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

​Now we will focus on perfection, and how does God do that? In order to do it, you have to start out first with creation and the creation of man! But you can’t have the creation of man unless you have everything on the earth provided for him before he begins. So, God did that.
 
Then you have to have reproduction. Nearly everything that God has made—plants, animals, fish, human beings, etc.—all reproduce. The reproduction is still a mystery to human beings.
 
I know that when I squeeze my lemon juice in the morning there are lemon seeds from the tree that’s inside the fruit and it’s right in the middle of it. So, I could take that and plant it in the ground and it would grow, and it will produce lemons after it grew to a certain height. It would continue as long as you watered it, fertilize it and take care of it, trim it and get rid of the weeds, etc.
 
Then with human beings, how are you going to make them so they’re not robots? Look at what people are trying to do today. They are trying to make robots, and they have this artificial intelligence. They’re warning that artificial intelligence is going to take over and destroy the world.
 
I don’t know if that’s true or not. The way I look at the book of Revelation, I see a lot of other things than artificial intelligence. You have to have a body, mind, heart and the spirit of man. You have to have free moral agency, and then you have to have God’s Laws, God’s Spirit all based on the love of God.
 
Then you have to have the superior sacrifice. That superior sacrifice is Christ—Who came in the flesh--God manifested in the flesh! Let’s see something about Jesus Christ and what He went through. As the Creator of mankind, He had to go through everything and suffer for mankind. That’s why He became human.
 
Hebrews 5:7: 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…”
 
Most people don’t think about that. They think that Jesus came and it was so easy for Him, because He was God in the flesh. NO! He had human nature just we have. He had God’s Spirit more abundant than we, but He also was always in direct confrontation with Satan the devil.
 
“…and was heard because He feared God” (v 7). In other words, there was that chance that He couldn’t make it!
 
Verse 8: “Although He was a Son, yet, He learned obedience from the things that He suffered.”
 
Likewise with us, we learn obedience from the things that we suffer. There are difficulties and problems. You have:
 
·         mental suffering
·         physical suffering
·         suffering by watching other people suffer
·         sickness suffering
 
But notice what all of that did:
 
Verse 9: “And having been perfected…” That tells you something! Remember when the rich man came up to Jesus and said, ‘Good Master…’ (Matt. 19). That young man was kind of like Job. ‘What do I have to do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said, ‘Why call Me good, there’s none good by God.’ There was God manifested in the flesh standing right before the young man, and He did not consider Himself good, because He had to carry human nature, the law of sin and death in Him in order to condemn sin in the flesh.
 
Sin is not condemned in our flesh. It’s condemned in Christ’s flesh, so that through being perfected it will be condemned as we grow and overcome.
 
“…He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him” (v 9).
 
What did Jesus say? Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not the things that I tell you?
 
Here’s another reason, Hebrews 2:10: “Because it was fitting for Him, for Whom all things were created, and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Think about that! A lot of people say:
 
·         Why did God do this?
·         Why did God do that?
·         Why do human beings suffer?
 
You can see that on one of the Church At Home’s, there’s a an atheist there condemning God because of this, that and the other thing. That’s why you have the New Testament. That’s why Christ came, because He likewise suffered.
 
Verse 11: “For both He Who is sanctifying and those who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the Church I will sing praise to You.’ And again, ‘I will be trusting in Him.’ And again, ‘Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.’ Therefore, since the children are partakers of flesh and blood… [and human nature, and all of that] …in like manner He also took part in the same, in order that through death He might annul him who has the power of death—that is, the devil” (vs 11-14). Remember ‘annul’ means to make it as if it never was!
 
Verse 15: “And that He might deliver those who were subject to bondage all through their lives by their fear of death. For surely, He is not taking upon Himself to help the angels; but He is taking upon Himself to help the seed of Abraham” (vs 15-16). That’s not the physical seed of Abraham; that’s the spiritual seed of Abraham!
 
That’s us! If you are Christ then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise! Let’s see what else Jesus said of Himself.
 
Luke 13:32: “And He said to them, ‘Go and say to that fox, “Behold, I cast out demons and complete healings today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected”’”--so He conflated the two together!
 
1.       His work and healings and things like that
2.       His resurrection at the end
 
Let’s see how Christ is doing that with us. We know in Psa. 34 it says, ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers them out of them all!’
 
So, if we look at the difficulties and problems and see what we can learn from them, and stay close to God in prayer, study and understand them, then yes, we will also learn, because that’s part of the perfection. Let’s see how this develops.
 
We know that we have body, mind, spirit, heart, etc. We receive the Spirit of God and that unites with the spirit of man that all human beings have. Here’s what we are to do:
 
Romans 12:1: “I exhort you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice…”
 
·         What is the sacrifice? Giving up the things of the world! Giving up the things of self!
 
“…Holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service” (v 1).
 
·         What is your spiritual service? Love toward God, prayer, study, living God’s way!
·         What does God do with His Spirit in our mind? He writes in the commandments and laws of God in our heart and mind!
ü  that is conversion
ü  that is leading to perfection
 
The ultimate perfection will come at the resurrection!
 
Verse 2: “Do not conform yourselves to this world, but be transformed…”—Greek: ‘metomorphos’--change. Just like in your mind a bit at a time.
 
“…by the renewing of your mind in order that you may prove what is well-pleasing and good, and the perfect will of God” (v 2)--leading to perfection!
 
That’s how God has done it. That’s why we’re made in His image and likeness. That’s why He’s given us free choice! He doesn’t want us to be robots. Could you think about what it would be like to live in eternity with everybody being robots? That would be incredible! Let’s see how this is done. Be renewed in your mind. How is that being renewed? Notice the steps involved:
 
Philippians 2:1: “Now then, if there be any encouragement in Christ… “ This is what we’re talking about so that you don’t get discouraged and despondent because of the difficulties!
 
“…if any comfort of love…” (v 1)--God will give you comfort of love! God will answer your prayers when you pray!
 
“…if any fellowship of the Spirit…” (v 1). Isn’t it something that God gives us of His Spirit so that we can have fellowship with Him and Christ? That’s an amazing thing!
 
It’s not something tangible you can grasp because it’s spiritual. Can you grasp the law of gravity? No! How does it work? It keeps you on the earth! It lets water run down and everything else.
 
“…if any deep inner affections and compassions, fulfill my joy that you be of the same mind… [the mind of Christ] …having the same love, being joined together in soul, minding the one thing” (vs 1-2).
 
·         What is it that we are to do?
·         What is the one thing that we are to constantly seek?
 
The Kingdom of God and His righteousness! That’s the one thing! That’s the goal! This is what you do when there are troubles and problems, you have the goal that you are always going to.
 
Verse 3: “Let nothing be done through contention or vainglory, but in humility, each esteeming the others above himself…. [Who knows?] …Let each one look not only after his own things, but let each one also consider the things of others. Let…” (vs 3-5).
 
It comes from God, but you have to let! It’s like the door, you must open the door to let someone in. likewise with your mind. You must open your mind to what God wants, and let this happened!
 
Verse 5: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself…” (vs 5-7). Think about this!
 
·         What have you given up?
·         What did Paul say?
 
We brought nothing into the world, and we’re not taking anything out of the world!
 
·         What did you bring into the world?
 
You mom did all the work!
 
Verse 7: “But emptied Himself…” He gave up His Divinity to become pinpoint of life and be impregnated in the womb of the virgin Mary! She must have been some woman! Think of that!
 
Women today don’t want any children. They found out that women who never marry and don’t have children are some of the most unhappy women in the world. Why? Because you’re going against the purpose of God!
 
“…and was made in the likeness of men…” (v 7). In the beginning God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image and in Our likeness, male and female.
 
“…and took the form of a servant” (v 7)—Greek: ‘doulous’--slave! So that no one can say that ‘our ancestors were slaves and you got to get reparations for us.’ Get out and work and quit being stupid! Every race and people down through the history of mankind have been made slaves! Get over it!
 
Verse 8: “And being found in the manner of man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
 
What did He say of this? I have commandment from the Father! I lay down My life and I have a commandment to receive it back! No one takes it from Me; I lay it down!
 
Look at what Christ has done and then stop and think: What have I done in my life? God doesn’t expect that, because we’re not Christ! But there are a lot of things that we can do that God wants us to do for that perfection.
 
Colossians 1:20: “And having made peace through the blood of His cross…” That was a tremendous thing that happened!
 
Sidebar: What was going on in Jerusalem that last week? I imagine that there were angels everywhere, demons everywhere, and it was being all carried out exactly as God wanted it to be.
 
Remember what Jesus said when He was beginning His ministry and talking to Nathaniel? What if you see angels ascending and descending from the Son of man? That’s quite a statement!
 
Everything was prearranged to fulfill the prophecies. That’s why Jesus said, ‘Forgive them, they know not what they do.’ Remember how Jesus gave the instruction to keep the last Passover? They were coming into Jerusalem and He hadn’t told them where they were going to keep the Passover! He didn’t want to tell them because Judas was going to betray Him. He didn’t want them to come where they were keeping the Passover, so He said, ‘I tell you what, you go into the city and follow a man who is carrying a pitcher, and whatever house he goes there prepare.’
 
·         How did that work out?
·         How did they know which street to walk on?
·         How did the man carrying the pitcher happen to come exactly where the disciples could see him and then follow him?
 
Probably angels had it all arranged! They didn’t stop and ask what his name was and where he was going. Jesus just said to follow him. They went and said, ‘The Master says, ‘Where is the room that I may keep the Passover with My disciples?’ I got it all ready for you!
 
How did that happen? The angels were there making sure that it was done! I imagine that all of the demons were trying to frustrate everyone of these things along the line.
 
Verse 21: “For you were once alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works… [in your mind motivating your actions] …but now He has reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, to present you Holy and unblamable and unimpeachable before Him” (vs 21-22) Absolutely nothing wrong!
 
Sidebar: Remember Baalim? He wanted to curse Israel. So, Balak got over there and God let him take the money, but God said, ‘You only speak what I want you to speak.’ So, they had the sacrifices and Baalim got up there and started blessing Israel saying, ‘I see no sin in Israel.’
 
Think about that for a minute! Maybe those are not the exact words, but how many times did they rebel? How many times did they go against God? Think about when confronted with an enemy who wants to destroy them, God says, ‘I don’t see anything.’
 
That’s what it is also with the sacrifice of Christ with us. There is nothing against us! That’s why every day we grow and overcome.
 
Verse 23: “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.”
 
That’s a statement of what they knew of the creation and the earth, and that’s a prophecy of the rest of all time down to the return of Christ.
 
Verse 24: “Now, I am rejoicing in my sufferings for you…” Think of that! He’s saying that he’s rejoicing in prison! I don’t know if he has chains on his wrists and feet, maybe now, who knows/
 
“…and I am filling up in my flesh that which is behind of the tribulations of Christ…” (v 24).
 
·         Why? Because Christ called him and said, ‘Paul, you are going to preach the Gospel, and you are going to suffer!’
·         Why was that? Because he so persecuted the Church!
 
But Paul rejoiced in that suffering!
 
Verse 25: “Of which I became a servant, according to the administration of God that was given to me for you in order to complete the Word of God; even the mystery that has been hidden from ages and from generations…” (vs 25-26). Think of that!
 
It would be really interesting if you had a microphone and you went out and did a survey, even right here in Hollister:
 
You live right here in this nice little town of Hollister, very nice little town wouldn’t you agree? Yes! What do you know about God? Why are you here? What is your purpose? You wouldn’t get any answer!
 
“…but has now been revealed to His saints; to whom God did will 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… [What is the end of that?]: …Whom we preach, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (vs 26-28).
 
Be you perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect! Of course, the finality of that is the resurrection!
 
Verse 29: “For this cause I also labor, striving according to His inner working, which works in me with power.”
 
Don’t you think that the apostles are going to be absolutely astonished at the resurrection when they find out how long it really was from the time that they died until the time that Christ returned? What happened to the Church? How many were called? It’s going to be astonishing! That’s why we’re on the Sea of Glass for such a long time. We have a lot to learn and understand.
 
They’ll be astonished concerning the Bible, and how there were so many and how God preserved it. I told you what Daniel Wallace said, ‘All the Greek manuscripts, there were over 10,000 known. The difficulties and problems amount to about 1% corruption. Word order makes not difference, word usage and misspellings make no difference. You can always straighten those out.’
 
No other book in the history of the world is as old and has as many copies available, and is in many concurrent languages as today. That’s a testimony to the power of God. He says, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.’ What does God do, He gets it translated and sent out ahead of time.
 
Eph. 1 & 3 are some of the most inspiring Scriptures in the New Testament. Let me just suggest this to you: Whenever you get in a dump of depression… I had part of that one day this week watching all this nonsense, the lies and things, on the hearings. What I did is what we’re doing now. I went to Eph. 1 & 3 to get my mind on where we are going!
 
What is all of this going on? When you look at from the Word of God, while it might be gigantic out here in the world, it’s really pitifully small compared to what God is doing in our lives.
 
Ephesians 1:1: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus… [that’s a prophecy wherever in the world] …Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (vs 1-2). This is what God gives to us!
 
Now notice what God is doing and what God is preparing at the same time:
 
Verse 3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly things with Christ.”
 
·         receiving the Spirit of God
·         understanding the Truth of God
 
That’s the beginning! What is the completion? The resurrection and all that takes place with that, with Christ!
 
Verse 4: “According as He has personally chosen us for Himself…”
 
Remember that it says in John 6 that ‘none can come to Me unless the Father draw him.’ So, God the Father is actively working with Christ. And ‘none can come to the Father except through Christ!’ So, They work together!
 
“…before the foundation of the world… [that’s when they had the plan] …in order that we might be Holy and blameless before Him in love” (v 4). Where did we start? Right there!
 
Verse 5: “Having predestinated us for sonship…” The King James says ‘adoption.’ Not so! We’ve been begotten with the Spirit of God to be the sons and daughters of God, so it’s called ‘sonship.’ We are His children by begettal and by birth at the resurrection when we’re born again!
 
“…to Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us objects of His grace in the Beloved Son; in Whom we have redemption… [look at this all put together] …through His blood, even the remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He has made to abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligence” (vs 5-8). Not stupidity! No all of this nonsense that you see on TBN today!
 
Verse 9: “Having made known to us the mystery of His own will…”

• How precious is that?
• How do we come by that?
  • by the Spirit of God
  • by the will of God
  • by our yielding to God by choosing to:
    • love Him
    • serve Him
    • repent
    • continue to humble ourselves before Him in the way that God wants

 
“…according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself… [tie in 2-Tim. 1:9] …that in the Divine plan for the fulfilling of the times, He might bring all things together in Christ, both the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth” (vs 9-10).
 
And the things in heaven has to be reconciled. Satan has no more coming to the Throne of God.
 
Verse 11: “Yes, in Him, in Whom we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestinated according to His purpose…” Put all of those things together:
 
·         the will of God
·         the purpose of God
·         the love of God
·         the calling of God
·         the sacrifice of Christ
·         giving us fellowship with Him
·         His Holy Spirit
 
All of these things together; why are you depressed? There’s no need to be depressed! But because we’re human beings we need to be encouraged! Aren’t these the words of encouragement that we need in times of depression? Yes, indeed!
 
“…Who is working out all things according to the counsel of His own will; that we might be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in the 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” (vs 11-13).
 
That’s why blaspheme of the Holy Spirit is unpardonable! The Holy Spirit comes from God the Father to impregnate your mind and combine it with the spirit of man and the Spirit of Christ altogether so that we can develop the mind of Christ and all the things that we’re talking about here! That’s a fantastic thing, indeed!
 
Verse 14: “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. For this cause, I also, after hearing of the faith in the Lord Jesus that is among you, and the love toward all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you…” (vs 14-17).
 
This is what we need. We’re coming into difficult times. We’re coming into more challenges against the Truth of God than ever before.
 
But He “…may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. And may the eyes of your mind be enlightened…” (vs 17-18).
 
It’s one thing to see something, it’s another thing to see and understand it mentally and spiritually. This is what Paul is talking about.
 
“…in order that you may comprehend what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (v 18).
 
Ephesians 2:17: “Now when He came, He preached the Gospel—peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have direct access by one Spirit to the Father” (vs 17-18). When you pray God hears!
 
Verse 19: “So then, you are no longer aliens and foreigners; but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of the household of God. You are being built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Cornerstone in Whom all the building, being conjointly fitted together, is increasing into a Holy temple in the Lord; in Whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit” (vs 19-22).
 
Now let’s look at a projection toward the complete fulfillment of God’s plan as Paul gave here in Eph. 3. Paul says that this was given to all the apostles and prophets at the same time. This was given so that it would be written down, and God knew that it would be transmitted down through time and history so that it comes down to us today.
 
Ephesians 3:11: “According to His eternal purpose… [right back where we started] …which He has wrought in Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom we have boldness and direct access with confidence through His very own faith” (vs 11-12)--the faith that God gives us!
 
Verse 13: “So then, I beseech you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which are working for your glory.” Look at the positive things when difficulties come, like Paul!
 
Verse 14: For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (vs 14-15). That’s going to be a fantastic time, when we see the fullness of this!
 
Verse 16: “That He may grant you…” Put your name there. He’s saying you, not ye, which is plural you. But you directly, each one!
 
“…according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power by His Spirit in the inner man” (v 16). When that happens then you can handle the difficulties and problems and see through it all!
 
Verse 17: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; and that being rooted and grounded in love… [right back where we started] …you may be fully able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height” (vs 17-18).
 
That’s to understand as completely as we can now, but just think about what it’s going to be like at the resurrection. The universe is so great that there’s no measurement that any man can come to give a reasonable estimate of it.
 
They have found that when they have these high-powered telescopes out on satellites and they aim at dark spots in the universe that when they get the photos back it’s filled with galaxies. Absolutely no end to it, and this is what God is calling us to!
 
Verse 19: “And to know the love of Christ, which surpasses human knowledge so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
 
What is that going to be like? All of our aches and pains that come along, because we’re physical, wearing down and coming to an end, will be all gone!
 
Verse 20: “Now, to Him Who is able to do exceeding abundantly…” To write things that are just unfathomable and then to say that:
 
He’s going “…to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us… [that’s an astonishing statement] …to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all generations, even into the ages of eternity. Amen” (vs 20-21).
 
That’s quite a thing, brethren! When we get down, turn to these two chapters, get on your knees and go to God and pray and read and ask God to help you, and He will!
 
 
Scriptural References:
 
1)      Genesis 7:11, 10
2)      Genesis 8:14
3)      2 Timothy 1:7-9
4)      Matthew 5:48
5)      Matthew 6:33
6)      Mark 12:28-31
7)      1 John 1:3, 6-10
8)      1 John 2:1-6
9)      Hebrews 5:7-9
10)  Hebrews 2:10-16
11)  Luke 13:32
12)  Romans 12:1-2
13)  Philippians 2:1-8
14)  Colossians 1:20-29
15)  Ephesians 1:1-18
16)  Ephesians 2:17-22
17)  Ephesians 3:11-21
 
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
 
·         Psalm 22
·         Matthew 19
·         Psalm 34
·         John 6
·         2 Timothy 1:9
 
Also referenced:
 
·         Booklet: www.cbcg.org/images/books/Which-Is-the-True-Calendar-of-God-3-28-16-Read.pdfWhich is the True Calendar of God? by Carl D. Franklin & Fred R. Coulter

​Request a hard copy - 
·         Church At Home: Why is Evil Rampant? {churchathome.org}

By: Fred R. Coulter—December 14, 2019
We learn obedience from the things that we suffer with action, thought and emotion
and doing what God wants; then perfection will come at the resurrection!
The title of this message - "Overcome Through God’s Purpose for You"
(FIRST HALF of video).
(SECOND HALF of video).

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services! (Fred rings his cowbell) Someone started a nasty rumor that I was in the hospital with a heart attack! So, just to let you know, I’m alive and I’m well. If I were sick and down, I would have Jonathan up here bringing the sermon!
 
Calendar Question:
 
I’ve gotten some comments on the Calendar booklet--Which is the True Calendar of God?—and we’re going to look at a framework. I’m going to study it and put it in proper perspective.
 
Genesis 7:11: “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life… [he became 600 sometime before this] …in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the heavens were opened.”
 
Verse 10: “And it came to pass after seven days…” Noah and the family were all in the ark for seven days before the Flood started!
 
So, let’s look at how long there were in the ark, because that is the main framework for everything else; everything else has to fit into that framework. This means that if they were in there for seven days that they went in on the 10th day of the month and “…on the seventeenth day of the month” everything cut loose. They went on 10th day of the 2nd month.
 
Genesis 8:14—this is the next year: “And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the land was fully dry.” They left out of the ark on that day!
 
They were there 1 year+7 days +10 days. How long was that year? 360? 385? or 355? That’s what I’m going to have to determine to make it absolutely clear! But there’s one thing that this establishes. The time that they were in the ark was clearly established, wouldn’t you say? That’s clearly established!
 
How all of the other days fit in refer to the water. So, you have the ark and the family in the ark for 1 year, 7 days ahead and 10 days after the water.
 
How all the days of the water fit in, that’s the question. Someone just sent me something showing that if you add up all the days it’s 360. Well, you have to do your math correctly, and counting the water, the days of the water, does not necessarily equate to the length of the time that they were in the ark. So, we’ll leave it at that and let’s see what you can do.
 
What I’m going to do is take the calendar framework for 385 days, for 355 days, and for 360 days and see how it all fits.
 
A Little Politics:
 
Delores and I were talking about this nonsense of impeachment going on. I talked to someone the other day who said, ‘All Trump does is lie.’ I asked. ‘Why is that?’ Well, he never settles on anything. I said, ‘You mean like he told the Chinese that if they don’t make a deal he’ll do it after the 2020 election.’ Yeah, that’s what I mean. I said, ‘That is negotiating.’
 
·         Tell me which lie Donald Trump has deliberately spoken to deceive? Can’t find any!
·         How many lies did Obama give that caused trouble?
·         What happened after Obama told the Medvedev to ‘tell Vladimir (Putin) that I will have more flexibility after the election’?
·         What happened? The Russians invaded Crimea, took it and invaded Eastern Crimea, and Obama sent blankets and pillows to the Ukrainians for defense!
 
Obama didn’t raise anything about invading and taking Crimea.
 
·         What happened after Joe Biden and his ‘wonderful’ son Hunter went to China and came back and had that $1.5-billion set up in an investment company in America?
·         What happened?
·         Does anyone know?
 
Nothing was done by Obama!
 
·         What major thing happened? The Chinese developed that disputed island in the South China Sea and made an airbase out of it!
 
Obama didn’t even lift an little finger, or open his mouth for a single word! Two things need to understand about America:
 
1.       the Congress does not run the Presidency
2.       the ‘deep state’ does not run the Presidency
 
This is the battle that you are seeing! The Democrats are full of lies!
 
·         Was this similar to what Satan was doing to try and convince a third of the angels to follow him?
 
‘God is mean, nasty and harsh and He won’t let us do anything. Look I have glory almost like God! If we go to war and take over the throne, we’ll run the universe!’
 
·         Did that happen? Yes, it did!
 
That’s why truth is so all important!
 
*****
 
Now, because of politics a lot of people are depressed. If you watch the news and everything is all mixed up. Some people never search for the truth. A lot of people believe the lies, and a lot of people don’t believe the lies. It’s all mixed up and it leaves people depressed.
 
There’s a man who delivers some things to our house and he’s said that he’d been so tired for so long that it’s hard for him to get along and even function. It affects you, doesn’t it?
 
·         What do we need to do to keep from letting the world depress us?
·         What do we need to do to keep the focus of what we need to be doing?
 
That’s what we’re going to cover today!
 
Here’s the first thing to keep in mind, because God is greater than us and His graciousness is greater than anything we have every imagined. We’re going to cover the things that will help us, to inspire us to overcome any of these things that tend to drag us down.
 
You don’t like to watch the news and then see something like ‘shifty, nifty’ Schiff blither and blather lies, and everybody believe it! Here’s what you need to keep in mind:
 
2-Timothy 1:7—Paul is in prison: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound-mindedness. Therefore, you should not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner” (vs 7-8). Here Paul is in prison waiting to be executed. How is he keeping his spirits up there?
 
“…but jointly suffer with me for the sake of the Gospel, according to the power of God” (v 8). We’re going to suffer some things! We’re going to go through some difficult things!
 
Verse 9: “Who has saved us and called us with a Holy calling…” All of the saints are called the elect--Greek: ‘electos’--meaning selected!
 
If you get down, depressed and ‘woe is me,’ remember that God has selected you! God loves you! And we will see what we need to do in return, and what God will do in return. Here Paul is in a desperate situation inspiring Timothy.
 
“…not according to our works…” (v 9). What was Paul before he was converted? A top Pharisee! The Pharisees had a closed knit circle and he was one of the chief among them. Everything they did for approval was a work, a work, a work!
 
He’s showing here “…not according to our works…” We’ll look at the work of God’s a little later. I want you to apply this to yourself:
 
“…but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us… [God had this all planned how many eons before we even existed] …in Christ Jesus before the ages of time” (v 9).
 
How far back does that reach? The main thing here is to remember how important it is what God is doing that involves us. Everything else doesn’t matter. We know that we’re going to face a lot of difficult times.
 
I just did a couple of Church At Home {churchathome.org} Why is Evil Rampant? This is kind of a little sequel to it. How do you get along once you know that?
 
God’s purpose and timing: What is God’s purpose for us? Christ states it very early on! Matt. 5:48 is summary of everything that he brought up there. Everything in Matt. 5 has to do with how you think! That’s what conversion is all about. Before we were called and answered the called and are baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, we have what is called a carnal mind, which is enmity against God!
 
There are some people who are real nice and don’t think that they have enmity toward God. But they just can’t give up their Sunday-keeping and Christmas. That is enmity against God! It doesn’t matter if you say it nicely or shout it with acrimony! It’s still against God!
 
Matthew 5:48: “Therefore, you shall be perfect…” That’s God’s goal!
 
Think about when a baby is born. The only thing a baby knows when it’s born—because breathing comes automatically, the body is already working, the heart and everything else is working—and had a little practice in the womb by sucking its thumb, is to nurse. It knows nothing else. It may, by intuition and by the beginning of the forming of the working of the brain, understand/recognize the mother’s heartbeat and her voice. Everything else comes after that:
 
·         How did we grow up?
·         Where did we grow up?
·         What did we do?
 
I look back on my growing up, and I remember just certain things. I knew nothing about God. I heard a little bit here and there. One of our neighbors was Pentecostal and my aunt was a Sunday-school teacher. Whenever she would come over and visit us, she would bring her ‘cloth board,’ which was covered with felt. Then she would tell Bible stories with little cutout felt pieces: lamb, children, Jesus, and so forth. That’s about all I ever knew.
 
One time I was delivering papers early in the morning up in Seattle, and I went through a park and it was Easter morning. There were a lot of people there, so I went over and watching. Here are all the people, and when the preacher raised up this wafer of bread I didn’t know what it was, all the people bowed down. I wondered what this was; I knew nothing about it.
 
So, then I also remember after I got out of the Army I was at my sister’s and it was a Sunday, and I thought I’d go down to church. The only thing I knew was that the Catholics and Protestants were always at odds against each other. I go into this Episcopal church and they read the Apostle’s Creed: ‘We believe in the Holy Catholic Church.’ I said, ‘How can that be, these are Episcopalians and are Protestant and they say we believe in the Holy Catholic Church?’ I thought that this was crazy!
 
I knew nothing! Then I was going to college, had a job as a cook, and had my own little apartment. The truth is that
 
·         human beings were made to need God
·         He made us deficient
·         He made us incapable of solving our own problems our own way
 
When you have problems you look for help. The only thing I remembered was that ‘if you ask you receive.’ So, here I am walking at night and I could see a star or two and I said:
 
O God, the only thing I know is that if you ask you will receive. I’m asking. I don’t know what to do and don’t know where to go.
 
I had my little ole Nash Rambler, and in my apartment I had no television or radio. So, when going to college I could study Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Went to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I’m never out of my apartment at nine o’clock at night. Here I am in my Nash Rambler and I like classical music so I had it on that station. They started playing the dirge of Bach! That’s some of the most awful classical music that there is. I can’t stand it!
 
So, I turned it to another station and heard the first World Tomorrow program. As soon as I heard that I said, ‘That’ it!’ Then things went from there and I ended up at Ambassador College.
 
But we start from nothing to become perfected! That’s the whole purpose of why we exist!
 
Matt. 6:33: tells us what we are to do after we’ve been repentant, baptized and received the Holy Spirit.
 
Matthew 6:33: “But as for you, seek first…”—‘protos’ primary, the first and most important thing in our lives is God the Father, Jesus Christ, and]: …the Kingdom of God… [in that order] …and… [How is our behavior to be?] …His righteousness…” This tells exactly what our purpose is and what we are to be doing!
 
“…and all these things shall be added to you” (v 33)--all the physical things that you need! But look at what God is going to add beyond that.
 
How is this accomplished? First of all, God calls us and we answer the call. But God’s call is His love toward us. When we’re called, then how do we respond to God?
 
Everything that we do hinges on being perfected, seeking the Kingdom of God first, and then here is the first action that we do. It’s action, thought and emotion altogether. It’s our whole life.
 
Mark 12:28: “And one of the scribes who had come up to Him, after hearing them reasoning together and perceiving that He answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’” The Jews always do that! What’s the most important commandment? So, He told them!
 
Verse 29: “Then Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is, “Hear, O Israel…. [put your name there] …Our one God is the Lord, the Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment’” (vs 29-30).
 
Look at how all encompassing that is! It involves thought, emotion, work and doing what God wants. This also gives us a good thought concerning conversion. This command makes mandatory all the rest of the commandments, if this is the first one! Like we’ve said concerning the Ten Commandments.
 
I just did this on Church at Home recently: Go to the Ten Commandments and tell me what’s wrong with them! Show me one thing that is wrong! You can’t! Why? Because God is love and all of His commandments are based on love.
 
The difficulties that we have is that we live in an evil world, because of Satan the devil. We’ve got these things interfering constantly, and that’s why we need the Sabbath every week. Just like the world has their thing every year, God has His thing every week and every year. Why? We learn, we grow, we add to that knowledge, and we come to understand! As we go along we also begin to understand how wicked and evil that human nature really is and how much we need God.
 
Verse 31: “And the second is like this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
 
Let’s see how we put this in action. We still have human nature and God does not remove it from us, because it’s a process of overcoming. That’s why we all die, that ends that!
 
We have a lot of senior citizens in the Church. That’s just the nature of it as it is right now. I was talking to Harry Curley just before he died and he said, ‘You know, Fred, when I first came into the Church, I was always going to weddings. Now I’m always going to funerals. I said to him, ‘You know why? Because God is harvesting!’ So, don’t look at it as some great overwhelming tragedy that you can’t overcome, because no one yet has overcome death except Christ.
 
We’re all going to die one day. But isn’t it something, as we’re young and strong and all of this sort of thing, we never think of that. I mean, when you were 25, did you think about the day that you were going to die? At 30? No! at 40 you’re still going pretty good. At 50 you’re still going good. At 60, well, maybe a thought or two. At 70 a whole lot of thoughts. At 80 a lot of thoughts! And legal things written down such as wills, and if you have any possessions, who is going to get it?
 
Remember what Solomon wrote: What if a man lives a thousand years twice-fold and he leaves everything behind? He’s taking nothing! Look at those stupid Egyptians! Great pyramids, great tombs and ‘we’re going to all take it with us.’ They all died! A monument to Satan the devil and men’s stupidity because they reject God!
 
Because we have to overcome human nature, God  has given one thing in His great love through Christ. He is the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Remember what Paul wrote, ‘Not of works…’
 
Understand that before there were human beings, probably before there were any angels, before the ages of time, God had this plan! Now, way, way, way down in time, all of those of us are part of His plan and have been with all of those recorded in the Bible, plus a lot of those in the New Testament Church who were never recorded in the Bible. There are people that we have never heard of, never seen whom God is working with, because God’s plan is greater than we think!
 
·         Can God control the whole universe? Yes!
·         Can He control one cell? Yes!
 
As a matter of fact, it’s made in a miniature design of the universe. Guess what, out bodies have trillions of cells. Isn’t that amazing? Right while we’re sitting here, our stomachs and intestines are digesting breakfast, making room for our lunch that we’ll take in a little bit. Our bodies are adjusting to the heat and we’re going to need something to drink. You need water, air, food and all of those consist of cells. That’s amazing!
 
Just think about how much God loves you just in the physical creation. He didn’t put our ears in the back of our head. He didn’t put getting rid of the waste under our chin. He made us as human beings in His image! Now, he wants to make us in His likeness! How do we keep the first commandment going, loving God, and what does this produce?
 
1 John 1:3: “That which we have seen and have heard we are reporting to you in order that you also may have fellowship with us; for the fellowship--… [that’s what it is in the Greek; not a fellowship] …indeed, our fellowship--is with the Father and with His own Son Jesus Christ.”
 
That’s why we have prayer every day; little short ones all during the day. That’s how God leads you and guides you and gives you understanding. That’s also called, with God’s Spirit and God’s Word combined, the washing of the Word by the Spirit! We will see what that does in just a minute.
 
Verse 6: “If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness… [the way of the world] …we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the Truth.” A perfect description of Protestants and Catholics!
 
They keep Sunday. There are some Protestants that do preach a good deal of the Bible. But if you ask them:
 
·         What is God’s plan? We go to heaven!
·         Why do you keep Christmas? That’s when Jesus was born!
·         Why do you keep Easter? That’s when Jesus was resurrected!
 
You’re walking in darkness and you are not practicing the Truth! The Truth is the Sabbath and Holy Days, and none of that other nonsense!
 
Verse 7: “However, if we walk in the Light…” We are, because:
 
·         the Word of God is Light
·         His Spirit is Light
·         His Truth is Light
 
“…as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin” (v 7).
 
That’s the process of overcoming! Being cleansed of all sins!
 
Living in this age, we have more things smashed up against our brains and in our ears and eyes than any other generation has ever had, for good or for evil!
 
Jonathan just told me that they updated the Bible app, so if you if you have that you have to go and update it. They haven’t yet got it updated for apple, but it will be there. So, you have the Bible on a pad.
 
·         What do you do with it?
·         Do you use it?
·         Do you read it?
 
If you have it on your phone and you never use it, how much different is that if you have a Bible at home and it’s on the shelf. No difference!
 
Verse 8: “If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us. : If we confess our own sins…” (vs 8-9).
 
What does the daily prayer say? First thing, honor and hallow God! The next thing is ‘your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! Who is that referring to? To each one of you as you’re praying to God for His will in your life! Did Jesus have to do that on the night that He was arrested to be crucified? He had to agonize, because it was really a terrible thing that He went through!
 
Next time you have a little pity-party about how bad it is for you, go read what Jesus went through. Read Psa. 22. Then ask yourself: ‘What are my troubles?’ they’re nothing but God will help you with them!
 
“…He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (v 9). Seeking the Kingdom of God first, through the fellowship with God, and all of these things will be added to you, and become perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect! See how that fits together? That’s what we are to do daily.
 
I have to admit that this last week with all of this nonsense going on with this absolute satanic, insane impeachment going on, I was a little depressed. I was going around having my own little pity-party.
 
So, what I did, I told myself I had to stop that because there’s nothing you can do about it. What can you do about it? If you worry about it, what are you going to do? Nothing! So, concentrate on what God wants you to do.
 
Verse 10: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.” Who is the one who says that God is a liar? Satan the devil!
 
1-John 2:1: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And yet, if anyone does sin…”--because you have the pull of human nature, lust the eyes, lust of the mind, and you have television, cell phones, billboard signs and everything like that!
 
“…we have an Advocate… [advocating, interceding] …with the Father; Jesus Christ the Righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (vs 1-2). And we know that is in God’s time and plan!
 
Here’s how we know that we are doing what God wants there’s a lot of people who say that they love God, ‘I go to church every Sunday. We have a marvelous Christmas at home.’ Or a Catholic would say, ‘I go to Mass every day.’ What did God say? Once year! ‘Every day! You must be so righteous, it’s incredible!’ No! You’re deceived! I had one man say, ‘I don’t agree with you with IFMA—Independent free moral agency.’
 
Verse 3: “And by this standard we know that we know Him: if we keep His commandments.” That’s our reciprocity back to God!
 
Verse 4: “The one who says, ‘I know Him’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is not in him.”
 
I tell you what! I was thinking of going to one of these reunions of Ambassador College; they had one in Pasadena this year and I thought that maybe I’ll go. Byron Norrod said that he went one time and ‘I would say that you wouldn’t want to go, because it would really make you disappointed and maybe even mad.’ He went and there’s everything under the sun, and was shocked to see one of his classmates who was a minister in the Church (WCG) who is now a minister in the Lutheran Church and he had a big gold cross!
 
This is why we keep His commandments; that’s back to God. Look what He’s done for us with everything else. Notice what happens here:
 
Verse 5: “On the other hand, if anyone is keeping His Word…” What does that mean? Everything that He has spoken!
 
What did Jesus say? The first thing out of His mouth with the temptation of Satan the devil, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God!
 
“…truly in this one the love of God is being perfected….” (v 5). You cannot be perfected without Law-keeping! Why? Law-keeping requires what? Mind, emotion and action!
 
“…By this means we know that we are in Him…. [this is becoming perfect, right here]: …Anyone who claims to dwell in Him is obligating himself also to walk even as He Himself walked” (vs 5-6). This is becoming perfect!
 
Would you say that Christ is perfect? Yes, indeed! Perfected through the flesh and through the resurrection!
 
Verse 6 is a good one for Protestants and Catholics. And Sunday, you know that’s the thing. Where does it say at any time Jesus saying that ‘you have heard it said of old time that God is Lord of the Sabbath, but I tell you I’m Lord of Sunday.’ Do you find it in the Bible? No way! Who is the lord of Sunday? There is one who is the lord of Sunday, who claims to be God, and that’s Satan the devil! Maybe you never thought of it that way.
 
·         Can Satan be sweet? Yes!
·         Can Satan be gentle? Yes!
·        Can he say he’ll give you a benefit? Yes! I’ll give you many benefits! Yes, he can!
 
That’s what the obligation for us!
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