The Safe Place…In Christ

Old Paths Bible Ministries

Richard St.James

Preface:

Since 1973, I have had but one mission … to bring honor and glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I will be with them that will say:

“Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” [Revelation 5:13b]

Over the years I have written books. Here are sixteen books written for those who live in the 21st century:

1. Messages from the Messenger

This book has thirty-one "end of the age" messages for the 21st century believer in Jesus Christ. 

2. The Gospel of John

This book came from the studies in the Gospel according to John taught at Old Paths Baptist Mission.

3. The First Epistle of Peter

This book came from the studies in the First Epistle of Peter taught at Old Paths Baptist Mission.

4. The Book of Micah

This book came from the studies in the Old Testament book of Micah taught at Old Paths Baptist Mission.

5. The Things Revealed Belong Unto Us

It was my intention to place into this book the things that belong unto us, but have refused to accept and to obey.

6. Thy Kingdom Come

In this book are the things that are future and will come to pass.  

7. The Great Global Cooling

In these times, which we all live in, we see a great global cooling phenomenon occurring right before our very eyes. 

8. The Perfect Government

This book was written to those who have forgotten the basis of our nation.

9. Psalm 74 — the Apple of His Eye

This is a commentary of Psalm 74.  The book of Psalms is where a person can turn to in the time of their trouble, and get help from God. 

10. The Beginning of Sorrows

In this book we will continue with a series of messages expressly written to the 21st century inhabitants of this earth.

11. The Army of the Supernatural Horsemen in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ

In this book is a commentary. It is a commentary primarily on the latter half of the seven years of Tribulation soon coming to this Earth.

Chapters nine, and ten, in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, is the focus.

12. The Book of Hosea

This is a commentary of the book of Hosea, the prophet.

13. The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood

This is a study on one of the main targets of the Devil: The Comma.

In First John chapter five, most of verse seven, and part of verse eight, forms what is known as The Johannine Comma.

14. The General Epistle of James

This is a commentary of the book of James, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, and one of the Sons of Thunder.

15. The Lion of Juda Roared

We have here a compilation of messages on the topic of the inerrancy, transmission, and preservation of the word of God in the Authorized Version of 1611 Bible.

16. The Epistle to the Galatians

This a commentary of the Epistle to the Galatians.

17. The Safe Place…In Christ

This is a survey of the doctrine of salvation as found throughout the BOOK of God.  We will find Justification by Faith and Works has been displaced by Justification by Faith… only in this present dispensation of Grace. 

The only safe place for us all is to be covered under the wings of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. 

Thus, the only safe place is…in Jesus Christ!  To be a Christian means to be IN CHRIST. 

The Safe Place…

In Christ

Richard St.James ©2026

Proverbs 29:25

The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD

shall be safe.

This book is written in a time very near to the end of a dispensation … the dispensation of GRACE.  This book is written by a born again [John 3:3], saved by grace [Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:5], Gentile believer in Jesus Christ, who is now waiting for the great fly-away,  called the translation of the body of Christ [1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17], which is the church [Colossians 1:24], which event is soon to happen before the time of Jacob’s Trial [Jeremiah 30:7].

The Safe Place…In Christ

Topic 1 – Help                                                            

Topic 2 – Basic Truths

Topic 3 – While Man Sleeps

Topic 4 – The Instruction to Man

Topic 5 – The Pit

Topic 6 – The Messenger

Topic 7 – The Ransom

Topic 8 – The Land of Darkness

Topic 9 – The Light

Topic 10 – Other Ages

Topic 11 – Sin’s Consequences

Topic 12 – Supernatural Solution Unveiled

Topic 13 – The Law

Topic 14 – Faith

Topic 15 – The Fear of the LORD

Topic 16 – The Daysman

Topic 17 – The Covering

Topic 18 – The Redeemer

Topic 19 – The Savior

Topic 20 – Salvation in the Dispensation of Grace

Topic 21 – The Mystery of Christ

Topic 22 – Mystery of Christ in You

Topic 23 – Justification by Faith

Topic 24 – but Christ liveth in me

Topic 25 – Stand in Christ

Topic 26 – Two Different Things Are Not the Same

Topic 27 – Come Away

Topic 28 – The Translation of the Church

Topic 29 – Josiah – A Type Of The Translation

Topic 30 – Enoch – A type of the Body of Christ

Topic 31 – Changed

Topic 32 – In The Air

Topic 33 – The Safe Place

Topic 1 – Help

We need help!  Help starts here, in the Fifth Book of Moses called Deuteronomy:

“There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.” [Deuteronomy 33:26]

When “trouble” does come to you, my friend, you will need to learn a very important lesson: That ultimately man cannot help with … the things of life, which are the things that really matter: 

“Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.” [Psalm 60:11] 

You and I both, will need the “help” of God to go through these perilous times. 

The “help” of God formulates the very basis for the remedies, that are needed to counter the troubles that are found in life.   We need to go to God for help!    Then, God will come to us with that help! 

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” [Hebrews 4:16]

When God does come to “help” us, HE will form with HIS “everlasting arms” a “refuge” [or a covert] for us, like a mother hen does for her little chicks with the covering of her wings. 

Now, take notice of this very thing with me in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter thirty-three, starting with verse twenty-seven:

“The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. 

Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.

Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.” [Deuteronomy 33:27-29]

God is a refuge to those in trouble.  God is our strength in the time of trouble: 

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” [Psalm 46:1]

Now here is the promise of God to all men living during the future Kingdom of Heaven on earth:

“For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.” [Psalm 72:12]

Now what of today?

How can we get this help today?

If you want this help today, then read on.

Topic 2 – Basic Truths

Everyone that has ever walked on this planet in this life must come to terms with something called the basic truths of life. 

These will be the basic truths that no one can argue with, that is, if they are sane.  Of course, if you believe what God says in the BIBLE about you, then you will have no problem with accepting these basic truths:

·   The Brevity of Life

·   The Brevity of Your Remembrance

·   The Sureness of Trouble

·   The Verity Of The White Throne Judgment

·   The Eternality and the Finality of What You Do with Jesus Christ

·   That Men Never Learn from History

·         The Brevity of Life

“For what is your life?  It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” [James 4:14b].

Our life is brief!  It is like a vapor, or like a smoke. 

“Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of a hireling?” [Job 7:1] 

Man is born, and then, man will die!  This is certain! [The exception being Enoch and Elijah, and those believers in Jesus Christ who are alive when He comes for His Church.]  

·         The Brevity of Your Remembrance

You will soon be forgotten.  A man is remembered only a little while, and then, he is forgotten. 

“He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him anymore.  

Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, 

Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;  

A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.” [Job 7:10, 10:20-22]. 

·         The Sureness of Trouble

Life is a bale full of troubles.  I have also found this very true!!!  

“Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.  He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not” [Job 14:1].

·         The Verity Of The White Throne Judgment

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” [Hebrews 9:27]. 

You will not miss this one unless YOU ARE HID in the CLEFT OF THE ROCK!

·         The Eternality and the Finality of What You Do with Jesus Christ:

We will all be held accountable over this issue.   It is a hard fact of life, my friend. 

Now will you give God's offer of eternal life ...  purchased by His Son ... for all those who will put their trust in Him...a thumbs down?  You will everlastingly suffer the consequences!

·         That Men Never Learn from History

We learn from History That Men Never Learn from History!  It is a heart problem!  Men refuse to learn the lessons afforded by the light of HISTORY: The recorded historical events which occurred as fulfillment of Bible prophecy. 

Now, these are the basic truths, which we all must deal with one way or another!

Topic 3 – While Man Sleeps

God has given something precious to us.  HE has given to us…our lives.  Think about it long and hard, God is GOOD! 

Now, every person on the face of this earth has been given this life that they now live by the breath of God, whether they ever realize it, or not. 

Now how do we know this?   Well, we know this, because God has written it down in a BOOK. 

Now, open this BOOK, which is the Authorized Version of 1611, or any of its editions, to the book of Job, chapter thirty-three, and we will start reading at verse four:

Job 33:4: “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.”

We must now consider the things that happens to a man in the night while he sleeps.   While man sleeps very strange things happens to him in his dreams.  For these strange things to be observed by us, we will need to continue with verse fifteen:

Job 33:15: “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;”

Notice: This thing is universal!

Topic 4 – The Instruction to Man

We will now continue here, in the book of Job:

Job 33:16: “Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,”

God gives to each man INSTRUCTION.  Question: Did the reality of this truth ever occur to you? 

Maxim: God gives to each person living on this earth a personal instruction.  Question: Why does God give instruction to each MAN?

Job 33:17: That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.”

Mans purpose here on earth is not for good, and man’s pride is not for good.

The Abyss…in the nether parts of the earth

Topic 5 – The Pit

Attention: These instructions are given to men by God with the intention for man’s good.  God does not desire for any man to go down to the PIT of HELL.  PROOF?  Read the Second Epistle of Peter, chapter three, verse nine:

 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Now where is this pit?  This pit is in the nether parts of the earth, and the nether parts of the earth is in the core of the earth.  This pit is also, called HELL, and we see the truth of this shown in the book of Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 31:16: “…when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: …in the nether parts of the earth.”

  We will continue now here in this matter of what is happening to us while we sleep.  So, man while in his slumber [in his sleep] is being chastened by God in the deepness of the night.  God gives instruction to men, to plead with them over the issues of life.  Now in our imagination we can see this life and death struggle occurring and unfolding before our very eyes in the verses that follow:

Job 33:18-30: “He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:

So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.

His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.

Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.”

Topic 6 – The Messenger

Next, we will see a messenger, WHO will reprove him, as is found in the book of Psalms, Psalm fifty, verse twenty-one:

“…but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.”  

This is equivalent to the interpreter, who is found in the Gospel according to John, chapter sixteen, verses eight and nine.  God sends the prophets and preachers, but HE also pleads directly to men as a messenger:

Jerremiah 2:9: “Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.”

God pleads with all men everywhere even in their sleep!

God, both in your waking of the day, and in your slumber of the night is showing all men their true condition: their lack of uprightness:

Now, for verse twenty-three, and twenty-four:

“If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:”

Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.”

Topic 7 – The Ransom

God has found a ransom!  This ransom would enable the keeping of men’s souls from going down into the pit.

Hosea 13:14: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.”

Once the ransom is paid by someone, then men can be born a second time.  We now will continue:

Job 33:25: “His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth:”

Man’s relationship with God will be restored.

Job 33:26: “He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.”

Now, this is nothing less than a picture of salvation.  We see next the invitation God makes to all men:

Job 33:27-28: “He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;

He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.”

Observation: God is presently drawing men to salvation:

Job 33:29-30: “Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man,

To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.”

Topic 8 – The Land of Darkness

Job 10:21-22: “Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;

A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.”

Soon every one of us will leave this world to never return.  As Job, the light we all live in today in the 21^st century, is a kind of very dim light. We might say this light is as darkness.

Further, while we are yet living, we are also, traveling.  We are all traveling to the land of darkness.  The shadow of Death is fast approaching for each and every one of us.  Before we even realize it, DEATH will have us completely gripped, locked in its grasp.

Now, for the discerning soul, this darkness can be eerily felt.  One can literally feel the darkness around them, till it even makes their skin crawl!  This darkness in our land today can be felt, even as the darkness was felt in old times by the inhabitants of the land of Egypt.  It is recorded in the Second Book of Moses, called the Exodus:

Exodus 10:21: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.”

Now, this darkness has come to all of us, who are living today, when our first father, Adam, had sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, as shown in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen:

1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Thus, in this darkness, that we all live in, we grope, as blind men, even in the light of noonday sun, just as Israel did in the wilderness as it is recorded in the Fifth Book of Moses, called Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 28:29: “And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.”

This is a darkness where no man can prevail:

1 Samuel 2:9: “He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.”

So, the lamp, that dwells in the thick darkness, is our only hope to live in the Light:

2 Samuel 22:29: “For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.”

1 Kings 8:12: “Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.”

Topic 9 – The Light

The lamp shines forth light.  Jesus Christ is that LIGHT!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  

The same was in the beginning with God.  

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” [John 1:1-5].  

Beware, Adam's sin has darkened our eyes.  Sin is as a plague!  This plague has been passed down from generation to generation, throughout the last the six thousand years.  You might say, we are as dead men, walking around, lost in the woods:  

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” [Romans 5:12]. 

Comment: One day, Old DEATH will grab you by the shoulder for a little journey, my friend.  Are you ready to travel to your long home?

Ecclesiastes 12:5: “Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:”

Remedy: Jesus Christ came to this earth, nearly two thousand years ago, so that men … might believe.  This was the witness of no less than John the Baptist.  Now, see this for yourself:

“The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe” [John 1:7]. 

Observation: Every man, and every woman, will have no excuse at the Great White Throne Judgment [Revelation 20:11]. 

Now, please read the Epistle to the Romans, chapter one, verse twenty, to see this as plain as the nose on your face.  Do you really want to argue with God over the matter?  Go ahead if you want to, but I will fear for you, my friend. 

The very creation of the world, which is understood “by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead” renders man, so that man “is without excuse” concerning this knowledge that Jesus Christ is that light. 

“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” [John 1:9].  

Now, every man has had that light, and every man has a responsibility for what he does concerning THAT LIGHT.  

Question: What will you do with Jesus Christ?  That is the big question, and it is the most important question that you and I will ever face in this life.

Topic 10 – Other Ages

Ephesians 3:5: “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;”

The Bible, which is the BOOK of God, reveals something that is called eternity.  Eternity is timelessness, and is perpetual, and without intermission, or end.  So, with eternity, there is continuance without beginning, or end.

Now, within eternity, there is an allowance for something, called time to exist.  Time exists wholly within eternity.

Further, time has a beginning and an end.   

Even further than that, within time, there are denoted periods of time to be distinguished from other periods of time.  These periods of time are called AGES in the Book of God. 

The existence of these ages was not revealed to mankind until God revealed them through the Apostle Paul, as shown in the Epistle to the Ephesians, and in the Epistle to the Colossians:

Ephesians 3:21: “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

Colossians 1:26: “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:”

1.       The age of the Antediluvian world is the age that existed before the Flood:

2.       The age of this present world is the age which is just after the Flood:

3.       The age of the world to come is the age of the Regeneration, called the time of the restitution of all things [in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter three, verse twenty-one].

4.       The age of the New Earth:

Revelation 21:1: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”

Within these ages, we will see that God has different administrations and different operations called dispensations.

Now a dispensation is a distribution of dealing out to different persons, or different places, in God’s design, a plan for the remediation of SIN.

1 Corinthians 12:5-6: “And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.”

Here following is a listing of the dispensations:

1.       Within the antediluvian age, we have a dispensation of innocence, while man was in the Garden of Eden.

2.       Within the antediluvian age, we also have the dispensation of conscience.

3.       Within this present age, we first have the dispensation of human government.

4.       Within this present age, we next have the dispensation of the patriarchs.

5.       Within this present age, we also have the dispensation of the Law.

6.       Within this present age, we have also the dispensation of Grace.

7.       Within the next age, the age of the world to come, also called the Regeneration, we have the dispensation of the millennial Kingdom of Heaven:

In the book of Genesis, which is the book of beginnings, we see that man lived in a beautiful garden in perfect innocence:

Genesis 2:25: “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

Topic 11 – Sin’s Consequences

Consider this: Shame was unknown to man when man was living in a perfect world of innocence.  But when sin came into the world, it all went downhill.  Now, read for this:

Genesis 3:7-16: “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

Next, in verse seventeen, we see God confronting or lining out Adam for his SIN:

Genesis 3:17: “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;”

Now, do you see it?  It was Adam’s fault [in this instance] for hearkening unto the voice of his wife.

Now, following are the consequences of Adam hearkening to the voice of his wife:

1.       The clock of time was now started.

2.       The ground of the Earth was now cursed.

3.       Sorrow now abruptly came into the world.

4.       Thorns and thistles now sprang into existence.

5.       Man will now have to literally sweat in order to eat, and to survive.

6.       Man, now lost eternal life, [in order] to gain the knowledge of good and evil, and will now have to face death, physically.  Oh, what a price!!!

7.       Death was now lurking around in the world hunting for his prey.

Genesis 3:18-19: “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

Topic 12 – The Supernatural Solution Unveiled

Genesis 3:21-22: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:”

It is thus seen here that Adam and Eve had transgressed the commandment of God: Thou shalt not eat of it! 

Therefore, any solution [or atonement] for the transgression [or sin] would now require the shedding of blood. 

For life of the flesh is in the blood!

Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”

Something, or someone, that is living will have to die, resulting in the shedding of the blood, which then would allow coats of skin to be made to literally clothe, or cover man’s nakedness, i.e. his knowledge of good and evil.

After the LORD God clothed them in those skins, HE evicted them from the Garden.  God literally drove out the man:

Genesis 3:23-24: “Therefore, the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

Thus, we have this accounting of a very tragic and sad story of how man lost paradise.  Adam and Eve had lost out on living in the utopia of Eden in a beautiful garden. They also lost out on walking with God in a perfect fellowship.  

They lost it all, except for one thing.  This one thing was gained.  Their hearts were made hot with the memory of God sacrificing those lambs an altar, before their very eyes.  Adam and Eve now mused while witnessing the blood being shed to cover for their sin and their shame.  Their hearts were lastingly made hot, even as David’s heart was made hot in Psalm thirty-nine:

“My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,” [Psalm 39:3].

The Transmission of God’s words!

Adam - Generation 1:

Adam, in the fear of the LORD, mused with a hot heart, and from that point on in his life he taught both Abel, and Seth, by example, how God would someday make a remedy for sin, by the shedding of the blood of those lambs [in order] to cover man with clothing.  It was prophetic:

Someday a Daysman would come.

Someday a Redeemer would come.

Someday a Saviour would come.

Someday the Messiah would come…to remedy the breach that was between GOD and MAN. 

The Age of Conscience had now begun.  Man would now muse in their hearts, and wait on God, by FAITH.

Genesis 5:5: “And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.”

Abel - Generation 2:

Abel, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and therefore, by the shedding of the blood, he sacrificed lambs by faith:

Hebrews 11:4: “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”

Seth - Generation 2:

Seth, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 5:8: “And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.”

Enos - Generation 3:

Enos, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 5:11: “And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.”

Cainan - Generation 4:

Cainan, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 5:14: “And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.”

Mahalaleel - Generation 5:

Mahalaleel, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 5:15: “And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.”

Jared - Generation 6:

Jared, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 5:20: “And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.”

Enoch - Generation 7:

Enoch, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and by faith, he walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. 

[Commentary: This is the first time since Adam that it was said that any man walked with God as Adam once did.  The Epistle to the Hebrews records Enoch’s testimony:

Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”]

Methuselah - Generation 8:

Methuselah, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 5:27: “And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.”

Lamech - Generation 9:

Lamech, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 5:28: “And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.”

Thus, from the time of Adam [4004 B.C.] until the very time Noah stepped out of the ark in this present world [in 2348 B.C.] the memory of these things were perfectly preserved within a chain of hearts, that were still hot with what they saw [by faith] i.e. the sacrifice of those lambs on the altar on that memorable day in the Garden of Eden. 

Summation: Men, in the fear of the LORD, were still musing by this faith in the blood that would someday be shed to cover both their sin and their shame.  We will continue.

Noah - Generation 10:

Noah, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 9:29: “And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.”

Shem - Generation 11:

Shem, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 11:11: “And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.”

Arphaxad - Generation 12:

Arphaxad, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 11:13: “And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.”

Salah - Generation 13:

Salah, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 11:15: “And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.”

Eber - Generation 14:

Eber, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 11:17: “And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.”

Peleg - Generation 15:

Peleg, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 11:19: “And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.”

Reu - Generation 16:

Reu, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 11:21: “And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.”

Serug - Generation 17:

Serug, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 11:23: “And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.”

Nahor - Generation 18:

Nahor, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 11:25: “And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.”

Terah - Generation 19:

Terah, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 11:32: “And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.”

Abraham - the Alter, the Fire, the Offering, - Generation 20:

Abraham, in the fear of the LORD, saw by faith what God did to cover man’s sin and shame.  This is found in the book of beginnings, in Genesis, chapter twenty-two:

Genesis 22:7: “And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

The LAMB now shows up:

Genesis 22:8: “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”

FAITH

Abraham, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 25:7: “And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.”

Isaac - Generation 21:

Isaac, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 35:28: “And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.”

Jacob - Generation 22:

Jacob, in the fear of the LORD, mused on these things, and transferred the memory of these things on to the next generation:

Genesis 49:33: “And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.”

Cotemporary with Jacob was Job.

Topic 13 – The Law

From Adam to Job there were twenty-two generations.  For twenty-two generations, the word of God that was spoken was taught or transmitted from generation to generation.  The fear of the LORD was thus maintained. 

We see this is so, in the Second Epistle of Peter in the first chapter:

2 Peter 1:21: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

God spake the word and it was not until Moses did it become the written word of God. 

But, from the beginning, the LAW of God was made known by holy men to those 22 generations. 

Thus, we have Job in the book of Job that gives this witness to the law long before Moses wrote the LAW in the BOOK of God.  Job received this LAW from the mouth of God:

Job 22:22: “Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.”

Topic 14 – Faith

God is a refuge to those in trouble.  God is our strength in the time of trouble.  “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” [Psalm 46:1]

Now here is a promise of God to all men living on the earth during the Kingdom of Heaven:

“For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.” [Psalm 72:12]

Now what of today?

How can we get help today?

The word: FAITH appears two hundred and thirty-one times in the BIBLE.  And almost every one of those instances are in the New Testament, except for:

·         Deuteronomy 32:20

·         Habakkuk 2:4

Deuteronomy 32:20: “And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.”

It is here where we see the problem in the congregation of Israel.  Notice the absence of faith in the people.  Where there is absence of faith, there is no fear of God.

Habakkuk 2:4: “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”

It is here that we see the requirement by God for man.

The Just shall live by his Faith!

Now, this thing called FAITH existed in those four thousand and thirty-seven years before Calvary in a special manifestation, called the FEAR OF THE LORD.   FAITH and THE FEAR OF THE LORD are inseparably linked.

Next, to understand salvation in the Old Testament, i.e. the things that are different from the New Testament, we must rightly divide the word of truth:

2 Timothy 2:15: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Caution: We are to study the BIBLE, and rightly divide the BIBLE, and believe the BIBLE.  We are never to use the Bible to prove some preconceived doctrine.  Rather, we are to submit to the BOOK and let the BOOK teach us the Spirit of God’s DOCTRINE. 

The BOOK will always take you, by the logic of faith, to this common understanding, that God has required different things, from different peoples, and at different times, concerning salvation.  And this is shown all down through the ages, beginning with the creation of Adam and Eve.

Before the Law:

The Old Testament saints [before the giving of the Law] were saved, conditionally:

1.       By being moved with the fear of God to believe God.  This was by the operation of faith.

2.       By their obeying the commands of the LORD [which involves works].

Justification by Faith and Works:

This is shown, as recorded by the Spirit of God, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in the First Book of Moses called Genesis, concerning Noah:

Hebrews 11:7: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

Genesis 6:22: “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”

Noah built an ark, by faith.  The ark was his work!

Under the Law:

The Old Testament saints [after the giving of the Law] were saved, conditionally:

1.       By their turning to the LORD with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their might.  And this is by faith.

2.       And then, by keeping the law of Moses [which involved works].

When on this earth, Jesus Christ, HIMSELF affirmed this is true in the Gospel according to Luke:

Luke 10:25-28: “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”

Summation:

So, then, what is the whole duty of man before God from 4004 B.C. to 33 A.D.?  And how did a person get saved from going to the PIT of HELL, and instead, receive life eternal in the Old Testament? 

Well, it is clearly, and concisely stated by the Holy Spirit through King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

Topic 15 – The Fear of the LORD

Psalm 14:5: “There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.”

The problem with the wicked is this: There is no fear of God, inside of them.  It is, therefore, a problem of the HEART:

Psalm 36:1: “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.”

There is no fear of God before his eyes.  And why is this so?   Well, because the eyes are connected to the heart.

Psalm 55:19: “God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abide of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.”

Notice this: God afflicts the wicked, and yet they refuse to change.  They have no changes!  They will not repent! 

But there are others, like David, who fear the NAME of God and thus are given a heritage among the saints:

Psalm 61:5: “For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.”

Observe this truth: The heritage of all those who fear God are bound in the bundle of life with God.

Psalm 64:9: “And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.”

Friend, there is coming a day, in the very near future, when all the inhabitants of the earth shall fear God.  This phenomenon will occur in the one-thousand-year Kingdom of Heaven on this earth.

Observation: The fear of God sobers men up, and thus, it modifies their doings:

Psalm 67:7: “God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.”

This very passage in the BOOK is pointing to the times of restitution of all things, which times will occur in the millennial Kingdom of Heaven on this earth, when all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Proverbs 2:5: “Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.”

Ecclesiastes 5:7: “For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.”

This phrase “the fear of the LORD” appears twenty-seven times in the BOOK of God.  Happily this fear of the LORD does wondrous things in the hearts of men. 

There is now an observation to be made.  In these following verses of the Scripture, it is the fear of the LORD, which comes upon a man, that behooves the man, to heed the will of God, and to do it. 

Following are some of these wondrous things, called blessings, that are enjoyed, whenever the fear of the LORD is present in the hearts of men:

1.       The fear of the LORD when upon all the kingdoms of the lands, moves these very same kingdoms so they make no war.

2.       The fear of the LORD is clean.

3.       The fear of the LORD prolongeth the days of a man.

4.       The fear of the LORD causes one to hate evil.

5.       The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

6.       The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.

7.       The fear of the LORD tendeth to life.

8.       The fear of the LORD moves men to depart from evil.

9.       The fear of the LORD along with humility brings riches, and honour, and life.

10.   The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life.

11.   The fear of the LORD produces strong confidence in God.

Now see these things, that are all true, in these following passages listed below in the King James 1611 Bible, or in any of its editions:

Conclusion: We need to fear the LORD!

Topic 16 – The Daysman

The Daysman:

Here we have this question! 

How can a man be just with GOD?

Here is the situation described for all mankind:

“So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.” [Ecclesiastes 4:1] 

Now, God was looking for a man:

“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” [Ezekiel 22:30]  

It certainly looked…for a time…very, very…hopeless. 

Now, read with me in the book of Job chapter nine:

Verse one, and two:

“Then Job answered and said,

I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?” [Job 9:1-2] 

Now, let’s proceed to verse twenty-nine.  Are you ready for this? 

“If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?  If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; 

Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. 

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. 

Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both. 

Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:

Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.” [Job 9:29-35]

Conclusion: We are in trouble!   The realization obtained is this … we are the haters of God.  We are also rebels!  We are in fact the “enemies” of God!  We learn this basic truth in life from God’s word, [the Authorized Version of 1611, or any of its editions] in the book of Romans, chapter five:

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” [Romans 5:10]   Amen!

Now, Jesus Christ will step into the scene [in the very near future] to “build the old waste places.”   Hear now what is prophesied by the prophet Isaiah:

“And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” [Isaiah 58:12]

A man can be just with GOD ... when a daysman steps in between him and GOD! 

What is a daysman?

·         A daysman is a mediator.   He mediates between man and God.

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” [1 Timothy 2:5]

·         A daysman is an intercessor as a high priest.

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” [Hebrews 7:25-27]

“And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.” [Isaiah 59:16]

·         A daysman is an advocate.

Now see this “daysman” in action as “an advocate” in the New Testament Epistle of First John, chapter two:

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” [1 John 2:1]  

A daysman is an advocate!  He is ONE WHO steps into the breach.

Clearly, there needs to be someone to step into the “breach,” like Moses did for the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness:

“Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.” [Psalms 106:23]

Now a “breech” is a chasm.  And this chasm forms a divide between us and God. 

Further, this divide between us and God is our SIN.   Our SIN has ruined us, and it has condemned us to HELL.  

Clearly, this someone needs to be “worthy” of repairing the breach, if we are to be SAVED.  Someone is needed to be found who would restore mankind to his original state, before sin came into the world. 

The bottom line is this, we need a champion, who will whip the Devil, and beat up Death and give to us eternal life.

This restorer is found in the book of Revelation, in chapter five.  The repairer of the breech is identified as the Lion of the tribe of Juda.  See HIM…WHO is worthy, to open the book with the judgments of God.

The  following scene is shown to us by the Holy Ghost:

Revelation 5:1-9:

“And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 

And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;” [Revelation 5:1-9]

Now, this same PERSON: “Who is worthy to open the book” is the very same PERSON WHO wept over sinners when HE came to this earth the first time [called the First Advent] to die for our sins on Calvary’s CROSS.  

“When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,” [John 11:33]

Jesus Christ cried over HIS friend: Lazarus:  “Jesus wept.”  [John 11:35] 

“Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” [Jeremiah 9:1]

Listen to me!  HE knows our very troubles.  He knows our very fears.  And HE personally feels with a deep groaning our tears.  Notice with me this psalmist, David [who is a type of Jesus Christ] having had this similar groaning from within [his soul]:

“I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.” [Psalm 6:6]

“My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?” [Psalm 42:3] 

Now, Jesus sees inside of us, even to our very anguished thoughts: 

“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” [Psalm 56:8] 

But, notice something with me, that it is the person, who is in Christ Jesus [who is born of the Spirit of God] that has this promise, of coming out of sorrows to escape to the other side … to GREAT JOY: 

“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” [Psalm 126:5] 

Now, it even gets better than this!  Ready?  Jesus Christ came to this earth two thousand years ago to “swallow up death in victory” by bringing to us HIS so great salvation. 

Thus, we have this prophecy of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah has been fulfilled:

“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.” [Isaiah 25:8] 

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” [Revelation 21:4]

Every man, woman and child on this earth [whoever they are] if they will wait on the LORD [in the end of the whole thing] will rejoice:

“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” [Isaiah 25:9]

Rejoice in your salvation!

Now, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ [born again], and you are in any trouble, then believe [and know for certain] that God is in control of every possible situation that a true Christian can find himself, or herself.  It thus, behooves us to be admonished by the word of God, which is found in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, in chapter four:

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 

So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” [2 Corinthians 4:8-12]

Pause here: If you, as a Christian, are in any trouble, then let you cry out to God for HELP!

Help!  Help!  Help!

·         “Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to thy mercy:” [Psalm 109:26]

·         “O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.” [Psalm 71:12]

·         “Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.” [Psalm 63:7]

Now, following is the promise from God to all of us, who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ [WHO is THE DAYSMAN] in the 21^st century, and need help with our manifold infirmities. 

And this help is found in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter eight, verse twenty-six.

Now READ it, and BELIEVE it:

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” [Romans 8:26] 

And friend, if you are having any problem believing God, then ask HIM to help with your unbelief, as this father did in the Gospel according to Mark, chapter nine, verse twenty-four:

“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” [Mark 9:24]

This then is the formula for us today: ASK the “daysman” [WHO is the Son of God] for HELP!  

Help thou mine unbelief!

“Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper.” [Psalm 30:10]

Now, go ahead and “boldly say”, within your spirit, and out loud for others to hear: The Lord is my helper! 

Then what?  Then STAND on this following promise which is by FAITH:

“So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” [Hebrews 13:6]

The bottom line is this: when [THE DAYSMAN] Jesus Christ is IN us, and we are IN HIM, then we are said, to be set “free”.

Now if, we are indeed free, then we are no longer in “bondage” to SIN.

Now, [THE DAYSMAN] can take any android-like person living in the 21^st century, and change him, or her, through the new birth [born again] into the image of His dear Son Jesus Christ.

Further, this new person [or new creature] at that point will be enabled by the in-dwelling Spirit of God to discern between good and evil, and call that which is evil … evil, and call that which is good … good.

Also, this new person IN Christ Jesus will know and love all those boundaries, and those limits that are revealed in the word of God, THE BIBLE.

And finally, this same person will fervently embrace the ultimate authority in the Universe as the ONE … WHO is the setter of all those limits.  

The grand result: The people that were “past feeling” for God, can now feel for God, and can also, now feel for one another.

The fear of the LORD is indeed the answer, and it is also the antidote for curing the robotic and cold hearts of the 21^st century. 

“Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.” [Psalm 115:11]

Now seek for THE DAYSMAN!  Amen!

We need the Daysman!

God will provide himself a lamb!

Topic 17 – The Covering

We need a COVERING to cover our sin and our shame.  The solution for this is shown in the BOOK, in the First Book of Moses called Genesis:

 Genesis 3:21-22: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” 

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:”

1.       God made coats of skins.

2.       God clothed Adam and Eve.

These two people were now, locked into an apprehensive preoccupation with their new-sensed guilt, that was now buried deep within their chests.   A great foreboding came over them concerning all their days going forward.  

So, this is what Adam and Eve did on that fateful day. They sewed themselves fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

There they were, knowing that they were soon to have to leave forever, what was their perfect and SAFE home, [THE SAFE PLACE]. 

Now, something momentous was about to happen to Adam and Eve while they were still there in the Garden of Eden.  For they now sensed something new was in the air.  On display, before their very eyes, was this strange scene of DEATH! 

Adam and Eve were, now witnessing the very first deaths in God’s creation, and all because of their transgression of the commandment of God.   The fear of the LORD was now holding them in a stone fascination, as the LORD God sacrificed those innocent lambs on an immediately appearing altar that came seemingly out of nowhere. 

And as the BLOOD was being shed from those animals, they observed that this BLOOD was now flowing down the sides of this altar of sacrifice.  Oh, what a sight!!!

Here is a conclusion: Life is the BLOOD!

Pause here now for a moment: Generation after generation after generation, Adam’s solution has been repeated, for now nearly six thousand years; MEN making their own approns. 

Oh, my friend, DON'T HIDE UNDER ANY COVERING that man has made! 

Man’s way is not the right way:  

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” [Isaiah 53:6]  

To restate this all: When Adam and Eve had experienced this “spiritual death,” by the eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, in direct disobedience to the command of God, they became aware of their nakedness.  As a consequence, this “awareness” now darkened their understanding:

“Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” [Ephesians 4:18].   

And in response to this awareness of their nakedness, Adam contrived from within the “secret place” of his heart to devise by an invention; a COVERING.

MAN hides his transgressions:

“If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:” [Job 31:33].

This would now become man's version of meeting the required covering as a solution to the problem of this newly acquired awareness of nakedness.

  Caution: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” [Proverbs 14:12]

My friend, RUN to God's solution!  Partake of his covering!  God has made the only provision for all of us:

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

Observe: The “coat of skin” from an animal could never be made, nor applied to Adam and Eve, without first having the “shedding of the blood” of lambs.  Those lambs had to give up their lives to provide for us life, by a “figure,” thus signifying the coming of a future REDEEMER…a SAVIOR. 

Thus, the Gospel was shown in a shadow…to both Adam and Eve…nearly six thousand years ago.  

To sum: The narrow way of God's plan of salvation to remedy the lost condition of man down through the expanse of measured time is through the shed blood of the Son of God: 

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance”  [Hebrews 9:14-15].

Conclusion: We need the Daysman!

Topic 18 – The Redeemer

By FAITH: The Redeemer is seen:

We have this redeemer in the Scripture referenced eighteen times as shown in the following list: 

Conclusion: We need the Redeemer!

Topic 19 – The Savior

By FAITH: The Savior is seen:

We have this Savior in the Scripture referenced thirty-seven times as shown in the following list: 

Conclusion: We need the Saviour!

Topic 20 – Salvation in the Dispensation of Grace

Now, the Daysman is the Redeemer, and the Redeemer is the Savior of lost men, who are dead in their sins, and set to be dropped into the pit of HELL.

But, once a man believes in the LORD Jesus Christ,

·         WHO is the Daysman,

·         WHO is the Redeemer,

·         WHO is also the Savior,

 …this man is now saved from the PIT – from HELL: 

Romans 10:13: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

For it is by the power of God, through faith, that we become the partakers of the divine nature.  We became the partakers the very moment we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior:

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” [John 1:12]. 

Realize this, it is through FAITH by the GRACE of God, that we get saved from the wrath of God, which is to come: 

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” [Ephesians 2:8]. 

Now, this faith will be the type of faith, whereby we put our whole trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God: 

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” [Ephesians 1:13]. 

The Fire represents the Christian!

At the very moment that we trusted Jesus Christ “through faith unto salvation” [1 Peter 1:5], God “sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts” [Galatians 4:6] to dwell, and we “were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” 

This is the new birth, termed “born again” by the Holy Ghost in the Gospel according to John, chapter three:

 John 3:5-6: “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Now there is more here.  This “divine power of God” has made us also “to drink into one Spirit.”  This thing occurred the very instant you got saved by the “so great salvation” found in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter two, verse three.

Next, this salvation is also connected to another event that every believer experiences when they are saved, and that is, being “baptized into one body:”

1 Corinthians 12:13: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” [1 Corinthians 12:13]. 

This one body is also called a “spiritual house” in the First Epistle to Peter, chapter two, verse five:

1 Peter 2:5: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

And finally, our soul has been cut, or circumcised by the circumcision of Christ from our flesh:

Colossians 2:11: “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:”

Now, all these things happened, through faith, called justification by faith.  Read, Hebrews chapter eleven, verse one:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

And now, verse six:

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Grow in Christ:

But, if you have already trusted Jesus Christ through faith, you must not stop there.  You must now grow in grace according to the First Epistle of Peter, chapter one, verse five through seven: 

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”   

 To grow, as a believer, you must now add things to your faith.  This is critical to LEARN. 

In the Second Epistle of Peter, chapter one, verse three, it is revealed by the Holy Spirit, seven things “that pertain unto life and godliness” that every Christian needs to add things to their faith.  We are:

First to add virtue,

Second, to add knowledge,

Third, to add temperance,

Fourth, to add patience,

Fifth, to add godliness,

Sixth, to add brotherly kindness,

Seventh, to add charity. 

Now, is not that something rather marvelous?  We are told by the apostle, through the Spirit of God, to add seven things to our faith. 

Take note: The number seven in the Bible is the number signifying completion:

·         Heaven and earth were made in six days, and God ceased from His work on the seventh day. 

·         There are seven days in a week. 

·         There are seven weeks before the Feast of Pentecost.

·         There are seven months before the Feast of Tabernacles and the Day of Atonement. 

·         In the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, there are seven churches, seven bowls, seven vials, seven trumpets, seven candlesticks and seven spirits.

It gets even better!  God has divided time into seven dispensations in the Bible.

·         Seven is the number signifying completion in the Bible.  

·         The seventh thing to be added to the Christian's faith is charity:  

“And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”  [Colossians 3:14].

By all of this above, we see the GRACE of God!

The Dispensation of Grace:

Question: Where did this grace come from?  Well, GRACE came by Jesus Christ!  We read of this truth in the Gospel according to John, in chapter one, verses sixteen, and seventeen:

“And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” [John 1:16-17]

But how can this thing be?  Did not Noah find grace? “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”  [Genesis 6:8]

And did not Lot, also find grace? [Genesis 19:19] 

What about Moses? [Exodus 33:12] 

Yes, they all did find grace, “but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”  

However, the dispensation in this present age is characterized in a very special way by GRACE.  You might say it is an explosion of grace!  

The Dispensation of GRACE

We can see this very plainly in the Epistle to the Romans, in chapter five, verses, twenty and twenty-one.  Now see:

“Moreover, the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” 

To repeat: Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ!

An infallible TRUTH needs now to be observed: The grip of DEATH has been broken forever when Jesus Christ rose from the grave, and thus, conquered death! 

Topic 21 – The Mystery of Christ

Question: What is a mystery?

According to the dictionary [Webster, 1828] a mystery is this:

“That which is beyond human comprehension until it is explained. In this sense, a mystery often conveys the idea of something awfully sublime or very important; yea even something that excites wonder.”

In the Epistle to the Ephesians, chapter three, starting with verse two, we have this present dispensation of GRACE revealed to us:

“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 

How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; [as I wrote afore in few words, 

Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ] 

Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 

That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 

Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. 

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:” [Ephesians 3:2-9].

Also, the Holy Ghost said it this way through the Apostle Peter:

“Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

Searching what, or what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 

Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.”  [1 Peter 1:10-12]

Topic 22 – Mystery of Christ in you

The mystery of Christ is, also found in the Epistle to the Colossians, chapter one, verses twenty-six, and twenty-seven:

“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”

Note: This mystery was hidden from everyone prior to Paul, including Peter, James, John and all the other apostles.

The present age is known as the dispensation of GRACE!  It is the designated, or the set time, for all the GENTILES to come to Jesus Christ, and this is all, according to the Scriptures.  [Note: Read for yourselves the Epistle to the Romans, chapter eleven.]

Now, let us go back to our verse, to verse to three:

“Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Now here is a very important observation to be made.  There can never be peace for any man without Jesus Christ.  In fact, every unsaved man is even now at war with God. 

MAN is, in fact, a hater of God! 

Do you doubt me on this?  Well, see it for yourself, as to what the Spirit of God says about this FACT in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter one, verse thirty: “Backbiters, haters of God…”

We, therefore, conclude: The only way a man can ever have peace with God in this present age is to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ:

Romans 5:1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

Now, salvation only comes to a person, a man, or a woman, or a child, through only one way:  FAITH in JESUS CHRIST

Topic 23 – Justification by Faith

We need to note something very important while we are here.  This salvation, which we enjoy, is peculiar to this present dispensation.  This is why we call this age, the Dispensation of Grace.

Remember, my friend, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ!

Rule: Where there is truth, you will also find grace.

Where you find grace, you will also find truth.  These two always go together.  Why is this so?  It is because grace and truth are both found only in Jesus Christ.

Do you, my friend, need more proof?

Then, read the Gospel, according to John, in chapter one, verse fourteen:

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14]

The SOLID conclusion: Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth!

Topic 24 – but Christ liveth in me

We are now ready to reach for the very pinnacle, the high point! Go now to the Epistle to the Galatians, chapter two, verse twenty:

Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

This heavy weight verse encapsulates all the following marvels that occurs when a person truly gets saved.  The following five-fold event occurs each time in the moment of time, whenever a person is born of the Spirit.  Spiritually:

1.       He is crucified.

2.       He is resurrected from the dead.

3.       He receives new life in Christ even while he still is yet in his flesh.

4.       He begins to live and walk by the faith of the Son of God.

5.       He now starts to experience day-by-day true love in Jesus Christ.

Now, let me try to explain this miracle of the new birth in Jesus Christ.  In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen, verses forty-two, through verse forty-four, we will find the supernatural is embedded within the wondrous marvel of being born of the Spirit:

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” [John 3:7]

Explanation: It means we are now first changed and made alive or quickened.   This change is called a translation:

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

Moreover, there will be also a physical translation of the church, which is the body of Christ, at the end of this age, as prophesied in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter four, verse fifteen, through verse seventeen:

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” [1 Thessalonians 4:15-17]

The believers in Jesus will in a moment all GO UP!  Amen!

The event is shown here in these following verses:

“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”

This is supernatural: There is a death, there is a burial, and there is a resurrection, which occurs whenever a man, or a woman, is born of the Spirit.

John 3:6: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Next, we need to see the following truth.  There are really, only two categories of people in this world.  Now, does that surprise you?  There are those who will choose to increase, and there are those who will choose to decrease.  Let me now explain.  One of them is a spiritual man, and then the other man is the natural man.

Let me expand more on this.  There are those, who want to promote themselves, and then there are those who want to promote Jesus Christ.   Every person must make a choice.  Every man has a “freewill.”   That a man has a “freewill” is clearly shown, in both testaments of the Bible, first, in the book of Ezra in the Old Testament, and second, in the New Testament in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians:

Ezrah 7:13: “I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.”

2 Corinthians 9:7: “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

There you have it!  We all have a freewill!  We all make choices!  And we all, are responsible for the choices we make in life!

Further, we must now consider a phenomenon which is found in life, which deals with this matter of increasing and decreasing.

Consider now what John the Baptist had said in the Gospel according to John, chapter three, verse thirty:

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Now, John the Baptist has it right!   And the men of this world, have it all wrong!  John the Baptist has it nailed down right, as one would say.

Phenomenon: To have Eternal Life, one must decrease, and Jesus Christ must increase.

In the Gospel, according to John, chapter twelve, the formula is given for all of us living in this age [which is the Church Age] to understand, and to make application to ourselves, as the members of the body of Christ. 

Remember [This church is the bride to Jesus Christ.]

Now, go to verse twenty-three: 

“And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 

He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” [John 12:23-25]  

To understand this scripture, one must first be spiritually alive, or QUICKENED.  And why so?  Because to an unsaved man, woman, or child, this whole thing will not make any sense at all.   The old man in us just opines so:  For the corn of wheat to live … it must promote itself, feed itself, and exalt itself.   

After all, a corn of wheat must take care of itself FIRST … UNO, NUMBER ONE … [in order] to LIVE.   Mind you this person, Me First, lives inside of us all.  This is the way we were born.  We are born of Adam.

Consider this: In the understanding of someone who has not been born again, for a corn of wheat to be put into the ground … is not for the corn of wheat’s good. 

Again: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” 

Likewise, for us [to the un-saved] to seriously consider dying [in order] to bear fruit is an ABSURDITY!   

To DIE [in order] to LIVE is an absolute is a crazy man’s LOGIC [which is the reasoning of the natural man]. The old man will just REBEL completely, and will always, at every opportunity, say NO to all this foolishness and silly talk! [The Bible]  

Thus, we have it, the NATURAL MAN … the sons of Adam … cannot, and will not, comprehend the LOGIC of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, shown in both, of these two passages, here in the Epistle to the Galatians, and also in the Gospel according to John:  

Then let it rip again:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

Can this thing be true? 

But this is exactly what GOD is telling us.  You must decrease, and Jesus Christ must be increased.  The Apostle Paul now expands on it in the Epistle to the Galatians:

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” 

Verse twenty here, explains the meaning of the Gospel according to John, chapter twelve, verse twenty-four.  And with much repetition, this truth may finally come through to us, and reach down deep into our hearts, forever to remain:  

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”  

Again, and in parallel, the corn of wheat, in verse twenty-four, of the Gospel, according to John, explains what we have here in our Epistle to the Galatians.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” 

What is shown above is a supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit.

Caution: My friend, you cannot receive what I am saying here, unless you receive it from heaven above through faith.   For the truth of this, see the Gospel according to John, chapter three, verse twenty-seven:

“A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.”  

Now keep verse twenty–seven, in mind.  Lock it in, my friend!  When a person comes to Jesus Christ, and receives HIM, he receives POWER to become a son of God, which involves this person’s death, his burial, and his resurrection to GAIN a new life:

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” [John 1:12]  

By trusting in Jesus Christ … is, RECEIVING Jesus Christ … you die to self, and thus, GAIN LIFE. 

Now here, men want to follow their own natural logic, but what men really need to do … is CHUCK OUT that old natural logic [of the un-saved man] and TRUST in the LOGIC of this OLD BLACK BOOK and THE GOD WHO WROTE IT! 

If you, and I, would just do this thing, then we will be enabled by the HOLY GHOST to say, as Paul said, in the Epistle to the Philippians, chapter one, verse twenty-one:   

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

Then, we would be all have the same mind, as John the Baptist had, when he said in verse thirty of our chapter in John:

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” 

Conclusion: … for me to have life, I must decrease, and Jesus Christ must increase.

And this … is eternal life!

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” [John 17:3]

Friend, you must decrease, and Jesus Christ must increase … for you to have life.

Earlier I said that there are only two categories of people in this whole world.  There are those who want to increase [LIVE IT] and there are those who want to decrease [DIE TO LIVE]. 

Now, where are you in this matter, my friend? 

In the last verse of our text [in verse thirty-six] these two categories of people can be seen clearly.

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

The Two Groups of People:

There are those that believe on the SON and are those that believe not on the SON.” 

“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” [John 12:25] 

There are those who choose to live [refusing to die to SELF], and there are those, who choose to die [in order] to receive life eternal. 

Now, turn with me to the Gospel according to Luke chapter nine, verse twenty-three, and see this:

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

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.  For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? [Luke 9:23-25]

“He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.  He must increase, but I must decrease.” [John 3:29-30]

An Invitation:

                Trust Jesus Christ now for your salvation!  Receive Jesus Christ, as your LORD and SAVIOR.  Amen!

Topic 25 – Stand in Christ  

2 Corinthians 10:3-4: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;).”

Ephesians 6:14: “Stand therefore…,”

A true Christian is one who is “seated in heavenly places in Christ” and once he is “seated,”  he is now ABLE to WALK. 

In beginning his, or her walk, the Christian begins “to put off” the old man, and he begins “to put on” the new man.   And while in the path of his WALKING, which involves “the putting off” of things and “the putting on” of other things, he or she begins to become aware that that they are new participants in an old WAR!  

Now, it is a war of vast dimensions,  and the Christian never knew this war was going on, BEFORE his SALVATION, that he received by FAITH, through the BLOOD of the LAMB of God.   Nevertheless, this war has already been going on for the last six thousand years! 

Now this, the Christian needs to STAND in this war in order to successfully RUN his COURSE, or this RACE, that is set before him.

Here is more about this war.  It is a war that is far beyond the ability of the flesh to see, or ever comprehend.  Marvel not at this, my friend, for the word of God very clearly states the lost people of this world are totally BLIND to spiritual things...the invisible things, which are just as real as the physical things that we all can see around us.  

Now why are they blind?  Who blinds them? They are blinded by the DEVIL.  We see clearly this truth in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 4:3-4: “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

This war is a SPIRITUAL WAR!  A “spiritual war” is a war where the combatants are locked into a stupendous fight of gigantic proportions, and my friend, this war is for KEEPS!  It is a HOLY WAR, and the HOLY SCRIPTURES proclaim just such a war exists in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  

In the vision of this future event, called THE GREAT TRIBULATION  [which is coming soon], we will see this war unfolding before us, even before our very eyes, our eyes of faith:  

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”  [Revelation 12:7-9] 

This war began, when Lucifer uttered his FIVE I WILL'S: 

“For thou hast said in thine heart, I WILL ascend into heaven, I WILL exalt my throne above the stars of God: I WILL sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  I WILL ascend above the heights of the clouds; I WILL be like the most High.”  [Isaiah 14:13-14]

Again, this is a SPIRITUAL WAR!  A “spiritual war” is a war where we are all combatants, locked in a stupendous fight of epic proportions!  

For the Christian, it is a HOLY WAR, that cannot be fought by the strength of the flesh! 

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh” [2 Corinthians 10:3-4].  

We need to be strong in the LORD! 

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” [Ephesians 6:10] 

And why? 

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12] 

This spiritual warfare is fought with spiritual weapons.  The BOOK itself reveals, that the weapons of our warfare are in our ARMORY.

The Wiles Of The Devil!

We must put on the ARMOUR of God:

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” [Ephesians 6:11]  

So, beware of the WILES of the Devil!  If we are to successfully STAND against the wiles of the Devil, we must become wise to what these wiles are, which leads us to this question.   What is the meaning of this so-called archaic King James Bible word: WILES?   

My friend, it is not an ARCHAIC word!  Rather, it is actually a very precision up-to-date term, used by the Spirit of God!  These wiles are tricks performed for some subtle stratagem.   These wiles are meant to ensnare its intended victim. 

Note: The DEVIL does not play by the rules.  Every method is legal for “the rulers of the darkness of this world” in this spiritual war to subdue the believer in Jesus Christ, and make him of non-effect. 

Now, the DEVIL is an old sly fox, who by insidious artifice, will go for the throat, all the while feigning a friendship with you.   That is how Satan works!   That is how he operates!  He will do anything to beguile you.   He will do anything to fool you. He will do anything to deceive you.   This means he will lie to you.  So, all the while you are here sojourning in this old world, remember this, he doesn't want to see you amount to anything in your life, (not even so much as a plug nickel) for the LORD Jesus Christ.  Rather, he wants to see you sitting on the shelf, collecting dust, and be totally UNUSED.  He wants you to be the salt that has lost his savor.   

Now, our leader in this war is our CAPTAIN: 

“And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain” [2 Chronicles 13:12a].   

Our God is Jesus Christ, WHO is our CAPTAIN! 

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” [Hebrews 2:10] 

Brethren, we have our marching orders from our captain!   God wants every believer in His Son to be conformed to the image of his Son: 

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be firstborn among many brethren.” [Romans 8:29]  

If you are in Christ, my friend, then both you and I are now beholding the glory of the Lord, and are presently being CHANGED or CONFORMED to  the image of Jesus Christ!  Amen! 

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 3:18]  

Our ORDERS, therefore, are these: 

1.       We are not to be CONFORMED to this world: 

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  [Romans 12:2]   

We need to PROVE all things.  We need to TRY all “the spirits whether they are of God.” [1 John 4:1]   Here is, therefore, a principle:

The Bible-believing Christian needs to determine the spirit of the age in a particular matter, and with all deliberate action, strike out in the opposite direction in that matter!”

2.       We are not to love the world, nor the things of this world: 

“Love not the world, neither the things of this world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” [1 John 2:15] 

Now, why are we not to love this world?  And why does the Spirit of God state so clearly that the Bible believer is not to love this world system? 

In John seventeen we see why; Jesus is praying to the Father (in verse fourteen):  

“I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”  

In verse sixteen, Jesus says it again:

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

Then, whose world is this?   Who owns this world order?  The Bible has this answer: The “god of this world” is the Devil:

“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”  [2 Corinthians 4:4]  

It is, so sad to see so many who profess Christ. as their Lord, and their Savior “kissing it up” with the world.  The Apostle Paul, by the Holy Ghost, said this of Demas: 

“For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica.” [2 Timothy 4:10a] 

Remember, brethren, Jesus died for our sins to deliver us from this present evil world: 

“Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.”  [Galatians 1:4]  

Before we got saved by the BLOOD, we had already wasted too much time running according to the “course of this world.”  [Ephesians 2:2, 1 Peter 4:1-4]  We need to come out of it (or separate), yet not altogether come out of it, for this reason, so that we can WITNESS to those who do belong to it: 

“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”  [John 17:15]     

3.       We are not to be friends with this world. 

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God?  Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” [James 4:4 

We are just sojourners in this world, and are just said to be passing through, as pilgrims, on a pilgrimage to their holy city:

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” [Revelation 21:2]  

“For here we have no continuing city.”  [Hebrews 13:14]

We cannot afford to be secretly seeking friendship with this world system.   An old preacher once said this:

“Reject anything and everything that makes you indisposed to press on the narrow way.  Treat it as a mortal enemy!” 

So, we must fight!

Wrestling With The Devil!

We must WRESTLE against spiritual wickedness.  And according to the Epistle to the Ephesians, chapter six, verse twelve, we must wrestle! 

Now, wrestling implies that there is STRIFE, or a STRUGGLE at hand.   When two men go at it with their arms extended, they move in, looking for that opening.   Then, with oportunity, they seize the other by the neck and arms, with each of them endeavoring to throw the other off balance, in order to pin his adversary to the ground.

For the Christian, this struggle, or STRIFE is part of the greater WAR, that cannot be fought in the strength of the flesh!    Remember what the Scripture saith in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, in chapter ten, and in the Epistle to the Ephesians, chapter six: 

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.”  

Our enemies are not who we can see with these fleshly eyes.   Our enemies consist of a multitude of fallen angels, called devils, who do the work of their master: THE DEVIL [SATAN]:      

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”   

We, who are in Christ Jesus, are wrestling with the principalities, and with the powers, and with the rulers, and with the spirits, who are in rebellion to God.   It is this wickedness in high places, that we through faith in the BOOK, must be ever mindful, while are in the midst of our WRESTLING in  this spiritual warfare.  

The scene is now set for both you and I, my friend.   If you are “seated in heavenly places in Christ,” then your ADVERSARY wants to go in for the knockout, and GET YOU: 

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  [1 Peter 5:8] 

Therefore, we must put on the WHOLE ARMOUR for the COMPLETE protection of us from the fiery darts of the wicked:

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” [Ephesians 6:13]

Girt About With Truth

Next, we must have our loins GIRT about with TRUTH, yea “having your loins girt about with truth.” [Ephesians 6:14]

Note the following, which is what Jesus said of Himself: 

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father, but by me.” [John 14:6]   

Jesus Christ is THE TRUTH!   To be girt about with truth is to BELIEVE God's words, without doubting what the BOOK says ABOUT JESUS CHRIST.   It is the forlorn and unsaved person who asks this question: What is truth?  Remember, Pilate asked Jesus Christ this question in the Gospel according to John, chapter eighteen, verse thirty-eight: “What is truth?” 

This person, without Jesus Christ in his heart, tends only to see shades of gray and rejects the reality of ABSOLUTES.    This they do because they are held in the GRIP of DEATH in the BONDAGE of SIN and in unbelief.  

Yes!  It is a sad truth, it is the LOST person who stumbles around throughout his whole life in the total blindness of unbelief, wondering: “What is truth?”  

For the Christian, it is not so.   In fact, it is smack dab one hundred and eighty degrees out for him, because Jesus Christ has made him every wit clean through THE TRUTH.   The truth is the word of God!   It is the OLD BLACK BOOK, in the language of the end times, English!  It is the Authorized Version of the Bible of 1611, OR ANY OF ITS EDITIONS: 

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” [John 17:17]  

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” [John 8:32]

Having On The Breastplate

Next, we must put on the breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS:  

“And having on the breastplate of righteousness.”  [Ephesians 6:14]

This part of the armor, by its presence or by its absence, signifies the true state of a person.  Hey!  Is the person alive, or is he dead?   Has he been quickened, or is he still dead in trespasses and sins?  If you have been made alive in Christ, you cannot ever die (or be dead in trespasses and sins)!   No matter what happens to the believer in Jesus Christ, there is one thing that is for sure, which absolutely cannot happen to the believer.  And it is this: He, or she, cannot ever lose their salvation!   For the Scripture, itself resounds with this following declaration:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)  

Amen!  Absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.  Amen!  Amen!   This, because we were SEALED by the Holy Spirit, having been “given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts,” in the very moment we were saved.  [1 Corinthians 1:22b]

Shod With The Preparation

Next, we must have our feet SHOD with the preparation of the gospel:

“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” [Ephesians 6:15]

Brethren, we need to look to our FEET, being PREPARED to go, whereever they are to go!  For we see everyday, the lost souls in the market places, and where we shop, and in the places where we work.  They may be our loved ones, or our neighbors, or strangers, but they need Christ!  We need to plead for all men everywhere, to repent and to trust Jesus Christ by faith.   We need to be, as Paul:

“…testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Acts 20:21] 

“Now we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.”  [1 Corinthians 5:20]  

An ambassador is prepared!  He has his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel.

Take The Shield

We must TAKE the SHIELD OF FAITH: 

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” [Ephesians 6:16]

In the Gospel according to John, chapter twenty, we have this account of the risen Christ having been already seen by all the apostles, except for one.  Thomas “was not with them when Jesus came.”  The eleven apostles had seen with their own eyes, his hands, and his side, and they believed: 

Verse twenty: “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord”

Thomas said to them,

Verse twenty-five: “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 

In verse twenty-seven: Jesus, then, shows Thomas his hands and his side: 

“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, Thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”  

In this dispensation, the dispensation of Grace, it is given unto us to believe by faith, not by sight: 

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  [Hebrews 11:1] 

“But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” [Hebrews 11:6] 

The Scripture foresaw all this, when it said this of Jesus Christ:

“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”  [1 Peter 1:8-9]  

Take The Helmet

We must TAKE the HELMET OF SALVATION: 

“And take the helmet of salvation,” [Ephesians 6:16].

A soldier in this conflict needs this helmet to protect his HEAD from a fatal wound.  The Christian's head is where his vital affections reside.   The believer's whole health, and well being, is to be wrapped up in the SON of God's so GREAT SALVATION [Hebrews 2].  

The helmet of salvation, being in its proper place, guarantees our not falling, as a fatality, in this spiritual warfare:  

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”  [Jude 24-25]

Take The Sword

We must TAKE the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT: 

“…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” [Ephesians 6:17].

Ultimately, it all comes back to this one issue.  It always will.   Is the Bible the word of God, perfectly preserved, or is it the work of men?     Is it an error-filled book, or is it PURE, and without proven error? 

Since 1881, there have been over 200 translations of the Bible in a gigantic devilish effort to replace the authority of just one particular translation of the Bible.   This ONE translation is the ONE that every one of these other translations have sought to replace, and is known, as the Authorized Version of 1611 [or The King James Version].   

The logic of faith is this!  Obedience to the BOOK of God, through faith, in the BOOK of God all depends on God having not only inspired some missing original autographs, but having MAINTAINED for us this inspiration down through the centuries of time, and this, in spite of the sinful men who sit in the high places, as the scholars, and the educators.  

In regard to the various editions of the Authorized Version, let me quote the Committee On Versions To The Board Of Managers, American Bible Society, 1852: 

“The English Bible as left by the translators has come down to us unaltered in respect to its text.” ⁴⁸  

“With the exception of typographical errors and changes required by the progress of orthography in the English language, the text of our present Bible remains unchanged, and without variation from the original copy as left by the translators” (page 11 of the report).   “The present copies of the Bible accord throughout with the edition of 1611.” ⁴⁹

Will you believe what God has said IN THE BOOK, ABOUT THE BOOK? 

“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”   Amen!  Amen!  Amen!

Topic 26 –Two Different Things Are Not the Same

Next, it will behoove us to understand the differences between the natures of two different things: the nation of Israel, and the body of Christ, which is the church.  God has a different program for each. 

God has destined the Jewish nation to a physical, earthly, Davidic Kingdom of Heaven with her Messiah ruling the nations of the earth for one thousand years.  This makes Israel a covenant nation.  See for this: [Genesis 15:18, Exodus 6:4, Isaiah 61:8, Hebrews 8:7].

Whereas the Kingdom of God is primarily a spiritual house [1 Peter 2:5], populated by those who are born of the Spirit [John 3:8], and placed [baptized] into the body of Jesus Christ [1 Corinthians 12:13].   

God has destined the Church, the body of Christ, to be his bride, and to inhabit a city called New Jerusalem: 

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” [Revelation 21:2]

Hebrews 11:16: “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”

The Christian is now “waiting” for Jesus to come … “in the air”.    And the Christian is not waiting for Jesus to come to this earth to establish the Kingdom of Heaven [Matthew 11:11].  Rather, the believers in Jesus Christ [the body of Christ] are waiting for Jesus to come and take them out of this earth to Heaven “to the judgment seat of Christ” to prepare “for them a city.”  [2 Corinthians 5:10]

·         So, we are waiting for this event to happen for a purpose:

“So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:” [1 Corinthians 1:7]

·         We are waiting for this to happen for our hope, our joy and our crown:

“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” [1 Thessalonians 2:19]

·         We are waiting…waiting for this to happen:

“To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” [1 Thessalonians 3:13]

·         We are waiting for this to happen:

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [1 Thessalonians 5:23]

·         We are waiting for this to happen:

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,” [2 Thessalonians 2:1]

Do you have it now, my friend? 

“As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.” [2 Corinthians 1:14] 

The “day of the Lord” and “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” are not the same.  I will comment on this later.

Topic 27 – Come Away

Song of Solomon 2:1-13:

“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons.

I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.

His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”

Now, note this: The Song of Solomon forms a picture of a future relationship.

This relationship between Jesus Christ and the church was kept hidden until God revealed the mystery to the saints which were at Ephesus, [“to the faithful in Christ Jesus”] by the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians, chapter five, verse thirty-two:

“This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

Something that exists, and yet, is not known, or not revealed, is a mystery.  A mystery is a hidden thing. A mystery is a secret.  A mystery, therefore, is a body of knowledge that is “locked up” and kept secret till it is made known by the one who keeps it.

Now, what is made known here is that Jesus Christ is the “bridegroom” and the “church” is the bride.

Jesus Christ came to this earth to clothe the “church” in a “robe of righteousness”.  The prophet Isaiah foretold of this, hundreds of years before it ever happened: 

“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” [Isaiah 61:10] 

Jesus Christ “loved the church”, and “gave himself” for the church in similitude to what husbands should do for their wives:

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” [Ephesians 5:25-27]

A good husband nourishes and cherishes his wife, “even as the Lord the church”.  

“For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:” [Ephesians 5:29].

Furthermore, a husband protects his wife and guards her from all danger.  Though she goes through trials, and tribulation, she will suffer for his [Christ] sake:

“For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” [Philippians 1:29],

…yet she will not suffer the wrath of God.  This is because the LORD has promised the church to deliver her “from the wrath that is to come.” 

For the church, the body of Christ, is not one of the “guests” who are bidden to participate in the great “sacrifice” in “the day of the LORD”:   

“Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.” [Zephaniah 1:7]

The church will not be there!  She will be with the LORD!  She is not waiting for “the day of the LORD”; she is waiting for the Son to appear from Heaven in the air in the grand meeting in the air:

“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” [1 Thessalonians 1:10]

“Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”

Topic 28 – The Translation of the Church

Brethren, we ourselves are living on the threshold of the time of the coming translation of the Church, and the judgment upon the inhabitants of this earth in the Great Tribulation (or Jacob's Trial).

We, who have obtained salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, will be taken up and out of here very soon: 

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” [1 Thessalonians 5:9]. 

Up, and out!!!!!

Topic 29 – A Type Of The Translation

Oftentimes the Spirit of God has placed intentionally [by design] into the Bible anti-types.  Now, what is an anti-type?  Webster’s 1828 Dictionary gives this:

“AN'TITYPE, n. Gr. against, and a type, or pattern.”

“A figure corresponding to another figure; that of which the type is the pattern or representation.”

Representation: The Spirit of God shows that a king of Judah, namely Josiah to be a type of a New Testament believer. 

How so?  Well, Josiah was living on the threshold of the time of the coming judgment of God. We will look at what the wife of Shallum (Huldah) the prophetess said in the BOOK.

For this we will turn in our King James Bible of 1611 [or any one of its editions] to the book of Second Kings, chapter twenty-two, starting with verse fifteen:

“And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:

Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;

Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.

Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.”  [2 Kings 22:15-20]

Do you not see how this Old Testament passage on Josiah is shedding light on these New Testament passages in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians? 

“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” [1 Thessalonians 1:10]  

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” [1 Thessalonians 5:9].

Conclusion: Josiah is a type of a New Testament believer who is living on the threshold of the very time of the coming translation [rapture] of the Church and the following judgment of the nations of this earth.

God took Josiah out before the judgment came. God will take us out before the tribulation judgment that is coming.

Now, if God in His mercy took Josiah out before the judgment came, then God will take us out before the Great Tribulation judgment begins. 

Note: Josiah was chosen of God for special treatment.  And get this: Someone who is “chosen” of God, is one who is … very much loved by God [Deuteronomy 7:6-8].   God takes care of those who seek Him.

Topic 30 – Enoch – A type of the Body of Christ

The whole thing gets even better!  Are you ready for this?  We have before us something that is powerfully prophetic in the Old Testament pointing to a yet future event.  This future event can be found in the First Book of Moses called Genesis, chapter five.  This event is a precursor to an event that will occur in our day:   

“And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” [Genesis 5:22-24]

Conclusion: Enoch represents a type of the body of Christ, “which is the church” [Colossians 1:24].

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” [Hebrews 11:5-6]

Topic 31 – Changed

A stupendously serene hush will slip into the scene all around this world.  The birds will stop their singing, and the animals will be lying very low.  All will be very quiet.  All the creation will sense something is about to happen. 

[Now, I admit these are my thoughts now only contained within my imagination.]

The Spirit of God in the word of God calls for the last trump to sound in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen, verse fifty-one:

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”  [1 Corinthians 15:51-53]

When we see Jesus Christ coming, “we shall see him as he is”, and when we shall “see him as he is”, “we shall be like him”.     

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” [1 John 3:2] 

In similitude … we will be like Him.   Mary [in Mark 16:9], and the disciples [in Mark 16:14] saw Him in HIS glorified body.   They recognized HIM.  We shall all likewise have glorified bodies.  We shall all be like HIM!   Since [as of yet] none of those living today has ever seen HIM in the flesh, we will not know what we will be like … till it happens. 

We shall all be changed … in a twinkling of an eye [instantaneously].  These mortal natural bodies of millions of us believers will in an instant of time be translated into incorruptible supernatural bodies.  We shall be changed!

There will no more be limitations to our changed bodies.   No more weaknesses, no more sicknesses, no more diseases and no more physical pain will ever be experienced again once we receive these supernatural bodies. 

Our new bodies will be fashioned like Jesus Christ’s body. 

Our mortal bodies will be immortal.  They will take on immortality.

Our rotten stinking sin-filled corruptible bodies will become incorruptible bodies that will know no sin.  Amen!  The resultant will be thus:

“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” [1 Corinthians 15:54]   Amen!

Now, take in this scene, and believe the word of God that the Christians [Christ in you] will be “changed” into the same image, as that of their Savior:

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 3:18]

Topic 32 – In The Air

First a warning: The day of Jesus Christ is different from the day of the LORD.  The day of Christ is associated only with the body of Christ, which is the Church.  See for this 1 Corinthians 1:8, Philippians 1:6, 10, 16, and 2 Thessalonians 2:2.  Whereas the day of the LORD is always associated the nations i.e. with Armageddon, with Israel, in the Great Tribulation.

Ezekiel 13:5: “Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.”

 Two things different are not the same!

According to the Spirit of God in the word of God in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians there is only two things that needs to happen before the meeting in the air can occur.  These two things are the great “falling away” and “the man of sin” being revealed.  The Scripture here reads:

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” [2 Thessalonians 2:1-3].

Note the following, for it is the KEY to understanding the passage in Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter two.  The “son of perdition” has already been revealed to the believer in Jesus Christ, by LORD Jesus Christ HIMSELF, in the Gospel according to John. 

John 17:12: “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

Note: However, “the son of perdition” will be revealed to the world later as it is shown in verse seven [2 Thessalonians 2:7].

Now, we have seen, since the beginning of the 20^th century, this “falling away” among the churches.  The churches in the main since 1900 AD have totally abandoned the faith.  The so-called Christianity of today is very traitorous to Jesus Christ.  This prophecy has now been fulfilled.  The stage is now set for the translation of the CHURCH AGE SAINTS!

ARE YOU READY?

Now, in the outer reaches of this atmosphere, which is called “the circle of the earth” is a great sitting place.  The prophet Isaiah has declared it:

“It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:” [Isaiah 40:22]. 

Jesus Christ IS READY!

The next event to occur, after “the falling away” and “the man of sin” is revealed, is found in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter four, verses sixteen and seventeen:

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17]

This event is the pre-tribulation “translation” of the Church ... which is HIS body.  

Now, this body is ... composed of all the true believers in Jesus Christ.  The body of Christ, the Church, will leave Earth “to meet the Lord in the air.”

We are commanded to “comfort one another with these words”:

“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” [1 Thessalonians 4:18]

This event is known as the “blessed hope” according to the Spirit of God: 

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” [Titus 2:13].

What is more, “That Wicked” one cannot be revealed to the world in a temple to be built in Jerusalem until after we believers [the Christians] are removed from this planet earth!  

Therefore, it behooves us to remember in this present dispensation the Holy Ghost inhabits the believer's heart, and not some building made with hands:

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit dwelleth in you?” [1 Corinthians 3:16].

Therefore, when Jesus Christ comes in the clouds, and takes out of this earth the assembly of the saints [the church], the world will see the event [which event is located in chapter two, verse seven, in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians]

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed,” [2 Thessalonians 2:7]

Till he, “as God sitteth in the temple of God”, from verse four. 

Now, we are ready for verse eight:

2 Thessalonians 2:8: “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, …AND NOT UNTIL THEN!

Believe the BOOK!

Now, friend, to avoid being lost in the woods of this sin forsaken world we need to believe that God has given us the Bible, which is the words of God. 

Furthermore, we need to believe that God has given this Bible in the English language word perfect, in spite of Satan working in collusion with the scholars, who sit in their high places of academia having turned out over two hundred corrupt English translations since 1881 A.D.

Next, we need to be truly born of the Spirit [John 3:3] to discern the spiritual truths in the Bible, and thus, open the BOOK to us.

Next, we need to understand the differences between the sounds of the trumpet, the one to gather the congregation, and the other to alarm the congregation for a movement [to war or judgment].

After this we need to understand that the Christian [the believers in this age] are waiting for Jesus to come for us to gather us out of the earth.  We are not waiting for the Beast to reign.

It will behoove us to understand the differences between two things: the nation of Israel, and the body of Christ, which is the church.  God has a different program for each. 

God has destined the Jewish nation to a physical, earthly, Davidic Kingdom of Heaven with her Messiah ruling the nations of the earth for one thousand years.  

Whereas the Kingdom of God is primarily spiritual and is populated by those born of the Spirit and placed into the body of Jesus Christ.   God has destined the Church, the body of Christ, to be his bride, and to inhabit a city called New Jerusalem.

The last thing to be understood is that we are waiting for a trumpet to sound and gather us to him in the clouds … in a vast meeting in the air just before the wrath of God is unleashed in the 70^th week of Daniel, which is the upcoming seven years of tribulation of Jacob’s trouble.

“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” [1 Thessalonians 4:18]

We shall fly away! Amen!   Are you saved?

Topic 33 – The Safe Place

There is one thing we can learn from history, and it is this, men do not want God to be in their life.  Yet it was not this way in the very beginning.  In the beginning, [4004 BC] we were in fact, created by God to be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD OUR GOD! 

1 Samuel 25:29: “…but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; …”

But we rebelled!  Man left [for a mess of pottage] his safe place, which was EDEN, a place bound in the bundle of life with God.  

So, DEATH laughed at our calamity and stepped into this world to start the CLOCK to man’s ruin which is DEATH and to a destination called HELL.

So, all mankind, till very this day [in 2026 A.D.] desires peace and safety in a man-made utopia, without God, but he will instead get destruction, and HELL:

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” [1 Thessalonians 5:3]

Now, all men everywhere need HELP!!! 

So, God in HIS MERCY sends HELP to all men everywhere, as they sleep.  Yea, in the darkness of night, while he sleeps, the LORD GOD gives man instruction.  This instruction is the BASIC TRUTHS of LIFE to help keep man from going to the PIT:

2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

So, MAN needs a DAYSMEN, he needs a REDEEMER, he needs a SAVIOR, to have his SAFE PLACE restored. 

All the messengers of the LORD bring this same message: That the fear of the LORD is GOOD, and this fear moves him, by FAITH, to the NAME of the LORD, WHO is the strong tower:

Proverbs 18:10: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”