-28, 26-28
3)      Colossians 1:21-23
4)      1 John 2:15-21
5)      Revelation 14:12
6)      1 John 2:22-29
7)      2 John 10-12
8)      1 Timothy 1:2-11, 16-17, 19-20
9)      1 Timothy 3:14-16
10)  1 Timothy 4:1-5, 13-16
11)  1 Timothy 6:3-5
12)  Proverbs 29:2, 4, 12-16
13)  Proverbs 30:5-6
14)  2 Timothy 1:13-15
15)  2 Timothy 2:13-16
16)  2 Timothy 3:16
17)  2 Timothy 4:1-4
18)  Galatians 1:1-24
19)  Galatians 2:1-21
 
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
 
·         1 Corinthians 15
·         Leviticus 11
·         Deuteronomy 14
·         Romans 2
·         2 Corinthians 11
·         Acts 15
·         John 5
 
Also referenced:
Sermon Series (transcript book with CD):
·         Scripturalism vs Judaism
·         Circumcision Wars
 
From The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:
·         Appendix Z: Understanding Paul’s Difficult Scriptures Concerning the Law and the Commandments of God
·         Appendix R: What is Meant by “the Works of the Law”?
​

​One True Gospel and Many False Ones
Paul knew the danger of the doctrines of Judaism
(Galatians 1 & 2)
Fred R. Coulter—January 25, 2020
*(First Half of Video)
*(Second Half of Video)
*(Transcript Second Half) - Here you will find all the Scriptural References.

​Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services!
 
If you’ve been watching anything on the impeachment thing, you’ve seen the slickest lies in the world, and a great misinterpretation of the severity of what they claim is a crime. With that, I think it’s very interesting and made me stop and think: How did Lucifer convince a third of the angels to go with him?
(may be of interest: Creation/Re-Creation) 
There may be a lot of extra of that power in the Democrat Party today! Look at all the lies that have been spoken, and when you understand that Satan is the father of lies, you understand, I think, how he was able to maneuver.
 
Think on this: Belief is powerful! We are to have faith, and faith is the movement of belief! You believe in faith! They work together.
 
If you believe a lie and you really think it is true, you believe with the same intensity as you would believe the truth.
 
·         How does God get around that?
·         What was the first warning that Jesus gave to the disciples? Let no one deceive you! First warning!
·         How do we keep from succumbing to lies that sound blessedly true?
·         Can you think of a Scripture?
·         How do we do it? Prove all things, test the prophets whether they are of God or not!
 
The worst field of deceit is in the field of religion!
 
John 14 is a Scripture that we go over, and it’s a keynote of the Passover. Jesus told the disciples that He was going away:
 
John 14:4—Jesus said: “‘And where I am going you know, and the way you know.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going; how then can we know the way?’” (vs 4-5). They didn’t understand it because they didn’t have the Spirit of God, yet!
 
Verse 6: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.’”
 
So, we take the Scriptures and we compare everything to the Word of God. That’s why God had the New Testament originally written in Greek. It’s a very precise language. When you get the Interlinear you will see that 80-90% of the words must be translated exactly as it is. You can’t change that. Now, some words have more than one meaning, but it is very accurate and very true. You have the phrase, ‘answered and said.’ There is no other way to translate it. You can’t translate it ‘he was answering and saying’ because of the way that the verb is constructed.
 
Where do problems come in with the Scriptures? The translators, and those who found deficient Greek manuscripts, which mostly come out of Alexandria and Vaticanus! That’s where the problems come, because modern critical thinking of the Greek goes toward those Greek manuscripts rather than the Received Text.
 
Here is the basic one that we always go to. What’s another one? What did Jesus say about the words that He spoke? They are Spirit and they are Life! They are spiritually discerned or understood!
 
The Church at Corinth was one of Paul’s greatest problems. In 1-Cor. 15 he says, ‘What is it that some of you are saying that there’s no resurrection?’ Why? Because they were coming out of the Greek religions where it was ‘go to heaven or hell.’
 
1-Corinthians 1:19: “For it is written, ‘I [Jesus Christ] will destroy the wisdom of the wise… [all the philosophy and wrong thinking] …and I will nullify the understanding of those who understand.’” Nullify is to make it as though it never existed!
 
Verse 20: “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its own wisdom did not know God…” (vs 20-21).
 
·         Why? You must come to Christ! That’s where we started
·         How do you do that? On God’s terms!
·         What’s the first thing that Jesus said when He came into to Galilee to preach the Gospel? Repent and believe the Gospel, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!
 
It was the Kingdom of God in the person of Christ! He was right there!
 
“…it pleased God to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. For the Jews require a sign…” (vs 21-22).
 
Read the first chapters of the book of Acts and you will find that God gave the Jews sign after sign after sign, plus all the healings that Jesus did before He was crucified. Of all of those things, what was the last great sign that Jesus did before He was arrested? He raised Lazarus from the dead, and He deliberately left him in the tomb four days to make sure that he was dead!
 
Remember when they were told to roll away the stone, Martha said to Him, ‘Lord, he stinks by now!’ That’s no problem to God! He said, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ and those who saw it rejoiced, though some of them were angry and ran to the officials so that they might get rid of Jesus. They wanted a sign!
 
“…and the Greeks seek after wisdom… [Greek: ‘sophia’ and ‘philo sophia’ is lover of wisdom] …but we proclaim Christ crucified. To the Jews it is a cause of offense, and to the Greeks it is foolishness; but to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren…” (vs 22-26).
 
God is starting from the bottom up; He’s not working from the top down
 
“…that there are not many who are wise according to the flesh, not many who are powerful, not many who are highborn among you. Rather, God has chosen the foolish things of the world” (vs 26-27). So, why should we get all excited and uplifted in importance?
 
“…so that He might put to shame those who are wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world so that He might put to shame the strong things” (v 27)--because they’re going to be converted and resurrected, and become the sons and daughters of God! They can take care of any of the strong things of man--period! Hands down!
 
Verse 28: “And the lowborn of the world, and the despised has God chosen--even the things that are counted as nothing—in order that He might bring to nothing the things that are.”
 
Think about that! When you go on a trip and you see all of these people. Get on a plane and there are three seats on each side, and you’ve got to be thin to walk down the isle. When I get on a plane, I always tease the stewardess and say, ’You know, this isle is just too wide.’
 
What’s going on that everyone on planes and trains will be thinking about? Best laid plans of men? The great wisdom of men? The Coronavirus! They have shut down eleven cities in China. Have you watched the news on what they eat? They had last year swine flu where they had to kill 150-million swine!
 
This year they have the Coronavirus! How did that start? Well, it showed the picture of the food that they eat: alligators, snakes, rats, koalas, donkeys, horses, cats, dogs and salamanders!
 
What did God say? See what happens with all the ‘wisdom’ that they have? Everything that they’re doing over there, and they think that they’re so wise, but they’re so dishonest because they steal everything.
 
What is the basic command of God? These are the foods that you shall eat…! and These are the foods that you shall not eat…! Why? Because He loves us and He doesn’t want us to get sick with things like Coronavirus!
 
The city where the Coronavirus started is Wuhan, China, and that’s where the Chinese have the biological warfare. So, there is some thought that maybe some of the Coronavirus escaped from there. Then they also can have a tactic where they can send people who are infected to other countries to spread it to them. Just think how absolutely fragile the whole system is! Highly developed and everything dependant upon electricity, and the wisdom of men in peace and in war!
 
Let’s see what God wants us to do, because there’s only one Gospel and many false gospels.
 
Verse 26: “For you see your calling, brethren, that there are not many who are wise according to the flesh, not many who are powerful, not many who are highborn among you. Rather, God has chosen…” (vs 26-27). That’s interesting! Not called, but chosen! Chosen comes from repentance and baptism!
 
“…God has chosen the foolish things of the world, so that He might put to shame those who are wise…” (v 27).
 
How does that work today? When we see all the foolishness of what men are doing, especially in this impeachment thing, we can see where they’re absolutely wrong!
 
“…and God has chosen the weak things of the world so that He might put to shame the strong things. And the lowborn of the world, and the despised has God chosen--even the things that are counted as nothing--in order that He might bring to nothing the things that are” (vs 27-28).
 
The Gospel of God is the same yesterday, today and forever, as the Bible says.
 
Colossians 1:21: “For you were once alienated… [from God] …and enemies in your minds by wicked works…”
 
That’s why conversion is in the mind, not outward actions alone. Some of the greatest con-artists can have such wonderful actions on the outside, but they do it to deceive! So, God wants it on the inside. That’s where the wickedness comes that God is looking to.
 
“…but now He has reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, to present you Holy and unblamable and unimpeachable before Him; if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which you have heard, and which was proclaimed in all the creation that is under heaven; of which I, Paul, became a servant” (vs 21-23).
 
The Gospel has gone out and continues to go out! Where is the Gospel contained? In the whole Bible! That’s the Gospel! If we think about how many different ways that it’s out there now, it’s quite a thing! Let’s see something about the Gospel and the Truth!
 
1-John 2:15: “Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because everything that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pretentious pride of physical life—is not from the Father, but is from the world” (vs 15-16). Who is the ‘god of this world’? Satan the devil!
 
Verse 17: “And the world and its lust is passing away… [that is in our lives, down through the generations to the return of Christ] …but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”
 
This tells you what happened in the last part of the apostolic age. We will see how the Church was literally coming apart.
 
Verse 18: “Little children, it is the last time…” For the apostolic age it was the last time, but that doesn’t mean that it is the end of the world!
 
“…and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have risen up, by which we know that it is the last time. They went out from among us, but they were not of us because if they were of us, they would have remained with us; nevertheless, they left that they might be exposed to show that they all were not of us” (vs 18-19).’
 
·         How did that happen?
·         What did they do?
·         What did they change?
·         What were the Jews preaching? Christ is an imposter!
·         What were the Greeks preaching? You don’t need to keep the Law!
 
Both of those elements are here in this Epistle of John!
 
Verse 20: “But you have the anointing from the Holy One, and you have knowledge of all things pertaining to salvation.” Obviously, you don’t have knowledge of all things! This can only be of the things for salvation!
 
Verse 21: “I did not write to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you know it, and you understand that not one lie comes from the Truth.” That’s why you prove everything!
 
·         What’s the greatest sin of human beings in God’s Word? To change it! To add their own traditions!
·         What happens with that? It’s like it was during the days of Jesus:
ü  you make the void the Word of God
ü  you make void the commandments of God
 
because of traditions! Yet, when people do that, and they accept it as from God, they are convinced that they are right, and the whole thing is upside down. When they look at those who are in the Churches of God, who keep the commandments of God, Sabbath and the Holy Days.
 
Revelation 14:12: “…here are the ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” That tells us that it takes faith to keep the commandments, the faith that comes from God!
 
1-John 2:22: “Who is the liar if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?…. [that’s what the Jews did] …He is the antichrist—the one who denies the Father and the Son.” Now it’s both!
 
The Jews want a sign and the Greeks want wisdom (1-Cor.).
 
Verse 23: “Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either.” Jesus said, ‘I know that the Word of God does not dwell in you’ (book of John)!
 
Verse 24: “Therefore, let what you have heard from the beginning dwell in you; if what you have heard from the beginning is dwelling in you, then you will be dwelling in the Son and in the Father.”
 
What have the Catholics done? There are three major things that they have done!
 
1.       Sunday-keeping, rejecting the Sabbath
2.       trinity, saying there are three Gods
3.       elevation of Mary to the Queen of Heaven and be the mediatrix for human beings replacing Christ
 
The Catholics who are devoted… and there are a lot of evil spirits that keep them in bondage to those things. Another one is:
 
4.       idols
 
Verse 25: “And this is the promise that He has promised us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are leading you astray” (vs 25-26). Coming along with interesting sounding doctrines!
 
Verse 27: “But you yourselves have dwelling in you the anointing that you received from Him; and you do not have need of anyone to indoctrinate you… [in other teachings] …for the same anointing instructs you in all spiritual things… [plus we have the Word of God now] …and is true, and is not a lie; and if you do exactly as it has taught you, you will be dwelling in Him. And now, little children, dwell in Him, so that when He is manifested we may have boldness, and not be put to shame before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been begotten by Him” (vs 27-29). That’s the complete thing with that!
 
2-John is filled with love, Truth and commandment-keeping! Every verse there has that!
 
2-John 10: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine…”--the doctrine of Christ: His death and resurrection and ascension to heaven that He is the Son of God.
 
“…do not receive him into your house, and do not say to him, ‘Welcome!’ For anyone who says, ‘Welcome!’ to him is partaking in his evil works” (vs 10-11).
 
How bad was this insurrection within the Church?
 
Verse 12: “I have many things to write, but I do not wish to convey these things to you with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face in order that our joy may be completely full.” That’s how all of these different doctrines came about!
 
Let’s see what Paul writes concerning these things; 1-Timothy 1:2: “To Timothy, my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul has something like this in every one of his epistles, because he is writing what God wants him to write!
 
Verse 3: When I was going to Macedonia, I exhorted you to remain in Ephesus, in order that you might solemnly charge some not to teach other doctrines… [teachings] …nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which lead to empty speculations rather than to edification from God, which is in faith” (vs 3-4).
 
People can speculate about a lot of things. Sometimes you can speculate, and you can guess the Truth, but unless you prove that it is Truth after you have speculated and you’ve determined it might be true, then it’s possible that it could not be true.
 
Verse 5: “Now, the purpose of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and genuine faith.” There can’t be anything greater than this one little verse to define conversion!
 
Ø  “…love out of a pure heart…” What does God want to do? Change our heart and mind, in good conscience; not devious and deceitful!
Ø  “…and genuine faith”--If you truly believe in God the Father and Jesus Christ! And you truly believe the Word of God!
 
Verse 6: “From which some, having missed the mark, have turned aside unto vain jangling.”
 
Do you remember the man who was a Greek scholar? Stavrinides! {of the former WCG}. That was the wisdom of this world and Satan the devil. That was the biggest test against the Church, because they had become so lackadaisical and bringing in too much of the world. That test came along and he, in his Greek philosophy, changed the nature of God! When you do that, you’re denying the Father and denying the Son!
 
Verse 7: “Desiring to be teachers of the Law, neither understanding what they are saying, nor what they are strongly affirming.”
 
Why? Because they believe a lie with the same conviction that they should believe the Truth!
 
Verse 8: “Now we know that the law is good, if anyone uses it lawfully”--meaning not living in transgression!
 
So, here comes along Sunday-keeping. That was very appealing to a lot of the Greeks. They did not want to be counted in with the Jews, because if you’re keeping the commandments of God, you’re counted with the Jews! The Jews profess to keep the commandments of God, but they don’t keep the commandments of God the way that God says.
 
So, when someone came along and said, ‘Look, why should you suffer this persecution. We can meet on Sunday and the Romans won’t come and get us.’ A lot of people said, ‘I don’t know about that.’ Come and try it and you’ll like it, and see if it’s spiritual or not. Guess what? They had enough of the Truth… Isn’t that the way it always starts out, with enough of the Truth? Gradually, it metamorphoses! Look where it’s grown to!
 
Verse 9: “Understanding this: that law is not enacted for a righteous man…” If you’re righteous, that tells you that you’re keeping the commandments of God!
 
·         righteous because you have the Spirit of God
·         righteous because you’ve had your sins forgiven
 
“…but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for slayers of fathers and slayers of mothers, for murderers” (v 9). Today we can add abortion ad infinitum!
 
Sidebar: Last year worldwide, guess how many abortions there were? 42-million! All of that is being stored up for God and Christ’s returning!
 
Verse 10: “For fornicators, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing that is opposed to sound doctrine.” Think about that! Sound doctrine and Law-keeping go hand-in-glove!
 
Verse 11: “According to the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God, with which I was entrusted.”
 
Verse 16: “But for this reason I was shown mercy in order that in me first Jesus Christ might demonstrate all long-suffering, for an example to those who would afterwards believe on Him unto eternal life. Now to the King of eternity, the incorruptible, invisible, and only wise God, be honor and glory into the ages of eternity. Amen” (vs 16-17).
 
Notice that Paul tells Timothy to hold the faith and remember his ordination:
 
Verse 19: “Holding to the faith and a good conscience. For some, having cast aside a good conscience...”
 
If you believe a lie, what happens? Sooner or later you have a corrupted conscience! That means that sin no longer affects you in the same way that it would if you had the Spirit of God and the Laws of God. You become inured to it.
 
“…have made shipwreck in regard to the faith; of whom are Hymeneus and Alexander, whom I turned over to Satan in order that they may learn not to blaspheme” (vs 19-20).
 
1-Timothy 3:14: “These things I am writing to you, hoping to come to you shortly; but if I should delay, you have these things in writing, so that you may know how one is obligated to conduct oneself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the Truth” (vs 14-15).
 
That’s what you should always find in the congregations of God, the Truth! The Truth of God; the truth of things.
 
Verse 16: “And undeniably, great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the Gentiles, was believed on in the world, was received up in glory.”
 
Look at the difference. Here comes the enemy, and remember that Satan the devil is always the enemy. Satan the devil is going to come after the Church with great ferocity in the future. All you have to do is look at the atheists, the agnostics and those who can’t tolerate any form of Christianity. They are going to be very dangerous in the future.
 
1-Timothy 4:1: “Now, the Spirit tells us explicitly that in the latter times some shall apostatize from the faith, and shall follow deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.”
 
There are teachings and doctrines of demons, and many of them will sound very good!
 
Verse 2: “Speaking lies in hypocrisy, their consciences having been cauterized with a hot iron; forbidding to marry…” (vs 2-3).
 
Look at all the problems that has caused the Catholic Church. That’s just one. The only time the Catholics are right is when they read the Scriptures correctly. Every other thing they are totally wrong!
 
“…and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, even by those who know the Truth” (v 3). Tie in Lev. 11 and Deut. 14!
 
Verse 4: “For every creature of God designated for human consumption is good, and nothing to be refused, if it is received with thanksgiving.”
 
Protestants read this and say, ‘Let’s have our barbeque pork, and our shrimp, lobster, clams and all of this sort of thing.’
 
Verse 5: “Because it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.” So, what God says not to eat, don’t eat! What God says is good to eat, eat! And you’ll probably not come down with the Coronavirus!
 
Verse 13: “Until I come, devote yourself to reading, to encouragement, and to doctrine. Do not neglect the spiritual gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the elderhood. Meditate on these things; give yourself wholly to them so that your growth in the faith may be apparent to all. Be diligent with yourself and with the doctrines; continue in them. For in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (vs 13-16). Look at the responsibility that Paul lays upon the ministry!
 
That’s a very important things, because Paul wrote in Rom. 2, to the Jews, ‘You who preach the Law, why are you breaking the Law? You who think you can teach others, don’t you teach yourself?’ That’s why an elder is going to be held accountable for everything. So, he has got to stay:
 
·         true
·         faithful
·         yielded to God
·         doing the things that God wants him to do
 
1-Timothy 6:3: “If anyone teaches any different doctrine, and does not adhere to sound words, even those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine that is according to Godliness, he is proud and knows nothing. Rather, he has a morbid attraction to questions and disputes over words, from which come envy, arguments, blasphemy, wicked suspicions, vain reasonings of men who have been corrupted in their minds and are destitute of the Truth--men who believe that gain is Godliness. From such withdraw yourself” (vs 3-5).
 
That’s what God has been doing with the Church ever since the big blowup! How many will stick with the Truth? 

One of the things that’s important, notice David’s attitude; notice his approach to God. I don’t find any Psalm where David fell asleep while praying.
 
Psalm 62:1: “Only for God does my soul wait in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my Rock and my salvation; He is my fortress; I shall not be greatly moved” (vs 1-2).
 
That’s how firm he was in believing God. Then the rest of the Psalm is about how worthless politicians are.
 
Psa. 63 is quite something because David had a little tent/tabernacle in his house. When they brought the Ark of the Covenant back from Kirjath-jearim, they brought it to David’s house because there was no temple. He didn’t take it to the tabernacle up in Gibeon, but put it in his house. Then he had some of the Levites and priests who would tend to it. When he would come to pray, many times he would come right before this little tent. We will see that he was able to see a figure of God in there from time to time. I’m sure that inspired him an awful lot.
 
Psalm 63:1: “O God, You are my God, earnestly I will seek You!…. [the same as wholeheartedly] …My soul thirsts for You. My flesh longs for You, as in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, to see Your power and Your glory as I have seen You in the sanctuary” (vs 1-2).
 
I wonder if it was much like when Christ gave the vision to Peter, James and John on the Mt. of Transfiguration, if it was something like that?
 
Verse 3: “Because Your loving kindness is better than life… [wholly committed his whole life to God] …my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips” (vs 3-5). Marrow and fatness means good health, because the marrow produces the blood in the body.
 
Verse 6: “When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches.” Many times you can’t sleep and you’ll think about God and different things, and you’ll be actually praying to Him while you’re lying there in bed.
 
Verse 7: “Because You have been my help, therefore, in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice”--God’s protection!
 
You can’t see a shadow when you look at a shadow being cast to the ground. In this room with the lights on we can see a shadow on the floor, but you can’t see the shadow itself. Isn’t that amazing? Sometimes you can see it if the sun is really bright, but this means that it is invisible protection for you. How does that come about? With angels, and comes from God directly!
 
Verse 8: “My soul follows hard after You…” Talk about single-minded, single-purposed, undeterred except for Bathsheba!
 
“…Your right hand upholds me. But those who seek my life to destroy it shall go into the depths of the earth…. [a prophecy of Christ] …They shall fall by the sword; they shall be a serving for jackals…. [destruction of Jerusalem] …But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him shall glory, but the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped” (vs 8-11).
 
This is why the Psalms are so good for us. Not every Psalm is going to help you out of the difficulties that you’re in, but many of them will.
 
Psalm 103:1: “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His Holy name.” Think about Matt. 6:9[transcriber’s correction]! What’s the first thing we say in prayer? We honor God’s Holy name!
 
Verse 2: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” When you’re in the midst of a trail it’s easy to forget His benefits!
 
You don’t look upon a trial as a benefit until after you’ve gone through it and you have hindsight and you understand why you have gone through it.
 
Verse 3: “Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases.” The ultimate healing is eternal life, the resurrection!
 
Verse 4: “Who redeems your life from destruction…” How many times has God saved you? Have you had close calls in your life? Yes, indeed!
 
I remember when Delores was driving a car and she put the breaks on and it was upside down. It was on a freeway in L.A. All the traffic was stopped and she didn’t see it until the last minute. The car was upside down, but God must have been with her. She had her seatbelt on and was just fine.
 
It could have been totally different. She wasn’t thrown out of the car. You talk about a car going upside down. Think of all the different things that could happen. There were probably some angels there bringing it back down.
 
I remember one time I fell and all of a sudden while I was falling, I felt my body and the only thing I could conclude was there must have been an angel who helped me get to the ground without breaking a rib or something. God is there!
 
“…Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your desires with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagle’s…. [even David didn’t get through that] …The LORD executes righteousness and judgment for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel” (vs 4-7). What do we have?

• we’ve got all the Law that Moses wrote
• all the things that the Prophets have written
• everything in the New Testament

 
Think about what God has given us today that we need to really draw close to God and be thankful for!
 
Verse 8: “The LORD is merciful and gracious… [the sure mercies of David] …slow to anger, and abundant in mercy. He will not always chasten, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities” (vs 8-10). That’s quite a thing, because ‘the wages of sin is death’!
 
Verse 11: “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is His mercy toward those who fear Him.”
 
We need to love God, but we also need to fear God! Think of all the awesome things that God has created that really are fearful things, indeed! Just think about what it is for volcano blowing off with all the lava coming. You’d better fear God! That’s quite a thing!
 
Verse 12: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
 
·         How do we stand before God if we are continuous every day in prayer, study and yielding to God? There it is right there!
·         What will He do? He will lead us, give us understanding and all of those things will come!
 
For those who are halfhearted instead of wholehearted it’s not going to come that way. It will come a little differently and there will be a lot of correction that will come (Rev. 3).
 
Verse 13: “As a father has compassion upon his children, so the LORD has compassion upon those who fear Him.”
 
We are called the children of God! Think about that! The most important thing that God is doing on the earth right now is with all of those who have His Spirit. That’s more important than
 
·         all the politics
·         all the wars
·         all the wealth
 
because He’s developing the spiritual character in us! Those are the ones He’s dealing with directly for eternal life.
 
Those who are in society, those who are ‘half Christians,’ they’re going to be surprised when they’re raised in the second resurrection. He deals with them, because it says that even if someone gives a drink of cold water to someone in the name of a Prophet, he will receive a Prophet’s reward. So, God even deals with those people though they’re not called to salvation.
 
Verse 14: “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” Dust you are and from dust you shall return!
 
Verse 15: “As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes, for the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and its place shall know it no more” (vs 15-16).
 
Think about that every time you go by a graveyard. You see all of those stones out there, or all the Vet cemeteries that they have with all the crosses and stars and everything and ask yourself, ‘Do I even know any of them?’ That’s quite a thing! Yet, God has their spirit stored somewhere for the resurrection! Three areas:
 
·         eternal life
·         second resurrection to physical life
·         second resurrection to the Lake of Fire
 
God keeps track of it all! He doesn’t lose one! That’s an amazing thing!
 
Verse 17: “But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting…”
 
·         His love
·         His grace
·         His mercy
·         His Truth
 
“…upon those who fear Him, and His righteousness is unto children’s children” (v 17).
 
In other words, even children benefit from the blessings of God, but unfortunately too many of them don’t even realize it.
 
Verse 18: “To those who keep His covenant, and to those who remember His precepts to do them. The LORD has established His throne in the heavens…” (vs 18-19). Remember that when we pray that’s where our prayers go!
 
“…and His kingdom rules over all…. [every single thing that there is because He made it] …Bless the LORD, O you His angels, mighty in strength, who do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word. Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, ministers of His who do His pleasure. Bless the LORD, all His works in all places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!” (vs 19-22).
 
There you have the tremendous attitude exemplified by David. All of this tells us that when you get down, get discouraged or you have a problem or trial that you’re looking at and you need to overcome it, God will be there to help you! God will be there to answer your prayers and give you a way out or lift it from you!
 
Psalm 143:1: “Hear my prayer O LORD; give ear unto my supplications; in Your faithfulness and in Your righteousness answer me. And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no one living is righteous” (vs 1-2). All the righteousness that we have comes from Christ!
 
Verse 6: “I stretch forth my hands unto You; my soul thirsts after You like a parched land. Selah. Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails; do not hide Your face from me, lest I be like those who go down into the pit” (vs 6-7). That’s the grave! So, David must have been sick at this point.
 
Verse 8: “Cause me to hear Your loving kindness in the morning, for I do trust in You; cause me to know the way in which I should walk… [he found himself not walking in the way that he should] …for I lift up my soul unto You. Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I flee to You to hide me” (vs 8-9). That’s quite an attitude!
 
How many more people would be able to come to God in greater faith with this kind of thing: the sure mercies of David!
 
Verse 10: “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground of uprightness.”
 
Psa. 119 is one of the most tremendous Psalms in the Bible. If anyone really studies this and thinks about it, there’s no way that you’ll ever believe that the Law has been done away. Jesus made it clear that it will never be done away; ‘heaven and earth is a verification of it.
 
This is the only Psalm, or the only part of the Bible, where the word I is not in vain, not self-centered. One hundred and thirty-five times I, but what is it doing? Coming to God!
 
Psalm 119:1: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the Law of the LORD.”
 
What Scripture can you think of in Hebrews that adds to this? Heb. 10:16; write God’s laws and commandments in our heart and mind! A blessing!
 
Verse 2: “Blessed are they who keep His testimonies and who seek Him with the whole heart.” So, you are spiritually involved with your prayer and study every day with God!
 
Verse 3: “They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways. You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently” (vs 3-4).
 
Remember how Deut. 28 starts out; everyone wants the blessings! If you will diligently keep these commandments then you will be:
 
·         blessed in your cities
·         blessed in your country
·         blessed in your store
·         blessed in what you’re doing
 
and your enemies will not come against you! Maybe that tells you how sinful we are today. Notice that David saw a weakness, the drag of human nature:
 
Verse 5: “O that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed when I have respect unto all Your commandments” (vs 5-6).
 
Look at how much we’ve covered in just six verses; that’s an amazing thing, indeed!
 
Verse 7: “I will praise You with uprightness of heart when I have learned Your righteous judgments.” That’s why we study the statutes, the judgments, the ordinances, and all the things of God!
 
Verse 8: “I will keep Your statutes; O forsake me not utterly.”

• How do you get out of the doldrums?
• What do you do when you have sinned? You stop sinning and repent!
• How do you overcome the negativity of the sin?

 
Verse 9: “With what shall a young man… [can be an old man as well] …cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word.”
 
Not wondering why you did it. You did it because you still have the law of sin and death!
 
·         Are you perfect? No!
·         Are you spiritual? No!
·         What are we striving for? For a right relationship with God!
 
We just read how He will forgive all of our sins, iniquities and transgressions! When He does that:
 
Verse 10: “With all my heart I have sought You; O let me not wander from Your commandments. Your Word I have laid up in my heart, so that I might not sin against You” (vs 10-11).
 
That tells us a whole lot! All of these things are great instructions for us, and all reflect on the sure mercies, or the faithful mercies of God toward David! This is what He promised us. That’s what Paul told them in the synagogue. Then he went on to say that through Christ and His death and resurrection, you’re justified from the things that the Law of Moses could not justify! That made them mad. How are you justified? By the blood of Christ!
 
Sidebar: Someone wrote me having a little difficulty with understanding the resurrections. She brought up the just and the unjust.
 
Who are the just? Those who are in right standing with God! Those who have been justified through the sacrifice of Christ, they are the just!
 
Who are the unjust? All the rest of the people in the world that are just living normally in the world! They’re not justified to Christ. There are varying degrees of good and bad, and varying degrees of sin.
 
What about the incorrigible wicked? So, the unjust are not the incorrigible wicked! The incorrigible wicked are worse than the unjust.
 
In the prison of Pelican Bay are some of the most hardened criminals in the world. They even run gangs from that highly secured prison. They sneak drugs in there, though everything is inspected. They finally figured out how they were doing it. They would buy two identical postcards and they would strip off the front because that would be generally a plastic overlay on cardboard. Then they would iron on heroin to the cardboard and seal up the card.
 
It’s so thin that unless you really looked at it, you would never know that that card coming in had heroin in it. Talk about people who are just dedicated to evil! Some of the worst killers that are there. One killer said that ‘if you let me out I’ll do it again.’
 
What’s going to happen when they’re resurrected? Don’t know! That’s why all that judgment has to rest with God, because He alone knows the mind!
 
Psalm 119:14: “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches.”
 
Think about that the next time you watch that ad that you’re going to be given $5,000 a week for life and you choose someone else to be given $5,000 a week for life. Which would you rather have? The riches of God? By all means!
 
Verse 15: “I will meditate upon Your precepts and have respect to Your ways.” When you do that, you’re thinking about how good God’s way is! It’s fantastic; can’t be any better, because it’s from God!
 
Verse 16: I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your Word.”
 
Notice how it’s constantly going toward God in everything!
 
Verse 17: “Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your Word.” The very reason we have life is so that we can:
 
·         keep the Word of God
·         learn the Word of God
·         be converted
·         be changed
 
Then David says, this is a wonderful verse: 18: “Open my eyes so that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law.”
 
Apply that to the whole Bible! Look at all the things that God has given and has revealed! It’s amazing! Absolutely amazing! So, what does all of this do?
 
·         this gives us a direction!
·         this gives us a conviction
·         this gives us faith
·         this gives us confidence
·         this gives us humility
 
Humility is not something that you can just put on and say, ‘Okay, today I’m going to be humble.’ Humility comes because you understand the greatness of God!
 
Psalm 108:1 “O God, my heart is fixed… [it is set, not movable, and God will add more, give more] …I will sing and I will give praise, even with my glory.”
 
In Psa. 57 we see the same thing, and there are other Psalms that say, ‘My heart is established,’ fixed! That’s quite a thing! Notice how we come to God, and look to God for everything. We don’t come to God like the Pharisee in Luke 18. You understand about the Pharisees this way: They were an exclusive group. You couldn’t be a Pharisee unless you took a long course to become one. You would be given a Pharisaical master and you had to obey him. All of the things that they had with not keeping company with Gentiles and all of this sort of thing, you had to obey all of those laws of the Pharisees.
 
The Pharisee would come to God and pray to himself. He wasn’t praying to God, he was praying to himself and saying,
 
God, I thank You that I’m not like other men. I’m not an adulterer, I don’t extort and I give tithes of everything that I have. I’m not like this tax collector down here. They hated tax collectors, hate everybody that’s not a Pharisee.
 
So, there’s this poor tax collector down there and he starts out his prayer: O God, be merciful to me a sinner! What did Jesus say? I tell you that he went down to his house justified, rather than the Pharisee, because the Pharisee was looking down on other people and exalting himself through his own religion rather than looking to God. That’s why he prayed to himself.
 
Psalm 57:1: “Be gracious unto me, O God, be gracious unto me; for my soul trusts in You; yea, in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge until these great troubles pass by. I will cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me” (vs 1-2)--apply that to yourself!
 
God has a purpose for everyone that He has called. It’s going to be so great that everybody is going to be equally happy with what they get.
 
Verse 3: “He shall send from heaven and save me; He rebukes him who would swallow me up….”
 
Delores and I could tell you about things that we went through in the ministry where they were wanting to swallow us up! It was terrible! We went out to dinner with one of the ‘mafia’ ones that was there to enforce. He told us, ‘I want to tell you one thing, Fred, I’m going to tell you what Dr. Zimmerman told me one time. I may be wrong what I’m telling you, but you’re not to open your mouth, you got that?’
 
I didn’t open my mouth. That was on a Wednesday, and guess what? Friday he left the Church! His boss was fired! That’s delivering us from those who are ‘greater’ than us. Swallow us up!
 
“…Selah. God shall send forth His mercy and His Truth” (v 3). You can’t have mercy without Truth, because the Truth shows you why you need the mercy!
 
Verse 5: Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth…. [one day we’re going to see that] …They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down; they have dug a pit before me; into the midst of it they have fallen themselves. Selah” (vs 5-6).
 
Because of all of that we experience and go through, v 7: “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed…”
 
·         that’s what all of this is about
·         this is why we have the Psalms
·         this is why every part of the Bible is necessary for us
*  for spiritual growth
*  understanding
*  developing
 
All of it together! It’s the Word of God that’s so fantastic and wonderful, and with His Spirit makes it come alive for us!
 
These are the faithful mercies of David that God has given to us!
​

Fred R. Coulter—January 11, 2020
​The Psalms show the attitude and dedication we need to have so that God can, in His compassion, forgive us, protect us and hide us under the shadow of His wings!
*(First Half of Video)
*(Second Half of Video)
*(Transcript Second Half)

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!
 
Today we’re going to cover a very interesting topic: The Sure Mercies of David!
 
Isaiah 55:1: “‘Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters…” This is for people! Everyone is wondering:
 
·         Why are we here?
·         Where are we going?
·         What is life all about?
 
The truth of the matter is, regardless of how successful, how rich or poor that a person may be, they are never able to live their lives in a way that is understandable, and they generally end up in trouble somewhere along the line.
 
That’s just the way it is, because we are made to receive the Spirit of God, and to have the Laws of God and the Word of God to advise and guide us.
 
“…and he who has no money… [you can’t buy what God is giving you] …come, buy and eat…. [‘taste and see that the Lord is good’] …Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread? And your labor for what never satisfies?….” (vs 1-2).
 
Isn’t that true? People go through life and nothing satisfies. After a while, people get bored and then they get into things that lead them into trouble.
 
“…Hearken diligently to Me… [listen or hear to obey] …and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness” (v 2)--the full Word of God!
 
Verse 3: “Bow down your ear, and come to Me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”
(Love, Mercy, and Forgiveness Sermon)
 
What does it say about the Church of Philadelphia? Christ has ‘the key of David and He opens and no one shuts.’ He does it! What is that key? The humility and yielding to God that David had! That doesn’t mean that he was free from sin.
 
Verse 4: “Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a Prince and Commander of people.” This blends into a type of Christ, as well!
 
Verse 5: “Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know; a nation that did not know you shall run to you because of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you.” This is a type of the fulfillment of the resurrection!
 
Verse 6: “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near…. [here’s how you do it] …Let the wicked forsake his way…” (vs 6-7). You come to understand what is right and what is wrong, the commandments of God and so forth!
 
“…and the unrighteous man his thoughts…” (v 7). That’s the whole purpose of conversion and the whole reasons of the sure mercies of David, that our minds are converted through the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
How does that work? Lots of times it works this way: there’s a lot of stuff buried in your mind that that needs to come out of there. The Holy Spirit will draw that to your attention so that you can get rid of it and overcome it.
 
How much do you have in there? I don’t know! But I’ll just tell you what happened to me. I was watching television and here is this ad for Volvo; they appeal to ‘greenie weenies.’ This car is driving down the highway and there’s these big windmills. It has the music and the windmill is turning, and the father is driving the car. He’s so concerned for his little daughter that she understand about windmills that he rolls back the full top of the car so she can look at it. Here’s this music. I spent all day trying to get it out of my mind!
 
How much is there in our mind that we have in there that we never intended to be in there. My poor remote control does not have a mute button that works. So, I have an older remote control and that mute button, I discovered the other day, works. When those ads come on I like to mute them.
 
What does this tell you? It tells you how susceptible our mind is to picking up things that we never even really think about!
 
Verse 7: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
 
You can see in the Bible the grievous sins that God forgave Manasseh, that God forgave David, that God forgave Ahab, etc.
 
Here’s the reason, and what is the key to understanding the Bible? Keeping the Sabbath! That’s the very key! It seems so simple, but that is it.
 
Verse 8: ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways,’ says the LORD.” In order to be converted and through the sure mercies of David we’ve got to come to God so that He can forgive us!
 
Verse 9: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
 
The whole plan of God is to have us born into the Kingdom of God to be like Him! Think about how much God knows. It’s absolutely beyond our comprehension!
 
I would like to get a tremendous montage of many different scenes of the universe; kind of like the hymn that we have: The Almighty God! To have some fantastic music as a background to use that as a vehicle to help us get our minds on God and what He has done.
 
Wouldn’t that be good? If you get down in the dumps—and everybody gets down in the dumps—then you can look at the greatness of God and this is what He’s promised us! Amazing!
 
Acts 13—Paul is speaking in a synagogue in one of the Gentile areas. Paul always went to the synagogue first, because it had to go to the Jew first, then to the Gentiles, who were also in the synagogue. There were many proselytes in the synagogue. They had a place for the men, a place for the women and a place for the proselytes.
 
Acts 13:31: “And He… [Christ after His resurrection] …appeared for many days to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we are announcing the Gospel to you—the promise made to the fathers—that God has fulfilled this to us, their children, having raised up Jesus; as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today have I begotten You.;: (vs 31-33). That carries all through His life!
 
Verse 34: “And to confirm that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He spoke in this manner: ‘I will give You the faithful mercies of David.’”
 
Acts 15:15—let’s see what James (v 13) said about this: “And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written, ‘after these things, I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David, which has fallen…’” (vs 15-16).
 
That begins with the Church, and then at the resurrection the whole fullness of it to the world. Quite an amazing thing!
 
“…and its ruins I will build again, and will set it up” (v 16).
 
Let’s look at something very interesting: how great God is and how merciful He is!
 
After Solomon had sinned, what was it that God did? He split the kingdom and He gave the Levites and part of Benjamin and all the Jews to Rehoboam! The God came to Jeroboam and said, ‘IF you will obey Me and keep My commandments, I will give you a dynasty like I did for David.’
 
You would think that anyone who wanted power—and Jeroboam was a servant of s! What happened. Jeroboam got together with all of the corrupt counselors and they decided to make two calves: one in Dan in the north, and one in Bethel in the south.
 
1-Kings 14:5: “And the LORD said to Ahijah, ‘Behold, the wife of Jeroboam…’” She was coming to find out why her son was sick! God eventually struck him dead!
 
“‘…comes to ask a thing of you for her son, for he is sick. Thus and such you shall say to her, for when she comes in, she shall act as a stranger.’…. [but God undid the plan] …Now, it came to pass when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, ‘Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you acting as a stranger? For I am sent to you with bad news. Go tell Jeroboam, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘I lifted you up from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. And you have not been as My servant David who kept My commandments, and who followed Me with all his heart…’”’” (vs 5-8).
 
That’s why there were the mercies to David! It’s not how many sins he committed or didn’t commit, it was his dedication to God to follow Him with all his heart!

 (Check out the message: The Grace of GOD in the Old Testament“)

…to do only what was right in My eyes. But you have done evil above all who were before you, for you have gone and made yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back; therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who pisses against the wall, bond and free in Israel, and will sweep away the rest of the house of Jeroboam as a man sweeps away the dung until it is all gone” (vs 8-10).
 
That’s something! Look at how God is: How much time did He give Jeroboam? A lot of time! Because of what he did, there was not recorded one righteous king over the ten tribes of Israel! So, you don’t go against God.
 
Let’s look at the thing things that we need to follow to have the kind of mind, heart and attitude of David, to serve God the way that we should.
 
Psalm 84:1: “How lovely are Your tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!”
 
That’s another way of explaining how great that the plan of God is. What’s the ultimate tabernacle? New Jerusalem!
 
Verse 2: “My soul longs, yea, even faints for the courts of the LORD…” That’s how much David wanted it! He was looking forward to that.
 
So, whenever you get down and there are difficulties, look up, go to God, and claim the promises and move forward. Put all of that behind you, regardless of what it is!
 
“…my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (v 2). I don’t think that any of us have arrived at the point, yet! But that’s one of the goals that we need to look to. This way then we don’t get bogged down.
 
Another way to describe Laodiceans is that they are lukewarm, because God says that they are; neither hot nor cold. What’s another way of explaining it? Halfhearted! God says that He wants you hot or cold. So, David kept the temperature up!
 
Verse 4: “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You. Selah”--stop and think and meditate on this! That’s exactly what David was doing when he was writing this.
 
I don’t know whether David understood how long it would be until the Kingdom of God would come, but I think he’s going to be astonished that God kept all these words for us, even in this day. It’s quite a thing!
 
Verse 5: “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You; Your ways are in their hearts”--that’s how you’re wholehearted!
 
Verse 7[transcriber’s correction]: “They go from strength to strength, every one of them appearing in Zion before God.”
 More on Zion
How do you appear before God? Everyday when you pray! That’s the important thing. Don’t let days go by where you don’t pray.
 
There was one man who said that he didn’t pray on his knees for over two years. That resulted in a disaster for the Church.
 
Verse 8: “O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah”--think on that!
 
If you have a little spell where your belief is not quite what it should be, then you pray like that: “O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer…” and God will help you! 
 
Verse 9: “Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed.”
 
You have been anointed with the Holy Spirit. The Apostle John write that ‘you have had an anointing from God,’ which is the Holy Spirit.
 
Verse 10: “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness”--because they’re all coming to nothing!
 
I mean, we have right before us today with this silliness of the impeachment, the manufacturing and promulgation of lies by the Democrats and the media. Where is it getting them? Let’s see! How many are there who are willing to  even flatter God?
 
God says in Psa. 78 that when Israel flatters Him and come back to Him halfhearted. He’ll even ease up on the punishment that He was going to give. But look at the whole history of America.
 
I just got a book Dark Agenda: The War to Destroy Christian America by David Horowitz—what the plan for the elite was for America. That’s been disrupted tremendously by what Donald Trump is doing. So, don’t take this as an endorsement and run out and take ten votes for Trump at the election. But God is interested in nations and there’s a reason why He is there, and there’s a reason why He’s doing what He’s doing.
 
What do you suppose that reason is? The only place where the Gospel is being preached is in America! If the liberals continue in the way that they were doing, and shutting down everything concerning Christ and the things even Protestantism and Catholicism, they want to bring in an atheist society that Horowitz brings out clearly, but the ultimate goal is to openly worship Satan.
 
So, the things in the world are at a point that there still needs to be a witness of the Gospel and for God calling other people, and that’s the only reason why these things are taking place. Whenever God does something good, many, many other people benefit and they don’t realize that they’re being benefited because they don’t understand God.
 
Isn’t Pres. Trump one of the few Presidents in a long time to mention God? Yes! And even having that faith group that comes in a prays with him all the time. Granted, there are Protestants, but that’s dealing with a nation, not dealing for conversion! There’s a difference. The Church is called for conversion! The nation--
 
·  IF they can bring down the abortions to a lower number
· IF they can bring down the drug addiction to a lower       number
·  IF they can help the poor and things like that as a nation
 
God will give certain blessings to the whole nation and subsequently that will make it possible for the Church to preach the Gospel and give the warning to the world! That involves all the Churches of God! My prayer for all the Churches of God is: get off your high-horse of your stupid false doctrines and return to God and preach the Gospel!
 
If you have 50 organizations preaching the true Gospel, it can’t be shut down over night. If it’s only one, you can get it! That’s why that’s coming on.
 
Regarding the book Dark Agenda, how do we understand people and whom they serve? By their fruits! Look at the atheists, all of the antagonists, all the Democrats that are so liberal, guess who they’re serving? Satan! So, this is a classic fight between God and Satan over what’s going to happen to this nation, which, if you remember back in the 1520s when they first landed in Virginia. They got off their ship and planted a cross—this is not endorsing a cross--they all got on their knees and prayed to God and thanked Him that they were in what is America now! They prayed for this new continent to be a place of preaching the Gospel to the world. That’s something!
 
Let’s see the tremendous attitude that David had. Psalm 42:1: “As the hart pants after the water brooks, so my soul pants after You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…” (vs 1-2).
 
What does it say for those who thirst for righteousness? They shall be filled. If you’re halfhearted, are you going to be filled? No!  
 
“…when shall I come and appear before God?” (v 2)
 
Verse 11: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why do you moan within me? Hope in God…”
 
When you get down, don’t get discourage and run around oh woe is me! Go to God!
 
“…for I shall yet praise Him, the salvation of my countenance, and my God” (v 11).
 
You would have to say that David was a really emotional all or nothing man. So, if you keep it all going for God, that’s the way it’s going to be.
 
Psalm 92:1: “It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises unto Your name, O Most High.” Stop and think about:
 
·         Who has drawn us? The Father!
·         Who has brought us to the Father? Jesus Christ!
 
None can come to the Father… He may draw, but if you don’t respond then Jesus won’t bring you to the Father!
 
Verse 2: “To show forth Your loving kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness every night.”
 
How faithful is God? One simple thing, and it still amazes me, gravity on the earth! We don’t even think about it. But God keeps it constant, holds everything on the earth, helps you. You have running water. You can have accidents, but God keeps the gravity moving all the time. What if there were days that God just turned off the gravity? God’s faithfulness!
 
Verse 3: “Upon the instrument of ten strings… [a lyre] …and upon the harp, with melody of music upon the lyre; for You, LORD, have made me glad with Your work; I will exult… [rejoice] …in the works of Your hands” (vs 3-4).
 
Everything we have has come from God one way or the other. It may have passed through many hands of people making and manufacturing, but everything we have has come from what God has made.
 
Jonathan brought over some barbecue to us last night—a lamb chop, a chicken thigh and a steak—and it was really good, seasoned perfectly. I first ate the lamb chop, because that was the best. Then I ate the chicken thigh, and I was full so I’m going to have the steak tonight. I thought, everything of that has come from the ground. Every bit of it, and God is faithful to do it for all people. I hope we can enjoy it more because we understand God!
 
Verse 5: “O LORD, how great are Your works; Your thoughts are very deep.” I think about that every time I see one of these airplane shots flying over these rugged mountains that are thrust up! You look at the top and it looks like it’s sharp as a razor. Of course, it isn’t, but it’s really sharp.
 
I think, ‘O God, You thrust that up from the depths of the ocean to ever high those mountains are. He made the mountains so that we would be inspired to turn to God because of all of His great power in making it. That’s a fantastic thing!
​
Second Half - 

Fred R. Coulter
January 4, 2020
(Transcript Second Half)
​     Refuting false teachings and not properly dividing the Word of God
     People want to know what was God doing before He made heaven and earth and created man? Part of it we can answer, but other parts we can’t. 
*(Transcript First Half)
​​*(Second Half of Video)
*(First Half of Video)

​This is the reason why you cannot learn everything from one place in the Bible. So, we’ll have a little review and then go forward:
 
Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning… [but we began way before the beginning, before the ages of time] …God… [and Christ] …created the heavens…”
 
What did He create after that, that is not listed right here and is absolutely essential to understand what happened? God created the angels! We don’t know how long it was after He created the angels that He created the Earth.
 
“…and the earth” (v 1)--then there was a rebellion! (Jude—‘the angels that did not keep their first estate.’) That was the beginning of the rebellion! Then there was war in heaven and a third of the angels were cast down.
 
Now the rest of the story. All of that comes before Genesis 1:2: “And the earth was without form and void…”—Hebrew ‘tohu’ and ‘bohu’ (Jer. 4)—which is the result of war: chaos and confusion!
 
If you look at the star next to the word was—in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version—we have a marginal reference that says became. God did not create the earth in chaos and confusion.
 
We’re going to cover just a little Hebrew here to prove a point. Keep this in mind: In Gen. 1:2 the word for was is ‘ha ya ta’ {transcriber’s note: Hebrew spellings may or may not be correct} That is in the feminine gender, which is very interesting. In almost all languages, the earth is in the feminine gender. In English it’s not. But in Greek it is. What do many of the ancients call the earth? Geha, feminine!
 
Exodus 9:24—here is the same Hebrew word in the feminine gender: “And there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.” This is the same word!
 
 
In this the vowel pointing makes no difference. The vowel pointing only gives you the pronunciation. It changes nothing. But remember that before it was without form and void, what had to happen? It became… “…since it became a nation”—same Hebrew word, feminine gender.
 
Genesis 1:3: “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light.” This is masculine gender. But it also could be that …there became light.”
 
Genesis 2:7—same word: “Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
 
So, it’s entirely proper to say of Gen. 1:2: “And the earth became without form and void.” How did that happen? Because of the war!
 
“…and darkness was upon the face of the deep… [so, there was a flood] …and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
 
·         In the Flood of Noah, why did God cover the earth with a flood? Because of sin!
·         What happened here in Gen. 1?
·         Who had the earth first? The angels!
 
Then when Lucifer/Satan found out there were going to be human beings, and they were to serve the human beings, the morning star—Lucifer—led the angels in a rebellion to try and take away the Throne of God so they wouldn’t have to do it.
 
Where were they cast? Rev. 12 says they were cast to the earth! So, they were fighting. That’s how the earth became ‘tohu’ and ‘bohu’ or without form and void.
 
They must have had fantastic weapons to cover the whole earth with water. How long was it covered with water? We’re not told!
 
When we look at the creation—and we’ll cover parts of it here—it was not the initial creation of the Earth. It starts out in Gen. 1:2 that “…the earth was without form and void…”
 
Since it became that way because of war, then before that it had form! We don’t know exactly all that is there, but much of the things that indicate about that world and the flood that it’s talking about (v 2) is that there were dinosaurs and a different form of life on the earth with the angels.
 
When God begins to do something, like in v 3: “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’….”--because the earth was covered with darkness! Who is the author of darkness? Satan the devil!
 
For those who believe that everything—the heavens and the earth and everything was created in seven days—when did God create the angels in relationship to his? Doesn’t tell us here! It tells us other places.
 
If it’s only seven days here, what was God doing for all eternity until the last 6,000 years? We know from the true science that God has put in the universe, the speed of light is a 186,000 miles per second and the light coming to the earth from the stars they know just by doing the measurements…
 
You take the earth at one end of the orbit and 180 degrees at the other end of the orbit and you do an azimuth to a star or galaxy, and you figure out the angles, and then you can figure out how far away it is. That had to be created first!
 
·         When did the angels rebel?
·         Do you find it here in Gen. 1? No!
 
Genesis 1:3: “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light.”
 
Remember that He commanded and they were created (Psa. 148).
 
Verse 4: “And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day, and He called the darkness night. And the evening and the morning were day one” (vs 3-4).
 
How was time reckoned in the Bible? It begins in the evening, then the day portion, and then sunset begins the next day!
 
Verse 6: “And God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.’” This could also be an expanse!
 
·         What do we have in the clouds? Water!
·         Where did it come from? It came from the earth!
 
God put it up there in the clouds. How much water is in the clouds over the whole earth all the time? We don’t know, but there’s water there!
 
Verse 7: “And God made the firmament, and divided the waters, which were under the firmament from the waters, which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven….” (vs 7-8). That’s the heaven around the earth! When we’re talking about the universe, it’s heavens—plural (book of Matthew—the kingdom of heavens; that’s what it is in the Greek).
 
 
“…And the evening and the morning were day two” (v 8). Any rebellion here? No!
 
Verse 9: “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and He called the gathering together of the waters seas; and God saw that it was good. And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth vegetation--the herb yielding seed and the fruit tree producing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself—upon the earth.’ And it was so” (vs 9-11).
 
In order for that to take place, God had to have had this all planned out in advance. Then He commanded and it was so!
 
Think about the variety of everything that God has made. It’s absolutely amazing. They know in quantum physics that every cell is a miniature miniscule universe. Yet, in just our bodies, we have trillions of cells and they function and work all the time.
 
We don’t have to think: I just ate and now tell the stomach to digest it. NO! God made it automatic! You have eyes to see, and you don’t have tell the eyes to look. It happens automatically! Think about all the different kinds of eyes: of insects, fish, animals, fowl and of human beings. They all work automatically. When they don’t, it’s called blindness! There’s another invisible blindness, that most people have. What is that? Spiritual blindness!
 
Let’s see if we can find any rebellion here; v 12: “And the earth brought forth vegetation--the herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree producing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were day three” (vs 12-13).
 
What if He first created all the mammals? They would have nothing to eat! So, God did this step-by-step to produce, so when the animals were created, they would have something to eat.
 
Verse 14: “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide between the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for appointed seasons, and for days and years.” This is when God established what is called the Calculated Hebrew Calendar! It is accurate. Any calendar that men have always has difficulties.
 
That’s why the chart that we have on Noah and the Flood is so important. It verifies that here in v 14 God set the time at that point, and it goes forward from there.
 
Verse 15: “And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God had made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night; and God had made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth” (vs 15-17). And also to establish their timing at that time!
 
·         Why was this done at this time?
·         Before any of the fish and animals were created?
 
Because different creatures go by magnetism, go by the sun, so it had to be set in the right place!
 
Verse 18: “And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were day four” (vs 18-19). Any rebellion? No!
 
Verse 20: “And God said, ‘Let the waters abound with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl fly over the earth on the face of the firmament of heaven.’:
 
Talk about birds! Watch some of these specials on birds, it’s amazing!
 
Verse 21: “And God created great sea-animals, and every living creature that moves with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged fowl after its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowl multiply in the earth.’ And the evening and the morning were day five” (vs 21-23).
 
Now, on day 6 a lot happens! Verse 24: “And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind—livestock, creeping things, and beasts of the earth—each after its kind.’ And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and every creeping thing upon the earth after their kind. And God saw that it was good. And God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness…” (vs 24-26). Here comes the crowning glory of the physical creation—man and woman!
 
Stop and think! Every living thing that God has created reproduces itself through procreation, through seeds! Procreation is actually seed!
 
“‘…and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of heaven and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that crawls upon the earth.’ And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth…’” (vs 26-28).
 
Why replenish? He didn’t say to fill the earth. So, if this was the only creation, He would have to say, ‘fill the earth.’ Replenish is the same word used after the Flood of Noah--bless them and replenish the earth! Why? Because everything died!
 
So, in the first flood, everything that was here, everything died! It was taken from the angels and given to men and women! Then God tells them what he’s given to eat and so forth.
 
Genesis 2:1: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And by the beginning of the seventh day…” (vs 1-2).
 
That is the meaning of v 2 in the Hebrew, because it’s not on the seventh day that God finished His work, otherwise He would have been working on the Sabbath. It was:
 
“…by the beginning of the seventh day God finished His work, which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work, which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because on it He rested from all His work, which God had created and made” (vs 2-3).
 
God had, by that time, made Adam and Eve, and the first thing they had was a Sabbath Day with God. This tells us the most important thing for all human beings: All human beings need God! They can get along without God, as we will see, but their lives will not be as God wanted them to be!
 
Verse 7 is not a second creation. Some people say so, but it is an in-depth review of Gen. 1 in making man and woman.
 
Verse 7: “Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
 
Sidebar on soul: ‘psuche’ in the Greek is translated more times as life rather than soul. But ‘nephesh’ here in Genesis in the Hebrew is physical life.
 
They were put in the garden and they were to dress it and keep it. They could eat of every tree of the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which is symbolic of man going their own way.
 
So, God not wanting robots created in Adam and Eve—when He made them—a language so He could talk with them and they could talk with Him.
 
·         In what form did God appear to Adam and Eve?
·         Could He come in His glory? No!
 
No one can look upon the face of God in His glory and live! So, He would have killed Adam and Eve right after He created them. Didn’t happen! He appeared much like a man!
 
·         He instructed them
·         He gave them commandments
·         they conversed back and forth
 
Remember, after Adam was formed God had Adam name all of the animals. God brought them all by and whatever Adam called them it was so because man was going to rule over them. That shows that Adam had sense, judgment and was able to understand what God wanted him to do.
 
Then God took a rib from Adam and formed a woman, and Adam knew what that was all about because he said, ‘This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, therefore, she shall be called Woman,’ because she was take out of man. That’s a lot of intelligent conversation going on. Any rebellion at this point? of man? of angels? NO!
 
Those who say that everything was done 6,000 years ago mis the whole point! You cannot find the rebellion of the angels in Gen. 1 and 2. But what do you find in Gen. 3?
 
Remember who was in the Garden of Eden? God, Adam and Eve! To keep the garden also meant to guard it. Adam could have avoid all of this by getting rid of the serpent. But he didn’t! The serpent comes in. Is the serpent righteous and a servant of God? or Is he the adversary and enemy of God? He’s the adversary, the enemy of God!
 
Adam and Eve up until this time could have eaten from the Tree of Life, but they didn’t. The serpent comes in and what are the first words out of his mouth? A LIE! That shows you a difference between when—before Satan rebelled—he was a cherubim and perfect and he walked up and down on the stones of fire, which is where God’s Throne is, also called the Holy Mountain!
 
·         What do we have in Gen. 3? He’s reduced to a serpent! The first words out of his mouth are a lie!
·         What were the first words out of his mouth to the angels? I will become like the Most High!
 
That’s when the rebellion took place! Here he comes and God had the serpent come in to test how Adam and Eve would use their free moral agency. All human beings have free moral agency and they must choose. It doesn’t matter what part of history that they live in.
 
Deut. 30:15 is a little bit different than what God told Adam and Eve. He said that you could eat freely of every tree of the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They had to choose; likewise with every human being! We have to choose.
 
When we’re born into the world we have a brain that is completely empty. The only thing we know is how to nurse, because we sucked our thumbs in the womb. Might be able to recognize the mother’s voice and heartbeat. They don’t know anything else. They can’t talk. They have no teeth. They’re completely dependent on their mother. This is why child rearing becomes so important. You have to teach your children this, too.
 
Deuteronomy 30:15—here’s what’s set before all of mankind: “Behold, I have set before you this day…”
 
Whatever day it is that you come of age—whatever day it was with Adam and Eve—but this day is for the Israelites here after they wandered in Sinai for 40 years, because of sin—He wants them to know that God is going to bless them, but you better be careful.
 
“…life and good…” (v 15). What is it that people want? They want life and good! Look at all the misery and agony, and destruction that people bring upon themselves, because they go against God. They don’t wan it, they cry, weep and wail. Some dedicate themselves to evil.
 
“…and death and evil, in that I command you this day to love the LORD your God…” (vs 15-16). That’s the first thing! If Adam and Eve had really loved God they would have obeyed! They didn’t!
 
The children of Israel didn’t! That’s why we’re told in the Old and New Testaments that the first or primary commandments is ‘Hear, O Israel—put your name in there—you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and the second one is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.’
 
All of those were broken by Adam and Eve and their children. The first murder was brother to brother.
 
“…to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments so that you may live and multiply. And the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it” (v 16)--or wherever you are!
 
Now, because there’s free moral agency—just like God told Adam and Eve—‘in the day that you eat thereof in dying you shall surely die’! If you live to be 900-years-old, they were probably thinking that may not be true. But they did die!
 
Verse 17: “But if your heart turn away so that you will not hear…”
 
The first thing you learn as you’re growing up, and mommy and daddy say, ‘if you do this, and if you don’t do this, there’s going to be trouble.’ Fundamental!
 
I did two recently on Church at Home {churchathome.org} on The Delusion of Drugs! You see a family try and talk their son or nephew into giving up drugs and going to rehab. They couldn’t get him to stop! He said no. They pleaded and cried. That’s all there on that segment. He got up and walked out. Amazing! So, free choice is there whether for good or for evil.
 
“…but shall be drawn away and worship other gods… [anything that you set between you and the true God] …and serve them, I denounce to you this day that you shall surely perish…” (vs 17-18). Sounds like Gen. 3 in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die’!
 
“…you shall not prolong your days on the land where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you…” (vs 18-19).
 
Can anyone miss the witness of God? Heaven and earth! Standing on the earth we can look at the sky. It doesn’t matter how far down deep in the earth you want to go to examine it, or how far out into the universe you want to go to see all the galaxies that you can see, that’s heaven and earth. That is a living testimony to the Truth of God!
 
“…that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live, that you may love the LORD your God…” (vs 19-20)--right back where it started! It starts with loving God and ends with loving God!
 
“…and may obey His voice, and may cleave to Him; for He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land, which the LORD swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give it to them” (v 20).
 
Now then, what has God offered us today? The Kingdom of God forever!
 
We’ve covered a lot of things today, but there is no such thing as a seven day creation in which everything in heaven and earth was made. They do not account for the time of the rebellion of Lucifer and the angels to try and take over the Throne of God!

Scriptural References: A FAITHFUL VERSION BIBLE ON LINE.
 
1)      Genesis 1:1
2)      2 Timothy 1:9
3)      John 1:1-3
4)      Genesis 1:1
5)      Ezekiel 28:11-12, 2, 12-15
6)      Job 38:1-6
7)      Job 26:7
8)      Job 38:7
9)      Genesis 1:1
10)  Job 38:7
11)  Isaiah 14:11-15
12)  Hebrews 1:1-4
13)  Revelation 13:8
14)  Hebrews 1:4-7, 14
15)  Revelation 12:1-4
16)  Jeremiah 4:20-23
17)  Genesis 1:1-2
18)  Exodus 9:24
19)  Genesis 1:3
20)  Genesis 2:7
21)  Genesis 1:2-4, 6-28
22)  Genesis 2:1-3, 7
23)  Deuteronomy 30:15-20
 
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
 
·         Isaiah 28
·         2 Thessalonians 2
·         Genesis 3
·         Revelation 1
·         Job 1
·         Jude
·         Psalm 148
 
Also referenced:
Church at Home: The Delusion of Drugs!

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!
 
People want to know what was God doing before He made heaven and earth and created man? Part of it we can answer, but other parts we can’t.
 
I got an e-mail from a man in Australia, and he castigated us because we believe that the angels were created before man, and were on the earth before they rebelled. He says that everything was done in six days.
 
If you just take Gen. 1 you could make a case that that could be so. However, how are we to understand the Scriptures? Isa. 28, ‘line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little’! Then ‘rightly dividing—rightly putting together—the Scriptures. Dividing means that you take part of the Scriptures here and part of them there and you put them together so that you have a full story, as much as you can get.
 
That’s what we’re going to do today. It’s going to take us a little time to get through this, but this will be very interesting, indeed!
 
Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God…” It’s interesting that if you look at the word ‘the’ it’s in italic. In the Hebrew it’s “in beginning…” Why? The answer is in 2-Tim. 1!
 
How long has God existed? He doesn’t tell, except that He lives forever! God has a plan and we cover that plan through the Sabbath and the Holy Days.
 
2-Timothy 1:9: “Who has saved us and called us with a Holy calling—not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace…”
 
We take all the attributes of God:
 
·         God is love
·         God is truth
·         God is righteous
·         God is good
·         God will avenge those who rebel against Him
·         there’s grace and Truth
·         He offers repentance and understanding
 
So, all of that is included here!
“…which was given us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time” (v 9).
 
What does this tell us? This verifies John 1:1: “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him” (vs 1-3).
 
This verifies it! This tells us that Christ was with God before the ages of time. That’s why it starts in:
 
Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God…” We don’t want to go any further than that at this point! There is God and there is Christ. What’s the next thing that it says:
 
“…created the heavens…” (v 1). How long did it take Him to create the heavens? We don’t know! But think about how vast it is and so awesome! They know by measuring the speed of light that some of these galaxies are so far out there that for the light to reach us, it takes billions of light years.
 
One of the last things I heard on the news concerning some of the things that they’re learning, is that the universe is so vast that there are so many galaxies out there, there is no way to even estimate the number that there is. So He created the heavens.
 
What’s the next thing that He created? And this is where they go wrong! How do we know? Then we’ll talk about angels. We will see that’s the next thing that God created, before He created the earth.
 
Ezekiel 28:11: “And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, lift up a lamentation over the king of Tyre…’” (vs 11-12).
 
Verse 2: “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre. ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’…” Who is the king of Tyre? You have a prince of Tyre, and it says of him:
 
“…Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas’; yet, you are a man and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of a god” (v 2).
 
·         How did he do that?
·         Under whose inspiration did that come?
·         It came from Satan!
 
It didn’t come from God!
 
Where is there another account when someone goes somewhere and says that he’s ‘God’? 2-Thess. 2, a man!
 
Let’s read abut the king of Tyre, v 12: “Son of man, lift up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “You seal up the measure of perfection…”’” We will see that this not actually a man! But it’s Satan—who is behind the prince of Tyre—to make him think that he’s a god.
 
“…full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You have been in Eden the garden of God…” (vs 12-13).
 
Let’s stop and ask: When we read in Gen. 2 & 3, who was in the garden?
 
1.       God
2.       Adam
3.       Eve
When we come to Gen. 3, something slithered in! The serpent representing:
4.       Satan the devil
 
What happened to the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned? They were cast out! They couldn’t get back in because cherubim were guarding the entrance!
 
The only one this (Ezek. 28:13) can refer to in the garden—it doesn’t refer to God, Eve or Adam—is the serpent who is Satan.
 
At that point, was he against God? Yes, indeed! The reason is that after God created the heavens He created the angels, and then we will see that He created the Earth.
 
“…every precious stone was your covering… [listed are all the stones] …The workmanship of your settings and of your sockets was prepared in you in the day that you were created” (v 13). All angels were created!
 
Sidebar: Angels also have free moral agency. They’re not robots. If they were robots you could program them to never sin. But to come to a sinless point, you must choose to love and obey God, whether you’re a human being or an angel. That’s just the way it is.
 
Verse 14: “You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I set you so; you were upon the Holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire… [the spirit street] …You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you” (vs 14-15). How did that come about? We’ll find in a little bit!
 
The point that I want to cover in Job 38 is that angels were created before the Earth was created. That becomes very important. Job got all lifted up; he was really something! He was righteous, but he took all the righteousness to himself.
 
If you do everything that God says for you to do, and if that is as perfect as you can be, whose works are those? Those are the works of God that He gave you to walk in! Can you take any credit for really being righteous and ignore God? It’s like today, people say that we all evolved. God says, ‘I created you!’
 
Job 38:1: “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said”--because Job demanded that God talk to him! Be careful what you ask for, you may get it! It may not be what you think it is.
 
Verse 2: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” Partial knowledge without full knowledge! The partial knowledge that we have is only part of the full knowledge.
 
We all have the knowledge that we are alive and here today. We all understand that before we came to services, that we had to get up, clean up and get dressed and get here. But everything to do that God gave to you, which is your whole body, mind and everything; trillions of cells that are alive and living and moving. The inside of the body is really kind of… That’s a tremendous thing!
 
Verse 3: “Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?….” (vs 3-4)--talking about creating the Earth! Like everything else, it has to have a foundation.
 
“…Declare it if you have understanding! Who has determined its measurements if you know? Or who has stretched the line upon it? On what are the foundations fastened to? Or who laid its cornerstone” (vs 4-6).
 
It says in Job 26:7: “…He hung the earth on nothing.”
 
How does it do it? We know that God uses magnetic power that comes from the sun and from Jupiter. In the winter time, in the northern climes they can see the Northern Lights. What they’re watching is the magnetic waves coming from the sun to the earth that keeps the earth in its place, yet, turning on its axis and going in its orbit. The magnetic forces! Likewise, the opposite with the South Pole.
 
It’s interesting, I was watching a little bit about Antarctica and planes were flying over the bottom of the earth if you look at it. They were testing magnetic anomalies. There were some that got very strong. What was that? That was the magnetism coming from the sun to the South Pole. You have the northern pole and the southern pole and that keeps everything moving and progressing.
 
Sidebar: Aliens had a city buried under Antarctica.
 
Job 38:7: “When the morning stars sang together…”--angels! When it talks about the seven angels to the seven churches (Rev. 1), it says that the ‘seven stars are the seven angels.’ So, these are angels.
 
What do we have so far?
 
Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God… [He was there first] …created the heavens…”—that was next. Then He created the angels, and the created the Earth.
 
There are various meanings of heavens. The universe is called the heavens. Around the earth it is called heaven. In between that you have all the rest of the universe.
 
Job 38:7: “…and all the sons of God… [another definition of angels (Job 1)] …shouted for joy?” Why did they shout for joy? Because God was making this for them!
 
They know in geology when they examine the geological layers that there were two floods. What was the iniquity that took place that caused the angels to rebel? The one, the anointed cherub that covers, had so much glory, and he’s called ‘the shining star.’ It’s interesting that ‘all the sons of God and the stars sang together.’
 
Isaiah 14:11: “Your pride is brought down to the grave, and the noise of your harps. The maggot is spread under you, and the worms cover you.”
 
This is a type of the coming beast who is also going to die. This is the power behind it:
 
Verse 12: “How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning!… [we have the same words as we have in Job 38] …How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart… [here is his iniquity]: ‘I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars [angels] of God; I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north” (vs 12-13).
 
That’s what we talked about where he was walking on the stones of fire.
 
Verse 14: “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds…” Where are the clouds? On the earth! So, if he’s going to ascend, he’s leaving the earth to go after God!
 
“‘…I will be like the Most High.’ Yet, you shall be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the pit” (vs 14-15).
 
It blends into to the king of Assyria, yet, it’s Satan who is the power behind it.
 
Now we will see this rebellion and what happened. Then we’ll find out what happened to the earth, because it’s really quite a thing when you come to understand it.
 
Heb. 1 will perhaps give us an understanding as to why they rebelled. There are different places that connect this back to God and close to the beginning, and here’s one of them:
 
Hebrews 1:1: “God Who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past and in many ways by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the ages” (vs 1-2)--ages of time!
 
Verse 3: “Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His own power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”--life, death and resurrection of Christ!
 
Verse 4: “Having been made so much greater than any of the angels…”
 
·         Isn’t that where part of the jealousy began?
·         The knowledge of what was going to happen to Christ?
 
We know from Revelation 13:8: that “…the Lamb [was] slain from the foundation of the world.”
 
Hebrews 1:4: “…inasmuch as He has inherited a name exceedingly superior to them. For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘You are My Son; this day I have begotten You’? …And again, ‘I will be a Father to Him, and He will be a Son to Me’?” (vs 4-5).
 
That is a summary of how Christ became impregnated in the womb of the virgin Mary, was born, had His ministry, lived and died as a perfect sacrifice for mankind!
 
Verse 6: “And again, when He brought the Firstborn into the world, He said, ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’”
 
Didn’t that happen on the night that He was born? It’s very interesting that the most important birth in the world was the birth of Christ. Yet, it was almost unknown! Why? Because Joseph and Mary were not living in Bethlehem, yet, they had to get there in order for Jesus to be born in the City of David! So, there was a tax where they all had to go to their home birth town and register. It was so full of people that they had to go to a stable, and Jesus was born and laid in a manger.
 
All of the trumpet guards of King Herod came around and blew their trumpets and said, ‘The King has arrived.’ No! No one knew!
 
·         Who knew of a baby born in a stable?
·         Who did God announce it to?

 (Related Reading Material - The Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah)

He surely didn’t tell Herod! But two shepherd boys out in a field. They heard the angels singing and worshipping God and the newborn Jesus. Only they! So, they went into Bethlehem and found Him and then told everybody about it. That was quite a thing!
 
Verse 7: “Now, on the one hand, of the angels He says, ‘Who makes His angels spirits… [they’re made out of spirit and live forever] …and His ministers a flame of fire.’”
 
Verse 14: “Are they not all ministering spirits, being sent forth to minister to those who are about to inherit salvation?”
 
God’s plan was revealed to the morning star—who is called Lucifer in other places—and to the angels, and they found that now they’re going to have to serve human beings, made of the dust of the ground. Is that the cause of their rebellion? Well, we read of the rebellion in Rev. 12. The one who became Satan the devil said:
 
Hey, I’ve got all this glory, I have all this perfection, I’m almost as good as God. Let’s all get together and have a battle and take away the Throne of God, we will have it for ourselves. We don’t want to lose the power that we have.
 
The way they looked at it! But in fact they wouldn’t be losing power; they would be serving. Actually, Rev. 12 describes one of the oldest things that has happened in the Bible, aside from creation.
 
Revelation 12:1: “Then there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and having the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” This is a plan of God! Typical of the one who would become Mary, but picturing the plan of God.
 
Verse 2: “And being with child, she cried in travail, and was in pain to deliver. And another sign was seen in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads; and his tail swept away a third of the stars [angels] of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to deliver, so that he might devour her child when she gave birth” (vs 2-4). He was born and God protected Him and so forth! What happens when there is war?
 
·         there’s always chaos and confusion
·         there is always death and agony
·         there is always destruction
 
Jer. 4—we have a description in Hebrew that is important that helps us to understand one of the verses in the first part of the book of Genesis. This is why we always have to let the Bible interpret the Bible.
 
What always happens when there’s sin? What always comes about? Death! In human terms, when people are sinning, what always occurs? A war!
 
Jeremiah 4:20: “Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the banner of war and hear the sound of the ram’s horn? ‘For My people are foolish; they have not known Me; they are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.’ I looked on the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void…” (vs 20-23).
 
What was that a result of? War! Did God create it without form and void? No! It was a beautiful country that they were in!
 
Let’s take it to another place. Let’s take it to the end of WWII: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What happened when they dropped the atomic bombs on them?
 
·         total destruction
·         chaos and confusion
·         everything all upset
 
We’re going to see that when there was that war in heaven, and the angels were on the earth at that time, then something happened to the earth. And the key is Jer. 4.

​Fred R. Coulter—October 31, 2015 Part #2
Transcript First Half
Aren’t you glad that you are not struck dead the instant you sin? Why doesn’t God do that? 
​(First Half of Video)
(Second Half of Video)

Full Video@CBCG.orgAren’t you glad that you are not struck dead the instant you sin? Yes! Why doesn’t God do that? Because you already have the law of death within you and perhaps as you exercise your choices, you may repent! Sometimes it may take you a while to come to repentance. Let’s see how God has done it
through Christ.
 
Paul talks about all the sins. You can read the first part of it.  
Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…”—everyone; no
one is exempt.
 
I’m not going to get into a detailed discussion of the difficult things to understand in Rom. 3, but the righteousness of God means His justification. Justification comes upon repentance, which God leads you to do, and the sacrifice of Christ and His shed blood applied to you individually. 
Verse 23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; but are being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God has openly manifested to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, [justification] in respect to the remission of sins that are past” (vs 2325). All sin is past, because the instant you commit
it, it becomes a past sin.
 
Paul shows that it’s not by works and he shows that God is a God of the Jews and the Gentiles and you’re not abolishing Law.
 
Rom. 6 is about baptism. That’s why Jesus came and said, ‘Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.’ He was the Representative of the Kingdom of God. That’s why Peter preached, ‘Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and you shall received the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ Receiving the Holy Spirit is the key for how we overcome sin.    
Romans 6 1: “What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? MAY IT NEVER BE!….” Paul said, ‘No! No!’      
When you’re baptized, you are “…baptized into His death” (v 3). God applies the death of Christ to your life as payment for your sins. We are buried with Him through baptism. This is a symbolic death. You die! You’re telling God, ‘Yes, I’m going to die in this watery grave.’ For what purpose? Now your life is  going to change! 
You’re going to come up out of that grave, and we’re to “…walk in newness of life” (v 4).
That’s what it’s all about.           
Verse 8: “…we died together… [v 9]: …knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has any dominion over Him. For when He died, He died unto sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives unto God. In the same way…” (vs 8-11). Here is how we are to live after we are baptized. God forgives all your sins, then we will see that He gives you His Spirit to give you enough strength to begin to overcome the sin within. Here’s how we are to look at our lives. 
Verse 11: “In the same way also, you should indeed reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God through Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body by obeying it in the lusts thereof” (vs 11 -12). 
What does this tell us? You still have the law of sin and death within you! How have you been delivered from it? Not by removing it, but by having
been given the Holy Spirit to overcome it!
 
Verse 12: “Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body by obeying it in the lusts thereof.”
{note James. 1, how all that comes about}
 
Verse 13: “Likewise, do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin…” Don’t be giving in to sin. Sin will come easy. God still does not come and destroy you, but He will convict you in your mind and heart so that you will repent! God wants you actively involved in overcoming sin within your life, within and without.
 
“…rather, yield yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not rule over you because you are not under law, but under grace” (vs 13-14). You are under grace because you receive the Holy Spirit of God.  
Romans 7:1: “Are you ignorant, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know law), that the law rules over a man for as long a time as he may live?” Everybody in the world is under law. Law judges automatically all the time. Whether known or unknown, it judges you--interior in your mind, exterior to the world —but under grace.
Grace means that you now have access to God so that you can repent if and when you sin. You have a direct relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. The rest of the world does not; they don’t know anything about it. There may be some people trying to quit this, that and the other, but they’re not trying to overcome the sin within through the Spirit of God so that they can develop the character of God and the mind of Christ. So, don’t let it rule over you.    
Romans 6:15: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? MAY IT NEVER BE! Don’t you realize that to whom you yield yourselves as servants to obey, you are servants of the one you obey, whether it is of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (vs 15-16). There’s still that law of sin and death working within us, but having the Spirit of God we have the circumcision of the heart       . 
Verse 17: “But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you.” We are not to get all involved in sin again.          
Verse 14: “For sin shall not rule over you…” It doesn’t say you won’t sin.            
Romans 7:9: “For I was once alive without law… [the knowledge of the Law] …but after the commandment came… [came to its understanding] …sin revived, and I died.” How did he die? He died in baptism! After he received the Holy Spirit of God,
what happened?
 
Verse 10: “And the commandment, which was meant to result in life, was found to be unto death for me; because sin, having taken opportunity by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore, the Law is indeed Holy, and the commandment Holy and righteous and good. Now then… [you find out about the Law and the commandments] …did that which is good become death to me? MAY IT NEVER BE! But sin…” (vs 10-13). This is why you have the law of sin and death within you. So, when the knowledge of the Truth comes:
 
“…in order that it might truly be exposed as sin in me by that which is good, was working out death; so that, by means of the commandment, sin might become exceedingly sinful” (v 13)—lying, cheating, stealing, adultery, idolatry, taking God’s name in vain, all of the Ten Commandments. We are not under law as the world is. We are within law. Now, to give us the strength to overcome sin and to recognize it when it comes within, God has done this: 
Hebrews 10:14: “For by one offering He has obtained eternal perfection for those who are sanctified.” Perfection         is          a           process,            not instantaneous, for those who are sanctified. We’ve been sanctified because we’ve received the Holy
Spirit.
 
Verse 15: “And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after He had previously said, ‘This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days,’ says the Lord: ‘I will give My laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe them in their minds’” (vs 15-16). That is an amazing thing! How is it
written there? 

• by study
• by prayer
• by repentance
• by God’s Spirit

 
That’s why when you sin, you recognize it as sin. Whereas, before you knew God—repented, were baptized, and received the Spirit of God—you didn’t know it was sin. You may have thought it’s bad and shouldn’t do it. Just like a thief. When he first starts stealing, the first time he steals it’s probably, ‘Whoa, but I got away with that.’ The next time he steals, got away with it, and the next time he
steals, gets away with it.
 
I like that program on American Heroes Channel, I (Almost) Got Away With It. What happens? When Satan gives you a benefit stealing and you have all this loot, you got a benefit. You steal $10,000 you got $10,000 to spend. You think that’s a benefit and you succeeded in that. What happens when you spend it all and you’re still not caught? You’re either going to go apply for a job and put on your application: What you have done: ‘I just robbed a bank for $10,000.’ They’re not going to give you a job. 
What do you have to do? Since you haven’t repented, you haven’t forsaken it, you go steal again. This time you really hit the jackpot; you come up with $27,000, and you think that you’re really getting away with this. But all time the police are working and catching up with you. I remember watching the one where there were off-duty policemen who were robbing banks and they finally got them. There’s one Scripture that says very clearly, ‘Be sure your sins will find you out.’ That
means that they will be exposed!
 
That’s why you need the commandments written in your heart and your mind, so you know what is right, you know what is wrong. God has given you now the ‘spiritual standard’ required to keep those laws and has given you the Holy Spirit. Let’s talk about receiving the Holy Spirit.      
Colossians 2:10: “And you are complete in Him [Christ], Who is the Head of all principality and power in Whom you have also been circumcised with the circumcision not made by hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (vs 10 -11).
That is the circumcision of the heart! That is not a heart transplant; there’s a difference. If you understand about the physical circumcision with men, it doesn’t remove everything, just part of it. What this does, this takes away part of your human nature and you are to grow in grace and knowledge to have it replaced with love, truth, character and the laws and commandments of God!            
Verse 12: “Having been buried with Him in baptism… [Rom. 6]…” That’s how you receive the circumcision of the heart: baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit!  
“…by which you have also been raised with Him through the inner working of God, Who raised Him from the dead. For you, who were once dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has now made alive with Him, having forgiven all your trespasses. He has blotted out the note of debt against us with the decrees of our sins, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it away, having nailed it to the cross” (vs 12-14). That’s forgiveness, circumcision of the heart and receiving of the Holy Spirit of God. 
When we receive the Sprit of God it is a begettal. It is not a transformation to make you a spirit being instantly, because God wants us to overcome the sin within. That’s why, with the circumcision of the heart and the mind, you’re going to remember some of the things in the past, not that God has failed to forgive you. He has forgiven you, but that’s like a history lesson written within: how stupid was that; I’m not going to do that.             
You won’t think of it all the time, but there will be times when that will come. That is so you can use the Spirit of God to overcome: the washing, the cleansing within! Just like David prayed, ‘Wash
me thoroughly from my sin.’ It’s a process.
 
Ephesians         1:13—concerning         Christ   “In Whom you also trusted after hearing the Word of the Truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in Whom also, after believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” That is the circumcision of the heart and mind!             
Verse 14: “Which is the earnest…” The earnest is the down payment very much likened unto this: When a new life is begotten in the womb of the mother by the father, it’s not ready for birth for nine months. It’s got to grow; It’s got to develop; everything has to be in place. Just like with us. Once we receive the begettal of the Holy Spirit:            

• we are to grow in knowledge
• we are to grow in grace
• we are go grow in repentance        

We can look back and see the things we repented of maybe a long time ago and we’ve had a flash back to that and we think, how rotten and terrible that really was. Then you grow in deeper repentance. That’s why we repent every day. As you go along you will be able to, in fighting the battle against the carnal mind within, repent when it first comes up as a thought.  That’s what God wants us to do.
Just like the Sabbath. If one Sabbath made you perfect, let’s go to Sabbath services. Yep! It’s going to be quite an experience. You’re going to be changed from flesh to spirit. You’re going to rise up
in the air. You’re going to be perfect. No!

• we need the Sabbath
• we need the Bible
• we need the Word of God
• we need the Spirit of God
• we need to see how sinful sin really is        

Exactly as Paul said, ’When the commandment came…’ That means that when he was baptized, received the Holy Spirit of God and God began writing the commandments within his heart and in his mind, he began to see how awful his life really was, especially persecuting the Christians. He was forgiven of that, but he never forgot it.    
Just like us. There are certain sins that you have forgotten completely. There are other sins that come back and haunt you. Why is that? Because you only have the earnest! A circumcision is the
beginning, not the perfection! Perfection comes dayby-day—some cases, hour-by-hour, minute-byminute, depending on what your circumstances are. You grow in grace and knowledge, and you overcome. You’re able to focus on what God wants. That’s why thoughts will come into your mind that you don’t want. The law of sin is still there. What do you do?  Repent of it and ask God to help you!
Have you ever had an obsessive thought come? like a stupid song? You’ve had that happen, especially from a commercial! All the commercials are the most deceptive of all. Everybody’s happy, everybody’s doing good, oh, what a wonderful thing, take this medicine, it’ll kill you but you’ll smile to your grave.    
“…of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession… [it’s like the lay-a-way plan] …to  the praise of His glory” (v 14).
Paul had to fight sin. He has many occasions in 2-Cor. and 1st & 2-Tim. where he reminds everybody of what he was before he was called. Think about Paul, #1 enemy of the Church, #1 handyman of the high priest, going out persecuting and killing Christians. God knocked him down and
he had a change of attitude right quickly.
 
Romans 7:11: “Because sin, having taken opportunity by the commandment… [where there is no law there is no sin] …deceived me, and by it killed me.” You think that if you do something that will be a benefit for you, even though it is a sin, you’re going to get away with it, but he didn’t, it
killed him.
 
Verse 12: “Therefore, the Law is indeed Holy…” That’s not what the Protestants say. They say Jesus did away with the Law. Proof that they don’t have the Spirit of God! They may have some understanding of some things. Do you think God Who created everything that there is to run by laws that He created, is going to do away with those? Just because sinners sin is God going to come along and say, ‘Oh, now, now. That’s all right. I’ve done away with the Law so anything you do is just fine now?’ Never happen!  No!
“…and the        commandment Holy     and righteous and good. Now then, did that which is good become death to me? MAY IT NEVER BE!…. [to show them that if he continued in transgressions, he would die] …But sin, in order that it might truly be exposed as sin       in me” (vs 12-13). Within! 
That’s why it says in Heb. 12 that we need to keep looking to Jesus Christ because we’re ‘so easily beset with sin.’ God knows we’re going to sin, but He hasn’t given us carte blanche to sin. He has given the vehicle through grace, prayer and repentance to be forgiven so that you will be strengthened, so you will not sin. That’s a life long project. 
“…by that which is good, was working out death; so that, by means of the commandment, sin might become  exceedingly sinful” (v 13). 

• Isn’t that what happened with David? 
• Isn’t that what happened with you? 
• Isn’t that what happens with everyone that God calls? 
• Yes! 

You begin to see the sin:

• your lying
• your cheating
• your deceitfulness
• your wickedness

 
We’re coming up on Christmas time. Here’s a benefit from Satan: We can all have a good time. Let’s stop at Halloween first. All of the kiddies go out: 

• introduce them to death
• introduce them to trick-or-treating
• introduce them to extortion           

There are a lot of people willing to be extorted, so they have piles of candy and they come. The kids get all this candy and you go home. I remember when I went out and I came back with a big bag full of goodies: candies, cookies and everything like that. I put it out on my bed and looked at all of that and I thought: I got it made! Like kids are going to do, they’re going to gorge themselves on all the sweets and in two weeks they’re going to have a flu
epidemic at school.
 
Satan gives you a benefit. You don’t think that is sin. When my Mom took me out trick-ortreating, I didn’t say, ‘No, Mom. I’m not going, that’s sin.’ She gave me a bag and said, ‘Let’s go fill it up.’ I said, ‘Fine!’          
How does Satan work? Incrementalism! A little bit at a time! You’re going to see this year the beginning of an onslaught of Satan to deceive the whole world in the greater occult experiences. Halloween is becoming an adult thing; adults are spending as much or more on Halloween than they do on Christmas. It is the first holiday of the year that celebrates death and all the gruesomeness that goes with it and everything else that takes place.     
Verse 14: “For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am carnal, having been sold as a slave under sin.” Bring that out with anyone. Tell a thief to stop stealing. ‘Well, I know how to do it.’       
I remember watching this one program that what the police finally did, they conceded to the greatest jewel thief in the United States. He would come into the high-priced, expensive hotels and steal the jewels from the top paying customers that would come in there. They never could catch him. Finally, they caught him. They said, ‘All right. If you tell us how you do this, we’ll strike a deal with you and not put you in prison, but you better never steal anymore.’ So, he said, ‘Thank you,’ and told them how he did it. Every time he stole, that was a benefit. That’s how Satan works, but somebody always suffers.  
Verse 15: “Because what I am working out myself… [in other words, you’re going to live your life by yourself, without God] …I do not know…”           

• you don’t know what you’re doing
• you don’t know where you’re going
• you don’t know what the purpose of life is             

“…For what I do not desire to do, this I do; moreover,, what I hate, this is what I do” (v 15). This is the struggle that now takes place once you
have the Holy Spirit of God. 

• you’re tempted 
• you sin 
• you don’t know why you do it       

• Were you perfect in temperament all this week?
• Was every word out of your mouth nothing but praise and glory to God?
• How about the thoughts in your mind?
• Were your thoughts only on God?

or 

• Were they on something else, and that something else was sin in your mind?

!
            Now what do you do?       
That’s why you have to have God’s Spirit to repent, pray and ask God for strength.           
Verse 16: “But if I am doing what I do not desire to do, I agree with the law that it is good…. [the Law is still good, there’s nothing wrong with it] …So then, I am no longer working it out myself; rather, it is sin that is dwelling within me” (vs 1617). Because you still have the law of sin and death within you, and your deliverance comes from exercising the Holy Spirit to overcome. God wants
our full-time, active involvement:

• in overcoming sin
• in studying and learning righteousness
• in learning how to do things God’s way     

Our full-time effort in life! That’s what we’re here to learn. That’s why God just doesn’t say, ‘Oh, good. You repented. Let’s take the law of sin and death out of you.’ You going to live forever in the flesh? Never happen! Not going to happen! The sin is still there.  

• that’s why temptation comes along
• that’s why you lose your temper 
• that’s why you even swear            

Maybe you’ve quit swearing but you’ve got another word in place of it. So, you use that word now because you’re not swearing, but it still means the
same thing.

• Do you perfectly love everyone? No!
• Do you have some people you don’t care for? Yes!
• What are you going to do about that?
• How are you going to handle that?             

Those are all things that come along!
 
What if, when you get older? I’m 80-yearsold and I remember things that I did as a kid. Why do I remember that? That’s a reminder that you’ve been a sinner from day one! I remember when I would lie, my mom sent me out—there were hazelnut trees around where lived—and I had to pick my switch. I would try to bring in a little thicker one that didn’t sting as much. She’d say, ‘Go out and get a thin one.’ Then she’d go whack! whack! whack! on my calves and everything. ‘Don’t you lie again.’     
I was rambunctious. At five-years-old I’d walk five blocks down to the park and spend all day there. I’d play with the kids and come home.            
‘Where you been?’ Been down at the park. What’d you do?’ Swinging, sliding, doing all of this. Don’t you know something may happen down there? No! ‘Well, you stay home.’ So I went again. ‘You stay home.’ I went again. ‘All right. I’m not going to switch you for it. Here’s the clock up on the mantle of the counter of the fireplace. You stand there with your arms out.’ 
First time 15 minutes: ‘Get ’em up! Get ’em up!’ So, I got through the 15 minutes. The next day. Gone again, come back. ‘All right, a half hour. ‘Get ’em up!’ That went on until I got up to an hour. My mom finally surrendered and said, ‘Look, if you’re going to go, let me pack a lunch for you.’ So, I quit going.
 
That’s the sin within! We can laugh at it because it’s humorous because it has to do when you’re a kid. Think of that behavior when you get older. Think of what it is when there’s rebellion. ‘I’m going to take the car and go out.’ You be careful. Drive carefully. ‘Yep.’ So you crash it at 100mph and kill somebody! Sin within! You don’t
know what you’re doing. 
 
“…For what I do not desire to do, this I do; moreover, what I hate, this is what I do” (v 15). That’s what happens when you sin. You don’t like it, God’s Spirit convicts you, reminds you of it so you can repent ; that’s what God wants!
Verse 18: “Because I fully understand that there is not dwelling within me—that is, within my fleshly being--any good….” Where did we start? Matt. 19, ‘there is none good but God,’ Jesus said to
the young man!
 
“…For the desire to do good is present… [my intensions were good] …within me; but how to work out that which is good, I do not find” (v 18). 
 
Have you ever had it where you want to do something really nice and lovely for someone and what happens? You have the best intensions possible, but it ends up in a fight and an argument and you just walk away angry and mad. I know that’s never happened to you     —has it?
Even within the Church is it okay that you love some people more than others? Yes, because Jesus loved John more that the other disciples, but He still loved them within the Church! Because of personality differences, or something—you’re kind to them, you’re good to them, you love them—but it’s not necessarily a bosom buddy type of thing where it’s huggy-kissy all the time. You better be
careful about that.
 
Verse 19: “For the good that I desire to do, I am not doing; but the evil that I do not desire to do, this I am doing.” This is the pull of human nature!
 
You have a thought come into your head that you know didn’t come from God. You have a memory from the past, and that memory from the past is a history lesson, just like you read in the Old Testament all the history; just like we read about David. That’s a history lesson. He’s forgiven! God has forgotten it! He’s going to be raised as king over Israel forever!
 
God understands we’re weak in the flesh. He’s going to forgive when we repent. It’s not if we sin, because there’s no if about it. You are going to! So, it’s when you sin.
 
Maybe you’ll be really inspired after this sermon today and you’re going to be really resolved that you’re going to do better. You’re going to be really resolved that you’re going to sit down and have those nice little talks with yourself and say:             

• Now, {your name}, you know what you need to do. Yes! 
• You know that you ought to do this. Yes! 
• Are you going to do it? Yes! 
• Why didn’t you do it?       

That’s how it works. This is why:
 
Verse 20: “But if I do what I do not desire to do, I am no longer working it out myself, but sin that is dwelling within me.” Why does God leave the law of sin and death within you? He leaves the law of sin in you so that you will learn to use the Holy Spirit to overcome and so that you will learn that you can’t overcome unless you repent!    
He doesn’t know what sin you’re going to do. You don’t know what sin you’re going to do. Tomorrow, tell me what sin you’re going to do at eleven o’clock in the morning. You don’t know. Neither does God, because there’s free moral agency. Maybe at eleven you won’t sin, but maybe at three o’clock in the afternoon, you will. Who knows? This is why prayer is every day, led by the Spirit of God to change and grow and overcome. If you have a thought flash from the past, repent of it, get it out of your mind and ask God to clean your mind. 
How are you going to get your mind cleaned up? Think of all the garbage that is in there. There’s a lot of garbage in the brain. Everything you’ve ever done is still recorded there somewhere. They know with brain surgery that you can touch a certain place in the brain and they can smell smells, while they’re under surgery. It’s recorded there. Conversion of the mind becomes the important thin             g!
The truth is, we’ll just project ahead: none of us will be perfect until the resurrection. Just like when you’re begotten you cannot be born. You can never, in the flesh, be totally perfect. You are in the process of being perfected spiritually so that at the resurrection God will finish that perfection. Then you shed everything; you leave everything behind.
 
Verse 21: “Consequently, I find this law in my members, that when I desire to do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man” (vs 21-22). You’re not trying to resist against the laws of God. You’re not trying to go out and sin, but sin is there and it pops
up.
 
Verse 23: “But I see another law within my own members, warring against the law of my mind, and leading me captive to the law of sin that is within my own members.” The law of sin is still there!
 
Stop and think for a minute. Suppose you could be perfect in the flesh. Would you not go around and look at other people in their sins and just condemn them up and down, one way or the other? Think of the arrogance it would be if that were possible. 
That was the problem with Job. Maybe I ought to follow this up with a series on Job. I’ve done some in the past, but I’ve read the transcripts recently and it’s not sufficient. That’s what Job did. ‘I’m so good. God has got to come down here. I need an umpire or a judge. I’m going to take God to court so He can know how good I am.’ God took him to court and he found out he wasn’t so good.        
Here is what happens when you begin to see how sinful sin is as he said; Verse 24: “O what a wretched man I am! Who shall save me from the body of this death? I thank God for His salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this, on the one hand, I myself serve the Law of God with my mind; but on the other hand, with the flesh, I serve the law of sin” (vs 24-25). That is when you sin because it’s still within you!
​
​Full Video@CBCG.org

Scriptural References:
​Mark 7:21-23
2)Jeremiah 17:9-10
3)Colossians 1:26-27
4)Philippians 2:5
5)Matthew 19:16-17
6)Romans 5:12
7)Romans 8:1-3
8)John 1:1, 3
9)Hebrews 5:5-9
10)Romans 2:4
11)James 1:13-16
12)Psalm 51:1-7
13)Romans 3:23-25
14)Romans 6:1-4, 8-14
15)Romans 7:1
16)Romans 6:15-17, 14
17)Romans 7:9-13
18)Hebrews 10:14-16
19)Colossians 2:10-14
20)Ephesians 1:13-14
21)Romans 7:11-17, 15, 18-25
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Isaiah 50 
• Hebrews 12          

End Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!  

• How do our minds work?
• If God forgives sin and forgets it, why do we remember it on different occasions?
• Does that mean that God has not forgiven that sin?
• What does it actually mean?       

Let’s look at the human mind.
 
We’re all born with human nature, and our human nature is not the same as it was when God originally created Adam and Eve. After Adam and Eve sinned, their nature was changed so that they were subject to death and they had a hostile nature to God that is called the law of sin. Paul writes of ‘the law of sin and death.’ You can see this in little infants. They want their own way. They’ll fight and squabble and war. The biggest problem is separating them. Notice what we are by nature.     
Mark 7:21: “For from within, out of the hearts of men, go forth evil thoughts…” This is by nature. Even some thoughts that we think of as ‘good,’ are evil. Without God’s Spirit to guide us, you’re st uck in this conundrum.
“…adulteries,    fornications,     murders… [everything that human nature does] …thefts, covetousness, wickednesses, guile, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evils go forth from within, and these defile a man” (vs 21-23).  
Let’s see how Jeremiah describes it. We will see that no man has the power by his own works to save himself. We also can see that no person is able to extend their life very far. Every once in a while, if you watch Fox News and watch Bill O’Reilly, they give a salute to someone whose 95, 102, and so forth, but they still die. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes that if a man live 1000 years twice-fold and dies, that’s vanity. None of us are going to reach that in the flesh; we’re all going to wear out and collapse before that. We’re talking about the nature,
the heart and the mind.
 
Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things…” That’s the first thing to remember, you’re going to deceive yourself. It’s easy to do. Do people live by lies? Yes, they do! Everything that we read in Mark 7:21 that’s the way people behave and we’re going to see that even though there are heinous crimes committed, there are those who have absolutely no remorse in doing them. They think they’re right!
“…and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (v 9). A person does not even know his or her own mind without the Word of God to tell them what it really is. You’re not aware of the sins. You may think that you’ve done some wrong. You may have a little guilty conscience, but you justify that and move on.  
Verse 10: “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” God says He’s going to judge.  
Let’s see where God is going to take us. Here the problem: How do you get from Mark 7:21 and Jer. 17:9 to this:  
Colossians 1:26: “Even the mystery that has been hidden from ages and from generations, but has now been revealed to His saints.”   

• Isn’t it a mystery that no one understands human nature? 
• Isn’t it a mystery that no one knows what God is doing, yet, it’s revealed in the Bible? 

 
The Bible is the most published book in the whole
world, and yet, it is the most ignored.
 
Verse 27: “To whom God did will…” Understand this: What we know and what we understand comes from the will of God!
 
“…to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (v 27). 

• How is God going to come from total dedication to evil—the carnal mind, hostile against God—to Christ in you? 
• What is that to do? 
• How is that going to be done?

 
Here we’re describing the beginning, when we start to understand about God, to the ending of it at the resurrection. First, we have to have something in between,  which is: 
Philippians. 2:5: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”—to have the very mind of Christ. You have to let this happen, and it cannot happen without the Spirit of God. This is
what we are going to cover today.
 
Matthew 19:16—this is a very revealing statement: “Now at that time, one came to Him and
said, ‘Good Master…’” 

• Was Christ ‘good’? Have to say so! 
• Was He perfect? Yes, He was! 
• Why does He say this?      

“…what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’ And He said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good?” (vs 16-17). Why did Christ say that? Because He was in the flesh! What kind of flesh? That’s the question!            
“…No one is good except one—God” (v 17). Let’s ask another question that is hard for
people to grasp. Jesus came to the earth:

• divested Himself of all of His glory as God
• was impregnated into the womb of the virgin Mary
• was born as any ordinary human being
• lived His life        

Here’s His ministry. Why would He say, ‘Don’t call me good,’ when He was truly the only good person on earth? Remember what happened when Adam and Eve sinned: 

• they were cut off from God
• they were sentenced to death to have the law of death within them
• their human nature was changed to be hostile against God, which is called the

‘law of sin’
 
Paul describes this as ‘the law of sin and death.’ Did Jesus die? Yes! He had to have the ‘law of death’
within Him.
 
Romans 5:12: “Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and by means of sin came death…” So, in this way death passed into all mankind. They know there is a death gene. The scientists have been trying to figure out where it is so they can modify it.             
It is for this reason that all have sinned. If you have a nature that is carnal, physical and subject to death, it is also subject to sin. That’s why all sin regardless of their age. Isn’t that what the Scriptures say? ‘All have sinned and come short of the glory of God!’ All you have to do is just watch the news. Sin is going on: 

• everywhere 
• every place
• every country
• every city
• every town
• every village
• every human being           

Even the saints have a hard time with it. We’ll explain why he writes this in Rom. 8. We will get to why He says, ‘consequently,’ a little later.       
Romans 8:1: “Consequently, there is now no condemnation to those who ar         e in Christ Jesus…”

• What does it mean to be in Christ Jesus? It means you have to have the Spirit of God!
• How do you get the Spirit of God? Through repentance and baptism!

 
“…who are not walking according to the flesh… [living your life just any way you want to live it] …but according to the Spirit” (v 1). You can’t live “…according to the Spirit” without the Spirit of
God.      
What did God say to the Israelites when they said to Moses, ‘Everything that God said we’ll do’? What did God say? ‘Oh, if there were such a heart in them that they would,’ because it takes the Spirit of God and God didn’t give them the Holy Spirit of God. That’s why they were to keep the laws and commandments of God in the letter of the Law.
 
That’s what I also explained on how do you understand/study the Bible. You begin with the simple things, obey His voice! You start in the letter of the Law, but unless you come to repentance so you can receive the Spirit of God, you cannot walk in the Spirit the way God wants you to.         
Verse 2: “Because the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus…” —includes:

• repentance
• baptism
• receiving the Spirit of God
• growing and overcoming  

That’s what the New Testament is all about.        
“…has delivered me from the law of sin and death” (v 2). What do you mean delivered? Did God, when we’re converted, remove the ‘law of sin and death’? No, He did not! It even says of the saints that die that it’s a delight, it’s a blessing from God,
that you die in the faith. 

• Were we delivered completely from the law of sin?
• Did God remove sinful inclinations from out of our being? No!
• Why did He say “…delivered me…”?       

Because when you receive the Spirit of God, you now have the Spirit of God to lead you and to convict you in heart and mind so you can repent and overcome human nature! Otherwise, if you’re made perfect as soon as you’re baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God… We’ll talk about what baptism does and why it works the way that it works, which answers the questions:    

• Why do you still have sin within?
• What are you going to do about it?
• How do you overcome it?
• How do you change?        

By yourself, maybe you can improve yourself to do certain things, but you cannot get rid of the law of sin and death,  but He has delivered us.

• How are we delivered from death?
• When does that come? 
• The resurrection!  

We’ll talk about the law of sin in a little bit.         
Here’s why Jesus did not say He was good, did not even allow someone to come and say, ‘Good Master.’ He said that there’s only One Who is good and that is God. With Jesus as God manifested in the flesh, how many Gods were there in heaven? One,
the Father!
 
Sidebar: All you Sacred Namers don’t get mad, but the only revealed name in the New Testament of God is the Father and of Christ: Jesus and the Christ . That’s it!
Verse 3: “For what was impossible for the law to do, in that it was weak through the flesh…” How many people know right from wrong but still continue to do wrong? They’re carnal and fleshly! Maybe if you’ve been taught while you’re growing up, right and wrong, good and evil, you’re not going to be so inclined to go out and do things that are sin:

• you know that you shouldn’t kill
• you know that you shouldn’t commit adultery
• you know that you shouldn’t steal
• you know that you shouldn’t lie     

You know the one on coveting most everyone forgets, because you’re striving after all the things that you want, but you have some knowledge of right and wrong. 
What we’re doing today in this society, we’re not teaching them right from wrong. Look at what’s happening: everything is right in their own eyes, all the lawlessness everywhere; all through the weakness of the flesh, all through the carnal mind. Here’s the solution:             
“…God, having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh… [exactly as our sinful flesh is sinful flesh] …and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (v 3). Whose flesh was it condemned in? Jesus’ flesh! Why? 
 
You may have heard some people say, ‘For God to judge Adam and Eve that way and give them the law of sin and death within their very beings, that’s not fair. For every human being to be born with the law of sin and death within them, that’s not fair.’ God works on justice, not fairness!            

• What did God do? 
• Who was the Creator of mankind?             

John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. [v 3] …All things came into being through Him…” All human nature and all human flesh is a result of Jesus Christ. He was the One Who created Adam and Eve. 
In order to be a Savior of all of mankind, He took upon Him, through His mother Mary—there was never an immaculate conception with Mary, she had human nature—He received human nature and carried within Him, in His fleshly being, ‘the law of
sin and death.’ Yet, never sinned!

• You think you have a hard time overcoming sin?
• Was Jesus tempted? Yes, indeed!
• Was it difficult? Yes, indeed!

 
Hebrews 5:5 talks about the priesthood and Christ’s priesthood: “In this same manner also, Christ did not glorify Himself to become a High Priest… [on the earth] …but He Who said to Him, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You.’ Even as He also says in another place, ‘You are a Priest forever according to the order of Melchisedec’” (vs
5-6). 
 
He could not become that High Priest in heaven until He brought the perfect sacrifice condemning sin in the flesh. It was difficult for Jesus. Yes, He had the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Father taught Him. That’s why He was never taught by the rabbis. God the Father taught Him, woke Him up every morning and taught Him (Isa. 50).             
Verse 7: “Who, in the days of His flesh, offered up both prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from death…” What does that mean? The wages of sin is death!
 
God risked everything coming in the flesh and taking upon Himself human nature and also to fight against Satan the devil. Think of that! 

• Is God just? Yes, indeed! 
• Is God fair?         Yes, indeed! 

He did that for all mankind and since He’s the Creator of all human beings, then His life and His death as a sacrifice with His shed blood can be applied to all of those who repent. Sin was condemned in His flesh on the cross and in His life that He never sinned, though He had the law of sin and death within Him. There’ll be some theologians
that’ll say, ‘You’re way off base here.’
 
“…and was heard because He feared God. Although He was a Son, yet, He learned obedience from the things that He suffered” (vs 7-8). We don’t know all the things that Jesus suffered. We don’t have anything recorded about that. We have some things, but not all.            
Verse 9: “And having been perfected…” Is God perfect? Yes! Why did Jesus come and take on human flesh? To be perfected as the sacrifice for all human beings and to be able to bring eternal life to
them!
 
“…He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him” (v 9). Obey My voice! Simple as can be! Some of the things are hard to understand. As I brought out at Church at Home {churchathome.org}, it’s easy to understand the Ten Commandments. There’s nothing difficult about them. Obey Him! How does this apply to us? First of all, it is God Who leads us to repentance.
 
Romans 2:4: “Or do you despise the riches of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the graciousness of God leads you to repentance?” You see your sins in the light that you see them and in the light that God sees them.  
Let’s talk about the sin between David and Bathsheba and the killing of her husband Uriah: Here’s the king: 

• all power
• loved God
• wrote hundreds of Psalms
• was a real battler and a warrior fighting the

battles that God told him to fight
 
So much so, that God gave him the plans for his son Solomon—who by the way, his mother was
Bathsheba—to build the temple. Think of that!
 
Think of all that went in with it. David did have the Spirit of God, just like us! We have the Spirit of God! Do we sin? Yes! David really sinned; so did Bathsheba. She knew her husband was gone to battle, and apparently their house was right next to the house of King David. She bathed on the rooftop knowing that the king would walk by and see her. So, she had her part. David made a lot of mistakes. He could have said, ‘Uh, oh! No way!’ We say today, ‘No way, José.’ He didn’t!  Lust got enticed!
Let’s see how sin works even if you have
the Spirit of God, if you do not resist it!
 
James 1:13: “Do not let anyone who is tempted say, ‘I am being tempted by God…’” Did God tempt David to lust after Bathsheba? Of course not! Notice the process. This happened to David. He saw her and thought, ‘Woo, woo!  
“…because God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself tempts no one with evil” (v 13). What does God set before us? Choices! Life and death,
blessing and cursing!
 
Here’s David: What’s he going to do? What’s he going to choose? He had a chance to not get involved. He could have thought, ‘Oh, I’ll never do that to one of my generals, one of my captains, or maybe a major,’ because Joab was over Uriah. He didn’t put it down.      
Verse 14: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away…” With his own human nature. Of course, when Satan tempts you he gives you a benefit. The benefit was, ‘This would be spectacular with this woman!’ She was there bathing letting the king know, ‘I’m all ready!’ So, when the king’s messenger came, she didn’t send a note back saying, ‘Tell the king I cannot come.’ She could have, but she didn’t. David sent the messenger. Now somebody else is involved and knows what’s going
on. Think of that! So, she came.
 
Can you imagine all the servants in the household of David, after she came? They knew what was going on! She even stayed there until she was clean then went back home. David should not have done that. 
That’s how human nature works. He justified it all the way along. He probably said, ‘I’m king. I can do whatever I want.’ It seems to me we heard that of some narcissists in America. After all, ‘I have great desire for her.’ Satan will give you a
benefit; so, she came.
 
The Proverb says that what is ‘spoken in secret a little bird is going to fly away with it.’ Can you imagine the waggling tongues that went with that? Can you imagine the next morning when the servants looked around and said, ‘Oh, she’s still here?’ Of course, they knew what went on. The reason I’m bringing this out is because that’s how
sin entices!
 
Verse 15: “And after lust has conceived… [it did] …it gives birth to sin… [he committed adultery and she committed adultery] …and sin, when it is completely finished, brings forth death.” That’s exactly what happened!  
So, he thought, ‘She left, she went home.’ It must have been about six weeks later, she sent a message to the king, ‘David, I’m pregnant.’ What did he do? He said, ‘I’ve got to get rid of the evidence.’ He worked it out with Joab, the commander. He wrote a special note to Joab and had a messenger take it to him to put her husband Uriah the Hittite right up in the thick of the battle and when he’s there, back away and let him die. So, he did. Can you imagine what Joab thought? Joab had to do a lot of dirty work for David! I don’t think he
had too good of an opinion of David.
 
Why am I bringing this out? To show you the process of sin with even those who are converted, that unless you overcome it every day, it will take you down! We know what happened, he didn’t repent of it. Finally, God had to send Nathan the prophet, and he told David about the rich man who took the poor man’s little ewe to make a feast for his friends. David got all angry and Nathan looked him right in the eye and said, ‘You are the one.’ 
What happened? Everything was in rebellion from that day on. The sin of one man affected the whole kingdom. It affected his family and the child died. God took the life of the child. Can you imagine if that child would have lived with all the hypocrisy of everything that went on? Just think what his name would have been called with the wagging tongues of all the people talking about it! If he would have inherited the throne, there would have been absolutely no respect at all. David did repent. This is how it comes about. It brings forth death. 
Verse 16 “Do not deceive yourselves…”
That’s what he says here.            
Psa. 51 is David’s repentance. This helps us to answer the question as to why God does not take away the law of sin and death from us immediately. That cannot happen as long as we’re in the flesh.        
Psalm 51:1: “Have mercy upon me, O God… [He forgave David; Nathan said, ‘Your sin has been forgiven.] …according to Your loving kindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion, blot out my transgressions”—all the series of those things leading to that affair and afterwards. 
Verse 2: “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity…” We’re going to talk about the ‘washing of the water by the Word’ a little later. You have to have your sins washed away. We will see that that is
a process. It doesn’t happen all at once.
 
“…and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (vs 2-3). He could see the greatness of his sin. That’s why it talks about that sin may
become exceedingly sinful.
 
Someone who commits a murder or somebody he doesn’t like, that’s nothing to him. He doesn’t understand about murder. Someone who steals from someone because ‘they have more than I do and I’m going to take it.’ They don’t view that as sin. Look at it on the lawless riots that they’ve had in various cities. They smash in the windows, burn cars, loot the stores, take everything and they’re innocent because someone has something that they want and they take. There’s no remorse.            
David understood what it was after Nathan came and really let him have it. He fasted for how many days hoping that the child would live, but it didn’t. 
Verse 4: “Against You, You only, have I sinned…” When you sin it’s against God first and then the other people. Everybody suffered from that.    
A good example is what we’ve experienced with the Church. Remember what happened? It’s all scattered. Here we are in small groups, getting older and all of that thing, that’s all part of it! It affected every one of us. How was your attitude when you were living through those things and finding out what was going on? Miserable! That’s how all of Israel was because of the sin of David, and it took them some time to get over it. David realized that he sinned against God directly! This was after God promised that he would never lack for a descendent to sit on his throne. After that fantastic promise, God did not take away that promise, because God’s Word stands. 
“…and done evil in Your sight, that You might be justified when You speak and be in the right when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity…” (vs 4-5). That means with the law of sin and death, not that his mother committed adultery to have him as a child.         No!
“…and in sin did my mother conceive me” (v 5)—because the law of sin and death comes right with conception. It’s right there.  
Verse 6: “Behold, You desire Truth in the inward parts…” That is the goal of repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit! What’s in the inward parts before that? Deceit, lying, all the works of the flesh (Mark 7:21)! Isn’t it true that ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?’ Even King David fell to that. 
Psalm 51:6: “…and in the hidden part You shall make me to know wisdom”. That’s why you’re going to learn  from the things that you did.
If you think of that again after you’ve repented of it, does that mean that God has not forgiven you? No! That doesn’t mean that God has not forgiven you but it means that is a memory of history for you to learn not to do that. How about here with David. It’s written for all of us! Won’t David be surprised when he’s resurrected and finds out? 
Verse 7: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me… [David says it in v 2, ‘wash me.’] …and I shall be whiter than snow.” 

End of the first half of this transcript.

Transcript Second Half along with Scriptural References:


Transcript Books and CDs:
·         The Lord God and the Most High
·         God the Father was Not the God of the Old Testament
 
We have lots of studies/Transcript Books; we have a catalog and you can order four series at a time.
 
We had a discussion during the break and of all the details of what is right and wrong and this, that and the other thing, the most important thing is that you:
 
·         love God
·         love Christ
·         love the Truth
·         keep the commandments
·         love your neighbor s yourself
 
Then what you have is the right perspective so you don’t get carried away and run off on junkets of some of these things that come along like we’re discussing now. Some of them are disgusting!
 
We’re going to look at a number of Scriptures that tell us the difference between God the Father and Christ.
 
Hebrews 1:1: “God Who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past and in many ways by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days by His Son… [that is through the New Testament] …Whom He has appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the ages” (vs 1-2). That agrees with John 1:1-3!
 
Verse 3: “Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His own power…” Remember that Jesus said, the last thing He told the apostles in Matt. 28: All power and authority is given to Me in heaven and in earth! That means that God the Father gave it to Him!
 
“…when He had by Himself purged our sins…” (v 3).
 
The reason that Jesus came to purge our sins is that He was the Lord God of the Old Testament. He was the One Who made Adam and Eve. So, the best sacrifice is for the One Who created them to become flesh and never sin. That sacrifice can cover every human being.
 
If it was God the Father Who was working in the Old Testament, the Most High and not the Lord God under the Most High¸ then the Most High would have had to come in the flesh and be the perfect sacrifice.
 
“…sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having been made so much greater than any of the angels, inasmuch as He has inherited a name exceedingly superior to them. For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘You are My Son; this day I have begotten You’?….” (vs 3-5).
 
That goes back to Psa. 2. The Son did not become the Son until He was impregnated into the womb of the virgin Mary.
 
“…And again, ‘I will be a Father to Him, and He will be a Son to Me’? And again, when He brought the Firstborn into the world, He said, ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him’” (vs 5-6).
 
There are quite a few things in John 1 that help us understand. As a matter of fact, I was looking at when I did the Gospel of John series; that will be 30 years ago. Maybe I ought to do it again.
 
John 1:12: “But as many as received Him…”
 
·         to understand that He was the Son of God
·         to understand that He forgives our sins
·         to understand that He is our High Priest in heaven right now
·         to understand that He will be our soon coming King when He returns
But you
·         receive Him
·         believe Him
·         obey Him
·         love Him
 
That’s all in the word receive!
 
“…to them He gave authority to become the children of God…” (v 12). In the Greek there are two words for child:
 
1.       ‘huios’—singular, a son
·         ‘huio’—plural; offspring in general
·         ‘teknon’--children by the Father
 
That’s why you receive the Holy Spirit as a begettal. That’s why Peter said that ‘you have been begotten again.’ (1-Peter 1). Your first begettal was through your mother and father for physical life. Begotten again is receiving the Holy Spirit so you can become a ‘tekna’ child and all of them together are children—‘teknon’—of God.
 
The Protestants have that from the King James as ‘adoption.’ That’s incorrect! It should be sonship!
 
“…even to those who believe in His name; who were not begotten by bloodlines… [doesn’t matter who you are] …nor by the will of the flesh… [that it’s all planned out] …nor by the will of man, but by the will of God” (vs 12-13).
 
·         What is the will of God? His plan!
·         How has He revealed it? Through His Sabbath and Holy Days!
 
Verse 14: “And the Word became flesh…” That’s what they’re going to end up with! He was like God! He was flesh! And they will misinterpret it and go to Luke 1 and try and prove it that way.
 
“…and tabernacled among us (and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of grace and truth” (v 14). That’s referring to the Transfiguration!
 
“…full of grace…” is the mercy, truth and love of God! God’s love for you to give you the Holy Spirit and all of that!
 
What is the Holy Spirit called? The Spirit of the Truth! We are sanctified, that is made Holy by the Truth. That’s accomplished by the Holy Spirit by writing the laws and commandments in our heart and mind. That’s why it’s so important when we cover all of these nitty-gritty details that we keep in mind the big picture!
 
Verse 52: “And He said to him, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God descending to and ascending from the Son of man.’”
 
·         What was it like with Jesus?
·         Were there always angels all around?
 
It would have to be by this! You know that on the Passover Day every detail had to be worked out by the angels and the part that Satan played with Judas.
 
Verse 18: “No one has seen God at any time…” How did Moses speak to God? He spoke to the one who was God, Who was with God! This is saying that no one has seen God the Father, the Most High, at any time! That covers everything in the Old Testament!
 
“…the only begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (v 18).
 
Let’s see that repeated again, and we will look and see exactly what we’ve been talking about here. God’s greatest work is being done with His Holy Spirit in converting our mind. When there is sin, that’s where it is, it’s in the heart and in the mind! It’s quite a thing! The more that you have the Spirit of God in your mind, the more it’s going to reveal to you how much sin is buried in your mind. There’s a lot of it! Why? Because you’ve grown up and have all these other things!
 
Plus, today, we have so much crashing in on us with television, e-mails, iPhones, iPads, Twitter, Facebook, whatever. All of that; everything crashing in on us! There are some people who can’t stand to have it quiet. They get up and they turn on the music. Then they hop in the car and they turn on the music. The ones who are really messed up are the ones who have sound blast through your whole body. When one of those drive by in your neighborhood and it’s booming and the whole neighborhood is vibrating.
 
After Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath and told him to pick up his bed and walk. His bed had to be like a sleeping bag, but the Jews exaggerated with their traditions what it means to not carry a burden. Would it be a burden to carry a knapsack or sleeping bag on your arm. The Jews found the man who was healed and said, ‘Who told you to carry that?’ Well the man who healed me said to ‘pick up your bed and walk.’ ‘Who was it?’ I don’t know. Later he said that it was Jesus, so they found Jesus and here’s the encounter because they wanted to persecute Him:
 
John 5:17: “But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working… [present tense participle] …until now, and I work’”--on the Sabbath Day!
 
·         What work is God the Father doing on the Sabbath Day? Spiritual work!
·         What work was Christ doing on the Sabbath Day? Spiritual work!
·         Was He out building a building? No!
ü  He was healing!
ü  He was forgiving!
 
Verse 18: “So then, on account of this saying, the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, not only because He had loosed the Sabbath…”
 
In other words, the only way to keep the Sabbath is the way the Pharisees say, very strictly! But He loosed it! Some people think that that means destroyed the Sabbath or broke the Sabbath! But that’s no so! He loosed it!
 
Remember the Pharisee, the doctor of the law? He asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment. Jesus said, ‘Love God with all your heart, mind, strength and being, and your neighbor as yourself. The doctor of the law said, ‘You answered correctly. But tell me, who is my neighbor?’
 
Then Jesus gave the parable of the man who was on the way up from Jericho to Jerusalem and beaten up by robbers and left to die. Here comes a priest, ‘Oh, I can’t get near that, because I’m going up to work at the temple. I can be unclean.’ So, he didn’t help the man. Here comes a Levite, ‘I can’t do that, I can’t help him; I’m going to go do great things at the temple.’
 
So, here comes a Samaritan, which the Jews hated with a passion! What did he do? He picked the man up and put him on his beast of burden and took him to what we would call a motel, an inn back then, and told the person—after he had dressed his wound and put oil and wine on it. You might think about that in relationship to when you have a wound. He told the innkeeper, ‘Here’s some money and you take care of him and when I come back if I owe you anymore I’ll pay it.
 
Then Jesus looked at the doctor of the law and said, ‘Tell me, which one loved his neighbor?’ Remember, the doctor of the law would not have gone over to help him. He said, ‘I suppose the one who helped him.’
 
“…but also because He had called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (v 18). Then He caught them again in John 10.
 
So, after He made Himself equal with God, v 19: “Therefore, Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, the Son has no power to do anything of Himself, but only what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, these things the Son also does in the same manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing….’” (vs 19-20).
 
That shows you part of the communication they had back and forth. I imagine that they were constantly in touch with each other all the time.
 
“…And He will show Him greater works than these, so that you may be filled with wonder. For even as the Father raises the dead and gives life, in the same way also, the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (vs 20-22)--because He came in the flesh and experienced all the temptations that we do!
 
He is the One to make the judgment. To whom do we give an account for our lives? Paul writes that we all come before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for ourselves!
 
Verse 22: “For the Father judges no one…” [they’re going to have trouble with this one!] …but has committed all judgment to the Son so that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him” (vs 22-23).
 
What one problem does this reveal? that’s 2,000 years old? that no one can solve? The problem of the Jews! They have rejected Christ and they think that they’re honoring God and they cannot.
 
Look at how awful it has been. Read the book of Jeremiah, and you read what Jesus said when they rejected Him. So, the only thing you can do is have pity on the Jews. It would be great if many more of them would be converted. Remember how many of them were converted when everything first started? They were all Jews the first 12 years!
 
Verse 24: “Truly, truly I say to you, the one who hears My Word, and believes Him Who sent Me, has everlasting life and does not come into judgment; for he has passed from death into life.”
 
That’s why everyday the daily prayer is forgive us our sins as we forgive others! Sometimes it takes a while to complete the second part.
 
Verse 36: “But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works that the Father gave Me to complete… [to finish] …the very works that I am doing, themselves bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, Who sent Me, has borne witness of Me. You have neither heard His voice nor seen His form at any time” (vs 36-37).
 
What happens when you invent your own religion?
 
Verse 38: “And you do not have His Word dwelling in you… [because they base everything on their traditions] …for you do not believe Him Whom He has sent. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life; and they are the ones that testify of Me. But you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life” (vs 38-40).
 
When we get all the Scriptures together referring to Jesus from the Old Testament to the physical life and testimony of Jesus Christ, it’s going to be overwhelming.
 
Verse 41: “I do not receive glory from men; but I have known you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves” (vs 41-42)--right back to what we’re talking about! All the important details that we have mean nothing unless we have the love of God in us!
 
Verse 43: “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; but if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How are you able to believe, you who receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (vs 43-44). That is because Christ could not be called God while He was in the flesh!
 
Verse 45: “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you… [present tense, showing that the Law of Moses apply and are binding] …even Moses, in whom you have hope. But if you believed Moses, you would have believed Me; for he wrote about Me. And if you do not believe his writings, how shall you believe My words?” (vs 45-47).
 
Those Scriptures can tell you a lot. That means that Moses wrote about the Lord God Who became Christ. That also means that in order to understand the Scriptures…
 
Luke 24—this is after Christ’s resurrection when He suddenly appeared when they were all gathered together and He ate the fish and honeycomb:
 
Luke 24:44: “And He said to them, ‘These are the words that I spoke to you when I was yet with you, that all the things which were written concerning Me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (vs 44-45). That’s the work of the Holy Spirit!
 
The key action that we have to have to even begin is the Sabbath. That’s the key; that’s where you start. If you’re searching for God, especially on the Sabbath, when you come to the conclusion that it says, ‘Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy, and you start keeping it Holy from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, that’s the first key to begin opening your mind.
 
Why? Because then the seven Spirits of God are looking to those who are seeking God, and will come help open your mind! It doesn’t come because of study or theological degrees. It comes by the Spirit of God!
 
The whole Gospel of John talks more about Jesus Christ and what He Himself did than any of the other Gospels.
 
John 8:12: “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me shall never walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life.’” What is the Light of Life? It is the enlightenment of your mind with the Truth of God!
 
Verse 13: “Therefore, the Pharisees said to Him, ‘You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, because I know where I have come from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from and where I go’” (vs 13-14).
 
The birth of Christ was in Bethlehem. But the mother and stepfather Joseph[transcriber’s correction] got there just before He was born. They left a little after 40 days later. Gone! When He started His ministry, where did He begin? He did one thing in Jerusalem to fulfill the prophecy that He would ‘suddenly come to His temple’ (John 2).
 
He came in there and what did He do? He made a scourge of cords and chased out all of the animals and threw over the moneychangers! Then He soon left, and most of His ministry was in Galilee and all around there. That’s what bugged the leaders of Judaism more than anything else. He didn’t come to them and align with them.
 
He came to the people whom they neglected. They sent to John to try and find out if it was he. It wasn’t! Then when Jesus came and showed up, they didn’t believe it. When He came back to the temple there (John 5 & 8) it was during the time of a Holy Day. Here in John 8 is right after the Feast of Tabernacles.
 
Verse 15: “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet, if I do judge, My judgment is true, for I am not alone; but I and the Father Who sent Me. And it is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I AM One Who bears witness of Myself, and the Father, Who sent Me bears witness of Me.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Where is Your Father?’…. [because of all the rumors] …Jesus answered, ‘You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would also have known My Father’” (vs 15-19).
 
Verse 20: “Jesus spoke these words in the treasury while teaching in the temple; but no one arrested Him because His time had not yet come. Then Jesus said to them again, ‘I am going away; and you shall seek Me, but you shall die in your sin. Where I am going, you are not able to come’” (vs 20-21). The Greek there is from dunamis’: you don’t have the power to attain it!
 
Verse 22: “Therefore, the Jews said, ‘Will He kill Himself? Is that why He says, “Where I am going, you are not able to come”?’…. [tie in John 1:1]: …And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. That is why I said to you that you shall die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins’” (vs 22-24).
 
When He said that they knew that was a name of God, v 25: “Then they said to Him, ‘Who are You?’….”
 
1-John 2:20: “But you have the anointing from the Holy One… [the Holy Spirit] …and you have knowledge of all things… [obviously it doesn’t pertain to everything in the world] …pertaining to salvation. I did not write to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you know it, and you understand that not one lie comes from the Truth” (vs 20-21).
 
·         Jesus always told the Truth
·         the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth
·         the Word of God is the Word of Truth
 
Verse 22: “Who is the liar if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?…. [that tells you about all of those false apostles] …He is the antichrist—the one who denies the Father and the Son. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either” (vs 22-23).
 
That’s the problem of Judaism and false doctrine that God the Father was the One Who was the Lord of the Old Testament. You’re denying that Christ was God before He became a human being.
 
Verse 24: “Therefore, let what you have heard from the beginning dwell in you; if what you have heard from the beginning is dwelling in you, then you will be dwelling in the Son and in the Father.”
 
That’s the problem with Protestantism, very seldom to you hear them talk about the Father. Everything is all about Jesus.
 
It’s important that we cover these things so that we stay grounded! Remember, everything comes back to the fundamentals.
 
·         love God
·         love Christ
·         keep the Sabbath
·         keep the commandments
·         keep the Holy Days
 
That’s the framework on which everything we do is structured! We need to stay close to that!
 
 
Scriptural References:
 
1)      John 1:1-7
2)      Luke 1:30-32
3)      John 1:1
4)      Hebrews 1:1-6
5)      John 1:12-14, 52, 18
6)      John 5:17-24, 36-47
7)      Luke 24:44-45
8)      John 8:12-25
9)      1 John 2:20-24
 
 
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
 
·         Isaiah 45
·         John 14
·         Matthew 28
·         Psalm 2
·         1 Peter 1
·         John 2; 5
 
Also referenced:
 
·         Book: Sanctification of the New Moon by Moses Maimonides
·         Sermon: The Truth About Noah’s Flood
·         Transcript Books and CDs:

• The Lord God and the Most High
• God the Father was Not the God of the Old Testament

Gospel of John