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People of The Living God |
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December 2019
WATCHMEN ON THE WALLS
THE FOOLISH FIVE
Harry Miller
“Our lamps are going out” (marginal reading). This was a mortifying discovery: and especially so when they suddenly realized that they were completely unprepared for the major event of a lifetime. The “foolish” are satisfied with a shallow experience: a smattering of religion but not enough to make any definite change in their ways of life. “Every one that heareth these sayings of Mine and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matt. 7:26,27). It takes genuine effort to put a foundation on rock, for this requires that a man “dig deep.” The foolish find it so much easier to set up their dwellings upon the shifting sands of human whim and popular concepts.
A certain fool said to his soul: “Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” This fellow’s sense of values was calculated by things. Like all fools, he felt secure in the possession of things of the material. He was ignorant of that certain law of being which declares: “He that seeketh to save his life shall lose it.” However, the Lord interrupted the smug satisfaction of this character who had so successfully acquired such an impressive array of wealth: “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20) There is no record of the man’s reply to this question when he stood upon the brink of eternity!
There are Christian believers of a certain class, whose hearts are filled with thorns which crush out all of the good seed of the Spirit that is sown there by the faithful Comforter: “and they which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection” (Luke 8:14). Not all foolish virgins are overcome with “riches” or “pleasures” – some of them fall victim to a very common enemy – “cares…of this life.” Notice that the Saviour has placed “cares of this life” in the same category with “surfeiting and drunkenness:” “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34).
The angels of heaven must marvel at the astounding stupidity of certain members of the human race in their utter disregard for the words of the Saviour in His absolute proclamation that “no man can serve two masters…ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). This declaration of the Lord’s is not an admonishment or a command: it is a statement of fact. It simply cannot be done; no man can serve both God and mammon. Only the most foolish person would dare to rise up in the face of such an announcement and try to do the impossible! Yet the vast majority of those who make up our present-day, so-called Christendom actually devote more of their time to trying to serve mammon than they do to trying to serve God.
The present-day, professing Christian is often enticed into the service of mammon by our modern form of civilization. It is so easy to fall prey to the compulsion of “the beast” and become a bond slave to the carnal way of life. Greed and lust for the possession of things are never satisfied; the heart that foolishly chases earthly fancies is never content: “Here a little, and there a little,” and the cares of this life begin to multiply, until there is little place left for God in a heart so “overcharged.”
Twentieth century man is a slave to his appetites and to his passions. Deep down within him greedy desires for possessions create drives that force him on to expend efforts far beyond the scope of human endurance: this is one reason for many of the heart failures today, and also, in many cases, for the snapping of mental powers which land the victims somewhere in a hospital for the insane. In the days of mere physical slavery, the whip could strike only human flesh; but in these times of soul-servitude to mammon it is quite possible for the whip to lash both the body and the soul.
“The Nazarene” has invited men to take His yoke upon them; but a great number of professing Christians actually seem to prefer to “make bricks for Pharaoh” (mammon). What sort of faith do most professing Christians have anyway? They say that they trust the Lord to save their souls in eternity; but very few appear to trust themselves in His hands for this present life! Here is Christ’s command to those who would be His followers: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things (all the things we have need of) shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). His way of life is so free from cares that He commands His followers: “Take no thought for the morrow.”
He who lives foolishly certainly must also think foolishly; therefore, doesn’t it seem only reasonable to conclude that what he calls his “faith” is more likely to be just a lot of foolish wishful thinking? The fool is the individual who, after hearing the will of God, turns from the Lord’s way and resorts to working out the devices of his own will. The Psalmist said, in two different Psalms (Psalm 41:1 and 53:1), “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.” The words “there is” are in italics, which indicate that these words are not found in the original text. I am inclined to believe that the fool says in his heart, “NO,” to God. Self-centered men are self-deceived; they seem to have convinced their minds of one thing, yet in their hearts (or spirits) they are fostering another, perhaps contrary, idea. “This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips (This kind of devotion is that of the fool who is appeasing his own troubled soul with the sop of make-believe; conscience demands that he recognize his Creator, so he nods nonchalantly toward God, and confesses that He is; however, this confession has made little or no change in the fool’s way of life); but their heart is far from Me” (Matt. 15:8).
Paul, in his epistle to Titus, wrote concerning the foolish virgins: “They profess that they know God (Note that these are not infidels – they are believers, they make open testimony that they know God): but in works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient” (Titus 1:16). Here, again, we have that word disobedient: they heard the word of God, but they refused to do what He commanded. Resistance to God and rebellion at His word are activities that develop the fool nature. After rebelling ten times at the word of the Lord, Pharaoh became a complete fool, and he fell into the trap that cost him and thousands of his own people their lives.
Go into any church in the land where there are fifty or more people assembled and you will surely see looks of great piety on the faces of the so-called Christian believers, as though they were doing God a great service by coming out to His house. Yet, in such a gathering it would actually be very difficult to find more than one or two individuals who were not playing the fool. This present generation of believers can find their counterpart in the apostate Israel of the prophet Ezekiel’s day: “Thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking…saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they will not do them” (Ezek. 33:30-32). Here, you have a graphic picture of the so-called “nominal” Christian. Hearing, but not doing, is the cardinal sin of the foolish.
Man should consider it an extremely good fortune to be able to hear the will of God: there have been many who have not been so fortunate. We of this age are especially blessed with an abundant revelation of His will. Is it not an atrocious affront to the good hand of God when man refuses to do his will? “He hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken His commandment” (Num. 15:31). This is a crime of major proportions. What depths of wickedness must lie at the bottom of a heart that rebels against the will of its Maker? “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft” (I Sam. 15:23). Spirits of evil actually inspire the rebel. Such an individual is unctionized – anointed with demoniac inspiration – and he becomes an active agent of the evil forces who delight in degrading the work of the Lord.
The denying of Christ by open rebellion is indulged in only by the basest of the foolish. The more widespread denial of the Lord is effected by the human heart in a more and elusive and subtle manner: believers agree with the Lord, but they postpone doing His will. The fears of the troubled heart are often allayed by good intentions. Man tells himself that as soon as it is convenient he will do the will of God; thus he ascribes to unfavorable conditions and circumstances beyond his control – the blame for his not immediately doing God’s will. “A more convenient day” is never found by the individual who postpones doing the will of God, for after a while he realizes in his own mind that his good (?) intentions were only a shoddy excuse and a means to escape doing what he knows he ought to have done.
Like drug addicts, or confirmed alcoholics, these people “want to do right” (another sop to the conscience) but they just can’t bring conditions around to the place where the “right” can be done. Such people live under the cloud of self-conscious neglect. In moments of tragedy the nakedness of such hearts is openly manifest, and they are keenly conscious of their wretched condition: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord?” (Heb. 2:3) Neglect can be just as disastrous as rebellion, for the postponing of doing the will of God is, in the final sense, an act of rebellion, whether the act is performed instantly or drawn out over a long period of time. As a matter of fact, a rebellious act brought about by an emotional explosion is not as great a sin as the continuous stubborn rebellion of the individual who simply postpones doing the will of God. Jesus explained this condition in the following parable: “A certain man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They (the priests and elders) say unto him, The first” (Matt. 21:28-31). It is not what men say that counts with God – it is what they do.
“Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) It is a baffling thing to try to figure out why men will claim Christ as Lord and yet refuse to obey Him. “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14) seems to be the visible testimony and actual publicly demonstrated attitude of most of the present-day professing Christian church. Jesus Christ has been accepted as the Saviour; His atonement for the sins of the human race has been fully received. All the gifts and graces of divine favor are freely admitted into the arms of a greedy generation. But obligation to the Creator, and such words as rule, and obey, are out of the question. “It’s all grace,” the multitudes cry. Reeling with blind stupidity they add, “Let us not get under the law.”
“FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD”
James 2:20
Harry Miller
The author of the book of James had no confidence in faith that was without works. Faith is not something potential like the power in a storage battery, neither is it a reserve force stored within man. Faith can be likened to electricity. Whenever it is evident, it is operating. Electrical energy is never dormant nor inert; it is only energy, or power, when it is actually working.
The use of electrical energy as man's servant is completely modern. Electric power has been available to mankind for thousands of years, but it was discovered and made useful for less than two centuries now. Faith, likewise, has been available as man's helper since the beginning of time, but comparatively few men have ventured into the sphere of its possibilities.
Down through the ages, there have always been a few saints who have dared to tread the path of great faith: the faith that “moves mountains.” It is men such as these who have yielded themselves to that unseen, mysterious force which has often accomplished what we term “the impossible.” And also, through the ages, there have been the mystics, the soothsayers, the necromancers, the astrologers, and the spiritualists who have exercised their particular brand of faith and have also accomplished what has appeared to be “the impossible.”
To us, this thing called faith is a peculiar element. The Scriptures tell us that it is the gift of God; and, strange as it may seem, it is a gift which He gives freely, in many different forms, to all mankind. Like the rain which He causes to fall upon the just and the unjust, so also is this force dispensed to all. Again and again it has been demonstrated that both the righteous and the wicked have access to God's storehouse. Blasphemers lost at sea, aimlessly drifting for days on a raft, have suddenly become men of faith. In their desperate extremities they have grasped at the invisible straws, and as they cried out to the Lord, they appropriated that mystical substance called faith; and “as their faith was” so it was unto them. Out of various wars have come many accounts of those who were miraculously delivered in such ways. It is well to note that such acts of operative faith are not necessarily evidence that these people were obedient servants of the Lord. As a matter of fact, the evidence is that many of them were extremely ungodly.
God has answered the prayers of many an ungodly man in his hour of desperate need. God was justified in answering, not because of the man's righteousness, but because the man's faith challenged heaven to intervene in his behalf. Bear in mind that it was not the man's prayer that moved the hand of Providence; it was the man's faith. His prayer was but the visible manifestation of his inward faith, and his faith was the product of his desperate situation. Much like a rat driven into a corner, man often finds himself squeezed by circumstances that cause him to exercise the dormant powers that often lie deep below the veneered surface of civilized humanity. The possibility of exercising faith lies within the power of all of us; God created us so.
Most people are so sensual that they are dead to faith. Glutted with material things, and living only to please their carnal natures, they have no understanding of the finer things of life. Even as the moles that crawl in the dust of the earth, most people know only the satisfying of the appetites of the physical body. Such people are of the earth. As a rule, in the day of calamity or disaster they go to pieces in abject despair and usually perish like dumb brutes. However, there are a few who will “look up,” and then a miracle of deliverance occurs.
“Without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).
Not everyone who exercises faith pleases the Lord, for there are many who have taken hold of the forces of the supernatural and have made havoc of the work of God. We are told that the day of Pentecost was the “day of miracles,” the time of great display of miraculous power. But, according to Peter, and to the prophet Joel, “The last days” are to be the days of the greatest outpouring of the powers of supernatural things. Only a blind materialist would now deny the miraculous. “Miracle-workers” have multiplied themselves in the last few decades. Spiritualists, snake handlers, and so-called Christian healers have made big business out of the exercising of faith.
When any man works a miracle it is evident that he must have faith, but that man's faith is no proof that he is a child of God.
Possibly the most hated man of the Old Testament was Balaam, the son of Bosor. He had faith and was a worker of miracles. He knew how to manipulate the forces of the supernatural by his faith, but he was an enemy of God; and as such, his final destination could have been none other than the fire of hell.
The false prophets of this latter day are doing “many wonderful works” in the name of the Lord. They “cast out devils,” and they “prophesy in His name,” yet in the day of judgment Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you” (Matt. 7:21-23). Brother James asks: “Can faith save?” (chapter 2, verse 14)
The worst enemies of Christ are those of His own household: those who profess that they know Him; those who take hold of His power and exploit everything of God that can be turned to their own personal advantage. To say that they do not have faith, and that they do not believe, is to talk nonsense. They have faith. They do believe. But they are lawless: rebels who “by violence take the kingdom of God” for selfish ends.
The modern carnal man does not deny the reality of the things of the Spirit of God; he believes in them and uses them for his own selfish purposes. God, heaven, the Holy Spirit are to many people a source of supply of power and energy. These people consider it their right to appropriate and use this power whenever and however they see fit. To such people The Spirit is not a person whose will in the matter should be consulted. They brazenly force their demands in the spirit, wresting IT from the Spirit, that they might use IT for their own ends.
Working of faith is no evidence that the operator is a child of God. Spiritualists, practitioners of mental science, advocates of Yoga, “Christian Scientists,” all operate supernormal powers by faith, yet their lives and their works deny Christ.
Most of the so-called “Holiness,” Pentecostal and Charismatic faith healers who run to and fro across the country from one big campaign to another also have great faith in the Spirit's power: they work miracles; but their lives are devoted to self. They refuse the way of their cross and walk in the flesh. “These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 12,13).
The number of miracle workers and faith healers in the world today is becoming legion. So popular is the “healing” evangelist that almost all others are considered to be mere “duds.” The practitioners of the so-called Christian healing campaigns have stolen the show from all the others. Literally thousands of these miracle workers have been turned loose upon the sheep of our nation. And it is quite evident that “the people love to have it so.” The millions of dollars that are being poured into this kind of religious entertainment is proof that the masses are pleased with what they are getting. Faith is paying off for the faith healer. So great is the prosperity of many of these healers that, because of the vigilance of the United States Treasury Department, they are often compelled to build “greater barns.”
The caption on the front page of one faith healer's magazine was this:
“My pledge to God…to touch neither the gold nor the glory.”
Isn't it odd that none of the apostles ever found it necessary to make such a pledge? It is also strange that none of the holy prophets of old ever encountered such temptation that a pledge was needed.
It seems so strange that the man of God in this latter day would find that a ministry of faith would bring him into a struggle with temptations that none of the men of faith encountered in ages gone by. In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews we read: “By faith Moses…choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt…by faith he forsook Egypt…David also, and Samuel and the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn assunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith”
The disciples of Christ were never popular in the eyes of men. Paul said they “were of no reputation,” and were often considered “the offscouring of the earth.” Such men of faith were mocked, abused, persecuted, and finally killed. They had no need to worry about the glory; there were too many “thorns in the flesh” for these servants of Christ.
The apostle Paul had no need to pledge to the Lord that he would never touch the gold. He said, concerning his ministry: “In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in cold and nakedness” (II Cor. 11:27). Paul also said, concerning the glory: “If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities” (verse 30).
History tells us that Paul was beheaded in Rome; Peter was crucified upside down; James was slain by the sword; and John the Beloved was banished to a lonely island. None of these men ever had a thought of worldly gold or glory. For them, in the earth there was no gold or glory.
Jesus stated in His sermon on the mount: “Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for behold your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:22-26).
KEEP MY WORDS
Harold Scullin
“Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5-11).
In reflecting upon this Scripture, the human mind would reason concerning this miracle that was about to be performed: how wonderful to have been one of the servants who filled the waterpots with water, then bore them to the governor of the feast! How thrilling to have shared the secret from “whence the good wine came”!
The natural mind of man is full of vagaries – erratic impulses – governed by emotions that satisfy the flesh and the ego. The individual who walks in the flesh is interested only in those results that cater to the selfish desires of his fancies.
Just how many people today would be willing to blindly obey the instructions Mary gave to the servants: “whatsoever he saith unto you, do it”? Jesus commanded, “Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim” (John 2:7). “Draw out now, and bear to the governor of the feast. And they bare it” (John 2:8). These were obedient servants. They did what He asked, when He asked, and how He asked that it be done. All without questioning.
Have you ever wondered why it is so absolutely necessary that we obey the commands of Jesus? Certainly, one very valid reason for obeying the commands of Jesus is because He is the author – He is the Commander. It is He who designed the pathway for His servants to follow. The commandments are the Jesus Christ way. This way is so fraught with hazards, pitfalls, snares, and dangers that mere human wisdom is unable to cope with these conditions and to plot a safe course.
Deception and deceit, along this way, are so cleverly camouflaged by “the father” of lies and deception (John 8:44), and “his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (II Cor. 11:14,15) that the finite mind of man cannot discern between the genuine and the false. Man can be deceived by his own heart through the exercise of self-will and headiness and a determination to have his own way and do that which he desires. “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). So deceitful is the human heart that “it is not in man to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23).
Divine guidance and intelligence, plus a determination to walk as we are guided and led, are requisites for a safe journey through this (maze) of deceitfulness, confusion, disorder, and darkness. The Lord has provided the means whereby we can walk in His ways without needing to turn to the right or to the left, or to walk in darkness. “thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). “the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light” (Prov. 6:23). Also, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). In His love and mercy for His people, would He not design and devise the very best way and the safest route for His servants to follow? The answer is an unequivocal “Yes”! His commandment, His law, and His Word constitute the Jesus way.
The Jesus Christ way is a strait way, a narrow way (Matt. 7:14). “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Matt. 7:21,22). Here are people who have had supernatural manifestations – prophecy, power to cast out devils, power to do many wonderful works in Jesus’ name – yet Jesus will say of them “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23). It is evident that they were not in the “strait way.” The way of the Lord Jesus is so strait and narrow (confining, restricting, restraining and circumscribed) that only a few will find it, let alone actually walk in His paths!
This statement, “only a few will find it,” seems like a paradox when we consider what is happening in the religious world of today. The Baptists, the Catholics, the Methodists, the Lutherans, the Episcopalians, the Jesus people, among others, in many universities, and in business men’s associations – all are claiming to be receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, with speaking in tongues. Does this necessarily mean that these groups have found the Jesus Christ way? Emphatically no! Neither does it mean that this experience they are receiving is evidence of God’s blessing and sanction upon their particular denomination – even though they, no doubt, would say differently.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter reminded the people of the prophecy of Joel: “I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh…for the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:17,39). The Baptism of the Holy Spirit, with speaking in tongues as evidence, is Scriptural, and every child of God should partake of it, but the Baptism of the Spirit of God is more than an experience. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit is a teacher – a reminder – and a guide. “He,” the Holy Spirit, was sent for the express purpose of teaching us, and reminding us of what Jesus taught and said, and of guiding us into all truth.
Are the masses who say they are being filled with the Holy Spirit being taught and guided into the way of Jesus? How has this experience affected their lives? Are they walking in the “highway of holiness” or do they still retain their old ways? Are their daily lives a testimony to the glory of God, or are things as Isaiah prophesied, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people. To whom He said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept…line upon line…here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken” (Isa. 28:11-13). An experience as glorious as the infilling of the Spirit of God should completely revolutionize the life of an individual. No longer should he walk in the ways of the world and the flesh – he should now “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4; II Cor. 5:17). His desires, his purpose, his every thought should be to live and walk according to the Jesus Christ way. Beware of any experience that does not change your own way of life and draw you closer to the Lord Jesus.
Another very important reason for obeying the commandments is that they are the laws, the statutes, of the Kingdom of God. Also, these laws and commandments are the will of God for His people. Only those who obey the commandments will be permitted to “enter in through the gates into the city” of God (Rev. 22:14). To be able to properly evaluate the commandments, each child of God must understand the design and purposes of the Lord for His people, and His plan and means for the working out of His purposes.
God planned and purposed “before the foundation of the earth” (I Peter 1:20; Rev. 13:8) to have a family, a group of people who would “be partakers of the divine nature” (II Peter 1:4). They would “be like Him” (I John 3:2). They would be “incorruptible” and “immortal” (I Cor. 15:51-55). They would “love Him” (John 14:15,21,23). This was His Purpose.
The means by which He would bring His people into this state of divinity was to be His word, His law, His commandments. David said, concerning the word of God, “Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2). This is the value the Lord God Himself places upon His word. So high and exalted is His word that “heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35). “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18). The word of God is eternal; it is indestructible. His words are a foundation to build on and to stand on, “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them” shall be like “a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Matt. 7:24,25). “But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 3:10,11). His word, His law, and His will are all one. These are the means by which He will bring forth “the precious fruit of the earth” (James 5:7) – His family.
Another very important reason for obeying and keeping the commandments: they are a protection to the child of God, and to all that the Lord has given him charge over. They are the source of the blessing of God in an individual’s life. God is honored in the keeping of His word.
Satan recognized this, for this was one of the accusations he brought before the Lord concerning Job – “Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land” (Job 1:10). Satan not only recognized this hedge, he had to respect it. He was helpless to break through this hedge to strike at Job. Friends, here is a marvelous truth. As long as Job remained within the confines of the hedge, all hell, even Satan, himself, could not reach him. He was protected, his house was protected, and “all that he hath on every side,” the “works of his hands” were blessed and his “substance” increased. WHY?? Here are Job’s own words – “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food (Job 23:12). WHAT A TESTIMONY!! Is it any wonder that God permitted Satan to try this man to the utmost? God knew His man. His man knew His word. The word of God sustained him in his hour of need. Job vindicated the great God in obeying His word, His commandments.
There is a price to pay for the blessing of God in our lives. “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:4). Obedience, surrender of our wills, submission to His will are all demanded of those who will enjoy the riches of God’s blessing in their lives. Here are the conditions which must be met: “If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments – the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be: in the city, in the field, the fruit of thy body, the fruit of thy ground, the fruit of thy cattle…when thou comest in and when thou goest out, thine enemies to be smitten before thy face, the Lord shall command the blessing upon thy storehouse, and in all that thou settest thine hand to do, the Lord shall establish thee an holy people, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God” (Deut. 28:1-14).
And to this the words of the Lord Jesus agree: “If a man love me, he will keep my words” (John 14:23). “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (John 14:21).
Here, then, is the hedge. Here is protection from the onslaughts of the enemy. Here is the place of God’s blessing: the keeping and doing of His commandments. “Jesus Christ (is) the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8). He is the same; His word is the same. The blessings of the Kingdom of God are for those who will honor the Lord God by obeying His Word through love and devotion.
“PLEADING THE BLOOD”
Alfred King
I was recently asked about the practice among certain Christians of pleading the blood of Jesus Christ. There are some Christians who believe and teach that this practice is not biblical, stating that it is not mentioned in scripture, nor was it a tradition of the Jews, the Apostles, or the early Christians. Those who reject this teaching claim that those who do plead the blood in prayer are those who revert back to the Old Testament, usually drawing this custom from the first Passover when the Israelites placed the blood of a lamb on the two door posts and the lintel of their houses in Egypt. The blood was their safety from death as the Lord passed through Egypt slaying all the firstborn of the land. When the Lord came to a house which had the blood sprinkled on the door posts and lintel in that house the firstborn was spared. This is not actually the foundation for pleading the blood under the New Covenant.
Pleading the blood is a tradition found primarily among Pentecostals and Charismatics and, unfortunately, has been, in many cases, misrepresented by both groups. At the origin of the Pentecostal movement, as people were brought into a deeper spiritual experience and a keener awareness of the spiritual world, the power of the blood of Christ was made vividly clear to those early Pentecostals, especially to those who were baptized in the Holy Spirit. The early Pentecostals believed this new spiritual move of God which fell upon them was similar to that which was experienced by the Apostles and the early church shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven. Jesus had told His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. Luke writes of this wonderful flood of the Holy Spirit and the power of God that accompanied that outpouring in Acts 2. Those disciples were never the same after the “promise of the Father” came upon them. So great was the force and energy of the Holy Spirit that thousands were added to the church and many miracles and healings were manifested. At one gathering the very shadow of Peter brought healing to many.
It is certain that the more recent Pentecostal movement, which began in 1905, never attained to or equaled the power of that first outpouring; nevertheless, many lives were changed, healings followed, and multiple miracles were seen.
The Charismatic Movement followed years later, beginning in the fifties, although it didn’t attain much growth or recognition until the sixties as this new approach to God began to spread. Many Coffee Houses sprang up throughout the land in the late sixties and into the seventies. These Coffee Houses were places where Christians and non-Christians could go, have some non-alcoholic beverage, eat some snack, and listen to “Christian” music. There would always be people there to minister to those who came and many were saved and converted into the Charismatic Movement. The Charismatic movement began to affect and infiltrate all the major denominations, including the Catholic Church. There were Charismatic Methodists, Charismatic Baptists, Charismatic Lutherans, Charismatic Presbyterian, etc. Many non-sectarian, independent Charismatic churches sprang up as well, and religion was very important to most people during that time. It seemed that the Holy Spirit would just fall upon people from various denominations as they were seeking God.
It is from these movements (Pentecostal and Charismatic) that the expression “Plead(ing) the blood” came into the Christian vocabulary. Most (if not all) of the mainline Protestant churches do not teach this nor practice it. Their basic opposing stance is that it is not seen in scripture nor practiced by the early church.
The fact that a specific word or phrase is not used in scripture is not a good argument or reason for denouncing a doctrine or practice. Quite a few doctrines are given names or titles so when one refers to a doctrine by a specific name or word, everyone knows what doctrine or teaching he is referring to. While People of the Living God does not believe in a Millennium, and although the word “Millennium” does not appear in scripture, most Protestants believe it and teach it. And, while the Sabbath very often is found in the canon of scripture, Sunday worship is not found nor is Sunday worship commanded, yet most Protestants observe Sunday. The point here is that even mainline churches do not reject a topic on the premise that it is not given a certain title in scripture. Our quest for truth is not in finding a specific word in scripture and then building a doctrine on it, but whether the doctrine is actually scriptural and, once discovered, possibly a name placed upon the doctrine afterward. The word “Rapture” is not found in the Bible, yet most Christians hold to some form of a “Rapture.” (Some pre-trib, some mid-trib, and some post-trib.)
“Plead(ing) The Blood” A Legal Term
In an article from the “Got Questions” website, (https://www.gotquestions.org/pleading-the-blood.html) the author states, “‘Pleading the blood’ has no clear basis in Scripture”. I find this is a true statement; for the statement by this author does not say there is no basis in scripture, rather, “no clear basis”. He leaves this to the reader to examine the scriptures for himself and determine where the truth lies. So let us examine this in the light of scripture.
To begin, we must realize that the phrase as it is used by Christians is a legal term. Therefore, we need to understand this expression in light of the law. I believe the easiest way to comprehend this and get a grip on it is by referring to the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution contains several amendments. The First Amendment offers freedom of religion and freedom of speech. The Second is the freedom to bear arms. An Amendment commonly used (many times without any seriousness) is the Fifth Amendment. We may be jesting about something and then we say, “I plead the fifth.” The Fifth Amendment was added in order that a citizen is protected from self-incrimination in a court of law. It gives a person the right to refrain from incriminating himself when he is before a judge or jury. Usually, the accused is not required by law to take the stand because he could be asked a question that, if he answered truthfully, might incriminate him. However, if the accused does take the stand, he waves his right to plead the Fifth Amendment. Therefore, most accused never sit before the judge and jury to be questioned by the attorneys. However, if a witness to a crime is called to take the stand and is questioned by the attorneys, and a question comes to him that, if answered honestly, might in some way be self-incriminating, either in the present trial or in another unrelated incident that could possibly arise completely separate from the trial for which he is being questioned, he can plead the fifth and does not have to answer the question asked. In a similar manner, the term “plead the blood” is a spiritual legal term giving certain rights to a believer and is relative to the spiritual realm.
It is a sad fact that too many preachers and pastors have presented this phrase as a magical phrase that forces God to give you anything you want, much like we read in children’s fairy tales where a fairy godmother turns a pumpkin into a golden chariot and mice into fully harnessed and immaculately adorned horses. This is a most unfortunate and deplorable condition. Many believers have accepted this lie and think that they are pleasing God by such phony manipulations.
The Importance Of The Blood In The Old Testament
Under the Old Covenant order, God had Moses build a tabernacle, which was erected as a dwelling place for God. God desired to reside among His people Israel. However, God is holy and undefiled. Therefore, man being a sinner, unholy, and defiled could not go into the presence of God. The tabernacle was built with two rooms and an outer court. The outer court was the place where the priests would wash themselves in the lavers, and the place where the animals were slaughtered and sacrificed. Those sacrifices were for the purpose of placing the sins of the people upon the animal and the animal then being slain. Certain priests were given specific ministries to perform every day in the “Holy Place” (the first room in the tabernacle). The second room was called the “Most Holy Place” or the “Holiest of Holies”. Into this place the high priest alone was allowed to enter, and that only once a year after he had offered sacrifice for himself and for the sins of the people. In the Most Holy Place was the Ark of the Covenant, a mercy seat, and two Cherubims, with their wings spread overshadowing the mercy seat. In this holiest place God would meet with the high priest and give instruction for His people. If any man attempted to enter this place, he would be immediately killed because God cannot allow His holiness to be defiled by the presence of the unholy.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there was a New Covenant established for God’s people. The tabernacle which Moses erected was only a shadow or a type of the true tabernacle in heaven. When Jesus died, He took His precious blood, offered for the sins of the world, into the Holy of Holies in heaven and appeared before the God of the universe, where He presented it as an offering for the sins of all who will believe. The blood of Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel (II Tim. 1:10). The only way to God is through Jesus Christ because He lived a sinless life, and through that He was able to pay the penalty for all who are born again.
In Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Under the New Covenant, all believers can go into the presence of God without fear because of the blood of Jesus Christ. That blood is all-sufficient; therefore, it covers man’s sin and gives man access to God, so we can come “boldly” and with great confidence that we are accepted in the beloved. Pleading the blood should be understood as a truth that is so wonderful because our whole Christian life and experience is only because of the blood. Those who understand this, know the power of the blood when they plead that blood and walk in the power and victory provided through it.
The Purpose Of Pleading The Blood
What is “pleading the blood” and how does it legally function? Once a person is born again, he is removed from the kingdom of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s Son, Jesus Christ (Col. 1:13). As a citizen of the Kingdom of Christ, he has certain privileges and rights, much like citizens of the United States have rights under the Constitution. As a citizen of the kingdom, a child of the King, and an heir and joint-heir with Jesus Christ, he has authority given him through the death of Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus refers to His death; it is the blood of Jesus that washes away man’s sin (I John 1:7). It is through the blood that we are invited into the holiest (Heb. 10:19). We are called to wash our garments in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). These verses (and many more) all refer to the death of Jesus Christ and, through that sacrifice, all the blessings of God’s kingdom are available for the children of God, and our right to those blessings is through the blood (or death) of Christ Jesus.
We are called to put on the whole armor of God that we may stand against the “wiles” of the devil (Eph. 6:11). In every battle or war, there are weapons used for the battle, without which the battle could never be won. However, behind these weapons there are other things just as important: they are training and strategy. Both of these involve knowledge and wisdom, and they include knowing the laws of one’s country. Soldiers must follow and abide by the orders of their superiors and the laws of the nation for whom they are fighting. So we see that victory is gained not only because one has armor and a sword, but included in one’s victory is the knowledge and ability to use those weapons, along with the strategy which the commanding officers have set in motion. Pleading the blood is a part of that knowledge and strategy.
The devil comes as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). He comes to steal, kill, and destroy (Jn. 10:10). God has provided the armor necessary to defeat him, to push him back, and totally overcome him (Eph.13-17). This power is ours through the blood of Jesus. When we are engaged against the powers of evil, whether it be our carnal nature, the world and the pressures it places upon us, or actual enemies in the spiritual realm, it is through the blood (Christ’s death) that we have the authority and power to resist the devil and have him flee from us. As heirs and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ we have power through His blood where we can stand against all enemies and be victorious. Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.” Recognizing the power provided us through the blood of Christ and claiming that power with authority lets all enemies know that we know we have been given authority over them and over all the power the enemy claims.
Satan knows he is a defeated foe, for Jesus overcame him and took away from him any power or any hold he had on those who are born again. However, Satan likes to keep God’s servants in the dark and, through that, is able to hinder them in their walk with God. Once a Christian begins to understand that he has been given power and authority over all enemies, and that power is his to use against Satan, Satan has lost the battle and the war. This is not to say that victory just falls upon us, for we must engage in battle with the enemy. The battle may be fierce at times, but the victory is sure if we know where we stand in Jesus Christ and keep our eyes on Him and His power. We must engage the enemy with God’s power, not our own and remember that His power is ours only through the blood. When we plead the blood, we are letting Satan know that we know he is defeated. This is our legal right and legal standing in the kingdom of God. A few scriptures that are very helpful in our battle with the enemy(s) we encounter are listed at the end of this article.
It seems sad to me that so many Christians do not understand the power of the blood of Christ and the authority we have been given when we plead His blood. When we plead the blood, we are not pleading our righteousness, nor our strength, or our knowledge, or our abilities, we are claiming Christ’s. We are lifting up the blood, the cross, the death of our Lord Jesus Christ and recognizing His sufficiency and His Lordship, for He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Through Him the victory is sure. To Him be glory and honor and praise forever more.
Scriptures that help us in our battle with every enemy. To get the most benefit from these verses, it is advisable that you look up each of them and read them in their context. There are many more beside these but this will give one a good start.
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
John 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Matt 12:28-29 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
1 Cor 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Isa 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
Psaln 149:6-9 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.
THE TRUE ISRAEL OF GOD
The following article is Part One of a series of messages condensed from a larger work, “The True Israel Of God,” by L.R. Shelton, Jr., Pensacola, Florida.
It has been upon my heart for some time now to bring a series of messages on the subject, The True Israel of God, based upon the clear teaching of God’s Holy, inerrant, unbroken, verbally inspired Word.
In these messages we will seek to show, the Scriptures teach in clear, bold, unmistakable truths, that all Believers, God’s children by the New Birth, are the True Israel of God and that they are God’s chosen people upon the earth today and are the present heirs of the promises made to Abraham and his seed in Christ.
We will also show that the physical nation of Israel in the land of Palestine in the Near East today is not God’s chosen people or nation after the flesh, and neither will they ever again be dealt with as a nation in a so-called thousand years of earthly prosperity with Christ sitting upon an earthly throne in Jerusalem. No, the Scriptures plainly teach that the nation of Israel was set aside at Calvary and that God’s dealings with them now is the same as His dealings with the Gentiles, “For there is no respect of persons with God: there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 2:11; 3:22,23).
As I have studied this subject in the past years, my heart has been greatly blessed to see my spiritual position in Christ, based upon His election of grace, and how that I, as a child of God, am an heir of Abraham and the promises made to him in Christ as his seed. My one desire, therefore, in delivering these messages is to magnify my risen, exalted Lord Jesus Christ who sits upon His throne in heaven now ruling over His people and over all of the inhabitants of this earth. He Himself said in Matt. 28:18, “All power” – all authority – “is given unto me in heaven and in earth” and “Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him” (I Peter 3:22). For God has set Christ “at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:20-23). We will show from God’s Word that our Lord Jesus Christ is now King of kings and Lord of lords and that He already sits upon David’s throne in the heavenlies.
Another desire in bringing these messages is that the Holy Spirit will be pleased to open the eyes of His people to let them see the vast array of precious promises that are theirs as the spiritual seed of Abraham and that they will feed and live upon these promises as they wait for the Lord from heaven.
Now, with your Bible in hand, let us see what the Word of God teaches upon this subject. “To the law and to the testimony” (Isa. 8:20) what saith the Scripture? First, there is one Scriptural truth that must be kept in mind and it is this: the Scriptures teach us that in all of God’s dealings with mankind from the time of Adam we may discern the same principle at work: namely, “First the natural, then the Spiritual” (I Cor. 15:45-46). God has progressively revealed His purpose through, first, His dealings with the natural Israel; second, and finally, His dealings with spiritual Israel. There is no Scriptural basis for the regressive idea that God’s dealings will again be centered exclusively on natural Israel at some future date; this would be going from natural to spiritual and back to natural again. If you will check your Bible you will find that the writers of the New Testament did not violate this principle of God, for in relating over 100 Scriptures from the Old Testament they always gave them a Spiritual meaning and applied them to spiritual Israel, the Church, the born-again believers of all ages.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Brother Paul said that the revelation God gave him about the church unlocked a mystery which had been hidden in God since the beginning of the world, namely, that all of God’s people, whether Jews or Gentiles by natural descent, were to be members of the same body (Eph. 3:5,6,9).
To Paul it was revealed that it was God’s eternal plan to have – not a small nation of His own – but a worldwide body of people of His own drawn from all “nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Rev. 7:9). This was the great wonderful “Mystery of Christ” (Eph. 3:4) that Paul and the other New Testament writers came to understand and to preach.
In chapter 2 of Ephesians, Paul had said that in time past the Gentiles were “Without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). But now God was freely offering His unsearchable riches (Eph. 3:8) to people of all nations without requiring a change in their natural citizenship. Gentiles who had been aliens from the commonwealth of Israel were now, in Christ, no longer “foreigners, but fellowcitizens” with the new and spiritual Israel. Those who had been strangers from the covenant of promise were now, in Christ, “No more strangers…but members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).
So, the commonwealth of Israel, the family and household of God, now contained both Jews and Gentiles. Paul argued that this family and household was made up of only those who believed in Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Those who were citizens of the Israel of Old, but who had not received Christ, were simply unsaved members of one of the many nations of the world. Thus, he said, “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Rom. 9:6) and those who were not, he termed “Israel after the flesh” (I Cor. 10:18).
It matters not from which nation we came, for God “preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed” (Gal. 3:8). Therefore, those of every nation who avail themselves of the truth of the gospel become the children of Abraham, the children of God. There is no other way, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26).
Now, let us go to the Book of Hebrews and see this same truth illustrated over and over again: the truth that God has done away with the types and the shadows, also the physical things of Israel, which stood for a time, but have now given way to the spiritual realities as found in Christ. Since this has been accomplished by God in Christ, then to go back to an earthly temple, an earthly altar, an earthly priesthood, an earthly tabernacle, earthly animal sacrifices, an earthly covenant, an earthly throne and an earthly king in a so-called 1000 years of Jewish prosperity with Christ sitting upon an earthly throne in present Jerusalem would be “to turn again to the weak and beggarly elements” (Gal. 4:9). It would mean to put to naught this great Book of Hebrews and all its teaching that God in His eternal purpose has a better country, a heavenly, awaiting His people; in fact, better things than all the physical things of this life.
This Book of Hebrews – perhaps more than any of the Books of the Bible – stands as a source of frustration and embarrassment to those who teach that God plans to return one day to the natural trappings of the Old Jewish economy, to the natural land and city, the natural law and ordinances, the natural kingdom and throne, and the natural temple and sacrifices.
The Holy Spirit through the writer of the Hebrews shows us the overwhelming superiority of the new and better age that dawned at Calvary. He shows that after Calvary the natural types and figures had served their purpose and were vanishing away, having been replaced forever by the eternal and spiritual realities (Heb. 8:13).
Note the word “Better” as used in the Book of Hebrews. Did the Israelites’ fathers hear the voice of the prophets? We, the True Spiritual Israel, hear the better voice of God’s Son (Heb. 1:1-2). Did the Israelites have a high priest after the Levitical order? We have a better One after the Better and undying order of Melchisedec (Heb. 6:20; 7:28). Did they seek, unsuccessfully, for perfection through the law? We have a better hope through the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Heb. 7:19). Did they have an earthly sanctuary with a candlestick, table and shewbread and a tabernacle with the golden censer, the ark, and the mercy seat (Heb. 9:1-5)? We have Christ, “A greater and more perfect tabernacle” (Heb. 9:11). Did they have the blood of bulls and goats that could not take away sins (Heb. 10:4)? We have the incomparably better “Blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God” (Heb. 9:14). Did the Israelites receive an earthly land? We have “A better country, that is, an heavenly” (Heb. 11:16). Did they come to a mount that could be touched (Heb. 12:18)? We have come to the better Mount Zion (Heb. 12:22). Did they have the natural city of Jerusalem? We have the comparably better “City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22).
To go further, we as spiritual Israel have a better covenant, the New Covenant that was foretold by the Prophets and that, since Calvary, has forever replaced the old and faulty covenant (Heb. 8:1) that existed between God and Israel. The New Covenant is the covenant of which Jeremiah prophesied and that was fulfilled once for all, for both Jews and Gentiles, at the first coming of Christ. The New Covenant that God has made with the new Israel is “Not according to the covenant” that He made with natural Israel, which “Covenant they broke” (Jer. 31:32). “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel…I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts; and will be their God and they shall be my people…they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them” (Jer. 31:33,34).
Since Calvary, and forever, the New Covenant is God’s only Covenant with man, and it is based upon the better promises of the crucified, buried, risen, exalted Lord Jesus Christ. Its inauguration was announced by Christ on the night in which He was betrayed when “He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament” (Covenant) “which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:27-28). This covenant relationship with God, through the blood of Christ, is offered to as many as receive Him (John 1:12) prior to His second coming, for there will be no chance after He comes, for after His coming, comes the White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20.
This leads us to show that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is now sitting upon David’s throne in the heavenlies and that we as the true Israel of God are ruling and reigning with Him as the children of the kingdom.
Let us consider the words of the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:30-33 who had been sent of God to proclaim the gracious news to the Virgin Mary that she was to be the mother of the Messiah. “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
We know from the words of our Lord Himself as He stood before Pilate that this kingdom over which He would rule was not an earthly kingdom, but a spiritual. Listen to John 18:36! “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” And as the amplified puts it, “My kingdom (kingly, royal, power) belongs not to this world, has no such origin or source here.” This is very emphatic that our Lord never came to set up an earthly kingdom and it has never been in His eternal purpose to do so. It was revealed to the apostle Paul that it was God’s eternal purpose to give Christ a spiritual kingdom made up of both Jews and Gentiles, which was His church, the true Israel, who had been born again by His Spirit, washed in His redeeming blood, and clothed in His perfect robe of righteousness.
In Peter’s message on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, he said that the prophecy of Christ sitting upon David’s throne had been fulfilled. He said that Christ, then and there, was ruling and reigning upon the spiritual throne of David in the heavenlies: “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne: he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:29-36).
This states that the physical throne of David was a type and shadow of the spiritual throne of the Greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ, and this throne is an everlasting throne and not an earthly throne for just 1000 years.
This statement of Peter in Acts 2 concerning the Lord Jesus Christ ruling and reigning upon David’s spiritual throne in heaven, every Scripture in the New Testament confirms, and every promise in the Old Testament where the future throne of David is mentioned, looks forward to (II Sam. 7:16; Psalm 89:3-4; Isa. 55:3; 9:6-7; Jer. 33:21).
Let us look at a few in the New Testament. In Acts 5:31 we read, “Him” – Christ – “hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior.” I Peter 3:21-22 reads, “By the resurrection of Jesus Christ: who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.” Also, listen to Phil. 2:9-11! “Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above very name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” Again, Eph. 1:20-23 reads, “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Then add to this our Lord’s own words in Matt. 28:18 that “All power” – all authority – “is given unto me in heaven and in earth” and you have the complete picture of Christ ruling and reigning as Lord, as King over His people.
Having established the fact that Christ the seed and offspring of David after the flesh sits upon the throne of David in heaven, let us look at the promise made to David that his throne would be established forever. This is set forth in II Sam. 7:16. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.” In II Sam. 7:12 we see that the promises were to be fulfilled through David’s seed and the Seed, of course, is Christ “Which was made of the seed of David” (Rom. 1:3).
God promised that the seed of David would “Build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (II Sam. 7:13). The natural fulfillment of that promise came about when David’s son Solomon built the first temple in Israel, but of course, disobedience caused Solomon’s temple, throne and kingdom to crumble and disappear rather than survive forever. The complete fulfillment of the promises to David occurred after Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension (Acts 2:29-36).
We see, then, that the house or temple that Solomon built for God’s name was a natural type of the greater spiritual house of God, the church, True Israel, which was and is built by One “Greater than Solomon” (Luke 11:31). Our Lord told Peter that “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18) and for more than 19 centuries He has been doing exactly that, thus fulfilling God’s promise that the seed would “Build a house for my name” (Eph. 2:19-22).
This is clear that all the promises made to David have been fulfilled in Christ and that Christ Jesus our Lord rules and reigns now upon His throne, which fulfills the words spoken by the angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary in Luke 1:32-33. “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob” – over those who have the God of Jacob for their refuge (Psalm 46:7,11) – “for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
Let us go further. The kingdom of God is not a natural, earthly, political kingdom that will be established at some uncertain date in a little country in the Near East. No, it is a present, eternal, universal, immovable and spiritual kingdom. Taken in its proper context, the Greek word translated “kingdom” in the New Testament does not mean a physical kingdom with a specific and limited location; it means the role or reign or authority of God in the hearts and lives of His people, His church, the True Israel of God.
(This message, “The True Israel of God,” will be concluded next month.)