The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLXIV

Hebrews 7:12
"For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law."
You couldn’t just change part of it; it had to all go. And the whole idea of Hebrews is that the Jewish people had to realize that the Mosaic system had now become moot. It is no longer necessary to practice Temple worship and sacrifices and tithing and all those things that were demanded by the Levitical Law and its systems because we now are under a whole different Priesthood that was not out of Aaron or Levi, but from the Priesthood of Melchizedek (Christ). Because the old only could deal with mans flesh nature or was an external and material realm priesthood which was weak and beggarly because of it. And that this then is into what God places us all at the moment of our conversion or redemption with our having received the deposit or down payment of the Holy Spirit. Which gives us the right then to become sons of God, the condition that Israel could have acquired but refused. By that action of unbelief Israel refused His Salvation as a nation on a national bases only.

Hebrews 7:13
"For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar."
Now that should shake people up! This priest didn’t even come from the Levitical priestly tribe. This priest came from the kingly tribe of Judah. And Judah, of course, was the tribe that was always leading the tribes when they moved, and it was out of Judah that the second king, David, came. Saul the first king, was from the line of Benjamin, but Judah was the designated tribe to produce the kings of Israel. So, it’s out of this kingly tribe that this priest Melchizedek comes, which is Jesus Christ. Verse 13 again.

Hebrews 7:13
"For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar." I took you back to the Old Testament where the Israelite Korah, who thought that Moses and Aaron were just a little bit too big for their own britches said, "After all, why can’t I present a sacrifice at the altar?" Of course, Moses got highly excited, and he said, "Alright, we’ll put you to the test. If you think you have a right to exercise the role of a priest, we’ll do such and such." Remember we read all the verses. And God was so angry that the earth opened up and the families of Korah went down into the pit. Well, what did it show us? Just that no one dared enter into the priesthood except the line of Levi.

We saw another one with King Saul. Oh, what was Saul’s big downfall? He too, exercised the right of a priest and offered a sacrifice. And Samuel told him, "Saul how can you be so foolish? You don’t do that." And we know what happened to Saul. Well, here it is again. No man, unless they were from the lineage of Levi, could possibly exercise the role of a priest. It was forbidden. Verse 14.

Hebrews 7:14-15
"For it is evident that our Lord (Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son as we see Him epitomized here in Hebrews) sprang out of Judah: of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is even far more evident: for that after the similitude (or the likeness) of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest."
A totally different priest, not of the Aaron's family line, not of the tribe of Levi but out of the tribe of Judah. This being so makes Him a Priest-King just as Melchizedek was. Now verse 16.

Hebrews 7:16a
"Who is made,…"
Here again I feel Melchizedek was a theosophy of Christ in the Old Testament. He’s only mentioned in Psalms but now here we have him exemplified as "our high priest" because of what He accomplished at the Cross and the new Priesthood based on an Endless Life and the New Covenant based on that Endless Life and its power. Of which both Jeremiah and Ezekiel spoke.

Hebrews 7:16a
"Who is made, not after the law of a carnal (or the external, material or fleshly)commandment,…"
That goes back to what we said, that the Levitical Law was beggarly and fleshly. That’s hard for people to comprehend, because they thought and still think the Law was spiritual, it was perfect. It was from God’s point of view and only from His because it reveals mans undone condition and true state in that condition. And that is why He places all who come to Him through redemption into that state but we're not to remain in it. If we were He would not have given us His Holy Spirit which makes us fit to become Holy as He is Holy. For its only through the death of sin, the spirit of the world, that we're sanctified, Holy and put on Godliness in Christ Jesus. We enter the promised New Covenant of God's Grace though in the Old Testament it is not called that until after Christ's resurrection and ascension. Then the secret or mystery is revealed.

But, going back to "it was perfect", from man’s point of view there was no power given to keep it. So what did it become? Fleshly, carnal and it was something that man could not deal with. In fact, Corinthians tells us the same thing, that the Law was a minister of death. The Law was a minister of death? Yes. Because it had no power to help people keep the Law. Let me show you a reference in Romans chapter 3.

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLXIII

Hebrews 7:10-11
"He was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him. If therefore perfection (or moving on to a maturity. If that) were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the Law, and its external ministration) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?"
Now let’s see if we can break this down. What’s he saying? If the legal system of the Mosaic Law, the Levitical priesthood, the Temple worship, the sacrifices, the tithing, all the things that were part and parcel of the Law; had that been perfect would there have been a need for anything else? Well, of course not. It failed because it was based on the external or material realm and mans works of obedience to comply. If you’ve got something perfect you leave it alone. Isn’t that what we say today. "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it." Sure it is.

But, the Levitical system wasn’t perfect. Oh, it was anything but. It was perfect from God’s side, naturally for it was spiritual. God can’t make anything that isn’t perfect. But see, the Law in its operation depended on the flesh. Now let me show you. Come back to Galatians chapter 4, verses 8 and 9. Remember why we chased some of these verses down. We’re showing now that the Mosaic system or Judaism (as probably we know it better), was not perfect. It was anything but. And, consequently, it had to be left behind to be done away with and go to that which is better. Here Paul writes to the Gentiles up there in Galatia who were being subjected to legalism by the Judaizers, they were a constant pain in his flesh from day one all most.

Galatians 4:8-9a
"Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, (in other words, when they were still in their paganism) ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. (they were worshiping idols.) But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God,…"
In other words, they had become more than a simple believer. They had become joint heirs with Christ by way of receptivity. They’d become members of the Body. Remember that even the New Testament has secrets hidden within it and one of them is how does one become a member of Christ's Body? How, when and where did or does that happen? Now then he says:

Galatians 4:9b
"…how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto you desire again to be in bondage."
What’s he talking about? What’s the weak and beggarly? The Law. Now if you think through all this, why was the Law beggarly? Well, it demanded things that the human race couldn’t keep and it had no power to give them victory over their temptations, the weakness of mans flesh.

You know, when we were in Romans, I stressed over and over, all the Levitical Law could do was condemn, condemn, condemn. You’re sinners. You’re lawbreakers, and the Law couldn’t give them any power to overcome it, so, consequently, it was beggarly. Another good one is still in Galatians. Turn the page to chapter 5 verse 1.

Galatians 5:1
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty(the freedom) wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
What’s the yoke of bondage? The Levitical Law and the law given by commandment. Now who likes to live under a yoke of bondage? I don’t. But you see, this is exactly what the Levitical Law did to the Hebrews and this is why they have such a hard time keeping it. I could take you back to Acts where Peter admits the same thing. He said, "even our fathers couldn’t keep it, because it was a yoke." Peter used the same word. And so the Law you see, was nothing but demands that the human race could not comprehend. They couldn’t keep it and so we have to tell ourselves; we’re not under Law, we’re under Grace. Grace is more powerful than the law ever was or could be for within it was only the ministration of death. There was No room for mans Salvation in it with it or through it.

Well, always remember that the Law, the Temple worship for its time, it was good. It had all the ramifications that brought us and the Hebrews up to the coming of the Messiah. But now as a belief system with this over here on this side of the Cross that is so much better, why not leave it in the dust where it belongs? But you see most of Christendom is still doing the same thing. Most of Christendom is still bringing certain ramifications of the Law into our present day Age of Grace! And that is NOT to be. Because after we've served our due time within the framework of our first estate we're to move into our service of ministry to our fellow brothers in the flesh under the leading of the Holy Spirit. For our ministry is to be Holy spirit directed because its a ministry of divine Life.

Hebrews 7:11
"If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, [in other words, if the Law and Judaism were all that there was to be gained] (for under it the people received the law,) [well if that’s the case] what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?"
In other words, the Aaronic priesthood which dealt only in the external and began in Exodus. Remember Aaron was the brother of Moses and was the first priest of Israel. And that priesthood carried all the way through to the time of Christ and even though the veil was rent in twain when Christ died on the Cross, the Jewish people sewed it back up, at least according to legend. And they continued on with their Temple worship until Titus destroyed it in 70 AD. Just as the Lord had told them and warned them would happen because they refused the kings offer of the kingdom and marriage feast (this is what Matthew chapter 22 is about).

But, we as believers understand that when Christ finished the work of the Cross, He also finished the demands of the law and the Levitical Law, because He was the fulfillment of that Law. And when we enter into this Salvation by Grace, we are no longer under the demands of the Mosaic system. But now, our High Priest is not of the line of Aaron or of the material realm, but the one of Melchizedek who, we feel was Christ Himself and therefore is of the divine or spiritual realm. Now verse 12.

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLXII

Romans 6:14
"For sin (or the old Adam) shall not have dominion over you: (in other words, we’ve been set free from its control by virtue of our redemption and now His working out of our salvation. Now here it is) for ye are not under the law, but under grace."
Plain enough? We’re not under any law, this covers both. Now that doesn’t give us license. You’ve heard me say that a few times. But we’re not under any stipulated law that says, "thou shalt and thou shalt not" command. We are not under the Levitical Law but we’re under Grace. I better follow that up with what that means - come back with me now to II Corinthians chapter 9. I better do this or I’ll be on the hot seat. Now this is what takes the place of the Levitical Law of tithing. The Law of tithing was set aside, along with all the law of commandment, when Christ finished the work of the Cross and put us under Truth and Grace. Oh most people don’t know this, because they have not been taught it. But in this next Scripture is where we are at in the Body of Christ, the true Church today!

II Corinthians 9:6-7
"But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."
What controls the heart of the believer? The Holy Spirit! So as the Spirit gives us directions, we give. Whether it’s 2% or 100%. The Spirit is going to direct us. Alright, and so he says, "As every man purposes in his heart, so let him give." Now if the Spirit is going to move us to give, are you going to give grudgingly? Well, of course not. You’re going to give cheerfully. And what are we to give? Our selves whole heartedly in His Love to all, this self-sacrificing Love and that requires the Truth in His Grace speaking through us. If any thing else is required He'll tell us and He'll be our supply of the thing needed.

Now let’s come back again to Hebrews chapter 7. So Abraham of course, gave the tenth of all that he had gotten through the battle with the kings of Chedorlaomer, but he gave a tenth to the high priest, Melchizedek. Now reading verse 5 again.

Hebrews 7:5
"And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, (in other words, out of the Nation of Israel. Not from any Gentiles) though they were come out of the loins of Abraham:"
Naturally, because Abraham was the father of all these tribes of the Hebrews.


Hebrew 7:6
"But he whose decent (or genealogy) is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises."
Well, what promises? Out of you is going to come a nation of people. To you and your people I’m going to give this area of land. Those were the promises to Abraham. Do you see that? They have the material realm, the land with all that it produces.

Hebrews 7:7
"And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better."

What does that tell you? Isn’t that what the whole theme of Hebrews has been? That was good, but this is better. Over and over. Even in the first six chapters, yes, the angels are something else. But who’s better than the angels? Christ. The Law was good but what’s better? Grace. And all the way through, we’ve seen the comparison from that which was good to that which is now so much Better.

So again, he says, there’s no contradiction here. That, that which is less, that which is now put behind was blessed because of this which is so much Better. Grace far exceeds that which only had the power to show us our unworthiness and guilt of shame, the Law. Now verse 8.

Hebrews 7:8
"And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth."
He’s alive for ever more. Never to have to lay down His Priesthood because of death as we’ll see later in this same chapter. Now verse 9.

Hebrews 7:9
"And as I may so say, Levi (the priestly tribe, remember) also, who receiveth tithes, (now this is tough) paid tithes in Abraham."

What does he mean by that? How could Levi pay tithes in, what would that be? His grandfather? Well, you see, it was just by virtue of the promises that out of Abraham would come these twelve tribes of Israel, the Hebrews. And everything that followed went back to the promises made to Abraham.

That’s why Paul alludes to Abraham so often when it comes to trust. That we can have trust like the man of faith, Abraham. And Abraham was not saved under Law. He was saved before the Levitical Law was given. And he became a believer by trusting, God and His faithfulness to His Oath of promise alone. Even circumcision hadn’t entered in yet. Abraham believed God, Romans says, and it – his believing – was accounted to him for righteousness.

Then after he became a man of faith, remember he's trusting God and God tested him by what he went through. The trials for twenty-five or so years, yes, then circumcision followed. Then the Nation of Israel appeared, and then came the Levitical Law. But Abraham was never under any of the ramifications of that Law. Alright verse 10 tells us what I just told you. Why did Levi pay tithes?

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLXI

I Timothy 2:5
"For there is one God, (I’ve already stressed that) and one mediator between God and men, the (what?) man (the man!) Christ Jesus;"
That doesn’t take away His Deity, it magnifies it. Because all the way through from His birth on through His ministry and on through His revelations to the Apostle Paul, we’re always stressing that He was totally God but on the other hand He was human. He was in our humanity as Adam was before he fell into sin and death. And so, as His mediator-ship comes in, it’s the "man Christ Jesus." And after all, we have to realize – now let me back up - I have a hard time trying to determine how much I can cover. Now that’s not easy. Well, I’ve just about given up. I’m just going to let the Spirit lead. Because there's so much that needs to be said or revealed to clear the air so to speak. Because of the false teachings by way of ignorant men teaching or as the Lord said the blind guides leading the blind and they both fall into the ditch or hells fire. Come on back to Acts.

Alright, so here is something that I hadn’t even thought of. But, when it speaks of the "man Christ Jesus" as being our mediator. Come back with me to Acts chapter 1 because this is fundamental, this is elementary. And I’m not going to take your mind away from the priesthood of Melchizedek but I want you to see how that Christ is the logical explanation for this particular revelation of a priesthood.

Acts 1:3
"To whom also he (Jesus, coming out of His resurrection) showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them (that is the disciples, the eleven not counting Judas, of course.) forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"
Before we get into our study allow me to say that an early Bible teacher named Major W. Ian Thomas used the reference to the kingdom-Life as his back ground and that this was in reference to the Lord's message of the "kingdom of God" message which He proclaimed to Israel during His ministration to them. We need to understand that in this New Covenant Age or Church Age that we're now to become ministers or stewards of the mysteries as revealed to Paul upon which Christ's Church is built. And that both references are but one because the Lord High Priest is Christ Jesus, "the man Jesus Christ." Alright now come on over to verse 9 still in Acts chapter 1. Remember the eleven saw Him, and Paul rehearses it in I Corinthians 15, the resurrection chapter. "That first He was seen of the eleven. And then of over five hundred at one time and then he says last of all He was seen of me also." Now we’re not talking about an invisible spirit. We’re talking about a human appearance. Now Acts 1:9. And remember Christ is in His resurrected body with the nail-pierced hands and heals, also His pierced side.

Acts 1:9
"And when he had spoken these things, while they (the eleven) beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight."
Now how do you picture the ascension? Just a puff of cloud going up? Some invisible spirit going up? Why, no. He went up bodily. I just mentioned a verse in Colossians that will help. So let’s find it in chapter 2, and let’s drop down to verse 8.

Colossians 2:8
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
Now that’s why I had to use this verse. So that you see Who we’re talking about. That we are supposed to stay true to Christ! Now the next verse.

Colossians 2:9
"For in him (Christ) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead (how?) bodily."
Bodily. In human form. That same body that came out of the tomb, where he showed Thomas the nail-prints and where on the Sea of Galilee, what did He do? Fixed breakfast. Remember I told you, that must have been the best tasting fish that any human ever tasted. Because He fixed it and no wonder He asked Peter, "do you love me more than these?" That probably was a tough question because that must have been delicious food if the Lord fixed it. But, was He in some invisible spirit form when He did that? No. They saw him standing there on the shore.


And so this is what we have to establish. That Christ in His resurrected body was just as visible as He was in His earthly ministry. Alright, so as He is now our intercessor, and He’s the mediator. But He’s also the High Priest of "the Most High God."

Never forget that. I’m going to drum on that, like I said last time, I’m going to let you hear it in your sleep. "The Most High God." That’s who He is the High Priest of. Then verse 5 of Hebrews chapter 7.


Hebrews 7:5a
"So verily they that are of the sons of Levi, (out of whom the priesthood came, remember, who ministered at the Temple) who received the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the (what?) Law,…"
Another verse comes to mind. I’m going to take you back to it. Flip back to Romans chapter 6, and here it’s as plain as day that tithing, the ten percent, was part of the Levitical Law. Remember I want you to see what Romans chapter 6 says about the Law, and let’s drop in at verse 14. I mean this is just plain English.

Romans 6:14
"For sin (or the old Adam-Satan-child nature) shall not have dominion over you: (in other words, we’ve been set free from its control by virtue of our redemption and now His working out of our salvation. Now here it is) for ye are not under the law, but under grace."

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLX

Picking back up with Melchizedek as High Priest:
This Melchizedek, a high priest of "the Most High God." Now I have to emphasize; God is God. We don’t have two or three different God’s in Scripture. We have One God! But Scripture does associate Him with different titles or names. Especially back in Genesis. You’ve got El Shaddai, El Elyon, and you’ve got Elohim and you’ve got Yehovah or Yhovah and those are all various titles or names of the same God. Of course, Jesus Christ, born in Nazareth, was the appearance in the flesh of that same God. So, when we come to Melchizedek I have to feel we’re speaking of the same God. Jesus Christ in a theosophy, as a Priest of The Most High God, He is the Most High God.

I know I ruffle a few feathers once in a while, but I guess that’s the beauty of being independent. I’ll never forget one time I had been given the pulpit for a church in our area and on the way out, one of the ladies asked why I wasn’t a pastor in their denomination. And without even thinking, I said, "I couldn’t stand the peer pressure." I've not been told to built an assembly or a church but rather to be instant in season and out of season. For me that means be ready any where at any time for out of our being will flow rivers of living waters. I know I ruffle a few feathers once in a while, but I guess that’s the beauty of being independent. I’ll never forget one time I had been given the pulpit for a church in our area and on the way out, one of the ladies asked why I wasn’t a pastor in their denomination. And without even thinking, I said, "I couldn’t stand the peer pressure." I've not been told to built an assembly or a church but rather to be instant in season and out of season. For me that meant be ready any where at any time for out of our being will flow rivers of living waters. We're learning to eat of the tree of Life, not the tree of good and evil or of the worldliness of our old flesh. God has a higher level for us all but we do need to pass through somethings in order to acquire them.

Well, I mean that. I have to hold myself responsible only to the Lord of glory and that I do not take lightly. Whenever I open the Scripture I realize that this is an awesome responsibility. But I do feel that Melchizedek was a type Jesus Christ in a theosophy. In the person of a man who was of the line of Noah, in fact a son, as he had no record of beginning nor of end of days, quite possibly Shem or his great-grandson Eber. In other words, back in Genesis 18, my goodness, who in the world sat down and ate the fatted calf under the oak tree with Abraham? Well, it was the Lord. We know it was because Scripture says it was. And other times the Lord appeared in human form and then went up. And so I see no reason to take anything away from the fact that Melchizedek was simply Christ again, in an earthly manifestation. Because after all, Jerusalem in 2000 BC wasn’t some metropolis that needed a king. His title of king was a future thing more than a present. And so I have to feel, especially in view of verse 3 of this chapter 7, it could be no one but the Lord.

After all the Lord of glory is everything. He’s God the Father, He’s God the Son, He’s God the Spirit and you can’t take anything away from Him. And then, Colossians tells us that Jesus Christ was the Godhead in bodily form. Well, I don’t know how you can take anything away from that. So now as you come into verse 3, this Melchizedek, the king of peace was:

Hebrews 7:3a
"Without father, without mother, without descent, (or without a genealogy) having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; (now if that isn’t a description of God I don’t know what is! And nothing else would fit) but made like unto the Son of God;"
Well, in human form for a little while. And we know like I pointed out, you don’t even hear the name Melchizedek for another thousand years. So He must have left that opportunity of presenting Abraham with the bread and wine and then just simply went back into the invisible Godhead as He did in Genesis 18, and at the burning bush and various other places. Alright, the last part of verse 3.

Hebrews 7:3b
"…abideth a priest (not a year at a time. Not for 50 or 60 years. But how long?) continually."
In other words forever and that takes us into Eternity.

It never ends. He’s eternal in the heavens. And so His Priesthood is that which never ends. Now in verse 4. Paul, and remember who he’s talking to, he's talking to Hebrews who had embraced Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah but they were still practicing the Levitical Law with all its customs and rituals. They were not ready to break from the legalism of religion and step into Grace. At least that’s the way I have to look at this whole scenario. So now he’s using all these Old Testament things to convince these Hebrews that he wasn’t some renegade coming from out of left field. He was simply bringing them from one period of time and an area of instruction into another. We’ve covered that when we went into chapter 6 verse 1. What did he say? "Now leave the principles of the first words of Christ?" Paul didn’t say, to abandon them, but to move on. That is still the case in our day and time as many want to revert back into something they never had a part of in the first place. Even those Hebrews who have come to faith in Christ want to keep one foot in the old and the other in the new and Jesus said that we're not to. He so much as said it by way of a parable in the old wine skin and the new wine and the patching of an old shirt with a new patch made of new materials, for that was the lesson there revealed.

I gave you plenty of illustrations of what I thought that meant. You just simply don’t abandon what’s behind but you build on it and it’s a progressive revelation. Alright, so now verse 4 where Paul says:

Hebrews 7:4a
"Now consider (just stop and think for a little bit) how great this man was,…" You know what word throws a curve at everybody? "Man" M-A-N. Well, let me show you something. Come back to I Timothy chapter 2 and verse 5.

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLIX

Genesis 14:19a
"And he blessed him, and he said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God,…"
You want to remember, has the Nation of Israel appeared yet? No, Israel isn’t on the scene yet. God is just now beginning to deal with Abraham, and there’s no Law. There’s not even circumcision yet, and so the relationship between this man who is not yet part and parcel of the Nation of Israel is "the Most High God." Though our Bible as we have to day does not contain all the books written that it first had, these books shed allot of light on what the Bible does not say. Two such books are Jasher and Enoch because they reveal that Abraham knew God as "the Most High God" through Shem and Eber as both were high priest of "the Most High God." The young boy Abram was taught by them while he was in their charge for from ten to twenty years before he was returned to his father in Ur. Where our Bible then picks him up. Now don't become alarmed by those two books because portions of both were quoted from by Isaiah, Jesus and Paul and because they were removed those quotes don't show up in our cross indexing systems today. Just know that they are out there and are available to us. How we learned of them had to be a work of God because we like so many of you never heard of them until one day they were at different times brought to us, and that is only done through the Holy Spirits doing, not ours.

Genesis 14:19
"And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth;"
You have almost the same kind of language in Matthew concerning Christ, how that He too was Lord of all. Alright, verse 20:

Genesis 14:20
"And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all."
Do you see that? God is the victor here through the hand of a man, but it is God who works His wonders through us to perform. Then once more in verse 22.

Genesis 14:22
"And Abram again said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,"
Now what does it mean to “lift up one hand unto the LORD”? Well it means to make a vow or covenant with Him or to swear by Him. So this king priest knew of the vow Abraham had made with God and we know this by the language of the verses just prior to this one. Because caused Abram to be victorious over an army of greater numbers. Okay, now I’ve already touched on the one in Psalms. A thousand years later, but nothing associated with it. It’s just that God designates the Messiah, the Son of God as the One Who will be Melchizedek the priest of "The Most High God." Alright, let’s flip back to Hebrews if you will. Chapter 7 verse 2.

Hebrews 7:2a
"To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all;"
Which of course we know, and I’ve made reference to that in previous areas. That the giving of the ten-percent or the tithe, began with Abraham in Genesis. It funneled into the Levitical Law as part of the Levitical provision for the Levitt priests. And then of course the Apostle Paul tells us that we are not under Law, we’re under Grace. Which takes away the responsibility of the ten-percent in our giving. Why? Because we now are to be the tithe in Christ now given to Him. Now Paul says, that we give as the Lord lays on our heart. Big difference. And there is no demand to give a flat ten-percent. But that’s beside the point for now. Now I made a statement here that requires my backing of it up with scripture and it deals with our being now the tithes given to Christ as LORD of Lords and its found within God's divine timetable of Psalm 2 and verse 8 where it says this:

Psalm 2:8
"Ask of me (Elohim), and I shall give thee (Christ Jesus) the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession".

We want to go on now - that He is the King of Righteousness, He’s Holy, He’s Omnipotent, but here’s the part I want to spend the next few moments on. He is the "King of Salem," which, like I said a few moments ago, are the last letters of Jerusalem, or the city of peace, which is to say the King of Peace.

Hebrews 7:2b
"…first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;"
I want you to stop and think for a moment - in all the thousands of years that we know Jerusalem has been on the scene beginning with Abraham at 2000 BC, how many days of peace has Jerusalem enjoyed? Not one. It has been a city of turmoil from day one. And especially in the last 2000 plus years. Just stop and think of all the various empires that have overrun Jerusalem. It has been anything but the city of peace.

Then especially when Israel came back into the land after World War II and fought their war of independence in 1948. Jerusalem was besieged again and she has been over and over up through the centuries with bloodshed and mayhem. It’s unbelievable that the city of peace has never enjoyed peace. Well, look at her tonight. Look at Jerusalem tonight. Is it a city of peace? Anything but. It’s in constant turmoil. Well, you have ask, "Why?" When God has designated it as the city of peace, why has it been a constant city of turmoil. Well again, what do we have to do? Patiently wait. God has promised that it’s going to be a city of peace. Do you believe it? Yes!

I know there'll be no peace in Jerusalem, I don’t care who tries to broker it. There will be no peace in the city of peace until Christ returns. And so a logical prayer for us is, "pray for the peace of Jerusalem." But what does Psalm 2 verse 9 tell us?

Psalm 2:9
"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLVIII

Psalm 110:4
"The LORD has sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
Allow me give you a thought provoking question. How many years have passed by since Abraham was introduced to the priest of the Most High and David puts it here in the Psalms? About a thousand! A thousand years have gone by from Melchizedek’s introduction to Abraham until David. Now then, how many years went by from David until Paul brings him up again in Hebrews? Another thousand. A thousand year interval, that we are introduced to this high priest Melchizedek. Amazing isn’t it? But that in itself is not the amazing thing. What I find so amazing is the fact that our Lord uses the same elements to introduce the New Covenant which are symbolized by His flesh (the bread) and blood (the wine).

Alright let’s go back to Genesis and let’s just pick this apart a little further. This Melchizedek, the priest of the "Most High God," meets Abraham and he brought with him bread and wine. Now, number one, was it a practical gift? You don’t know what I’m driving at do you? How many people are in this particular little unit with Abraham at this time? How many soldiers did he take out of his hired help? Three hundred. So he’s had three hundred men who have just come back from battle and they’re famished and they’re thirsty and so in the physical realm, what does this Melchizedek provide? Food and water for Abraham’s troops? No!

But then it goes so much further than that. Where does bread and wine become a high point in the life of the believer? Well at the Lord’s table. The Lord’s table and what did it speak of? His shed Blood and His broken body (and when was His body broken? It was broken by Israel long before He came in physical manifestation. How? When they broke Covenant with God!). And so, all these things have ramifications. Now, we don’t see anything concerning Melchizedek in the operation of God in Israel because Melchizedek is not in the line of Levi and the priests of Israel. He’s the priest of "the Most High God." Who was not just the priest of Israel, he was the priest of all. And that’s what I want people to see. This Melchizedek was a high priest of "the Most High God."

Now we’ve done this before but let’s do it again. So turn with me now to Daniel because I want you to see that we have no references to Melchizedek’s priesthood throughout Israel’s history because Israel wasn’t connected per se with "the Most High God." Don’t take me too literal on this. Of course, "the Most High God" was the same God as Yhovah and El Shaddai and all that. But, in terms of language for our own understanding, we have these different names or rather they're titles of God. But the same God. They’re not different, they’re the same One, but in the role, in the operation or office, God has given us these different nomenclatures to show that He is dealing with the non-Hebrew as He is with the Nation of Israel. Alright here in Daniel chapter 4, start with verse 1.

Daniel 4:1a
"Nebuchadnezzar (Hebrew or Gentile? Gentile!) the king, unto all people, nations, and languages,…"

Is that just Israel? Now I think most of you, especially in the book of Acts, what do I stress? Is there any Gentile language in here? No, there isn’t any Gentile language in Acts chapters 2 ,3 or 4. It’s all Jewish. Now I can ask the same question in reverse. Are there any Hebrews in here? No. This is Gentile. And so he says:

Daniel 4:1b-2
"…that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. (He’s not talking directly to the Hebrew. He’s talking to the nations. So Nebuchadnezzar says) I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath shown toward me."
Who’s he talking about? "The Most High God" of Whom, Melchizedek was the high priest.

Come on over in that same chapter to verse 17. Now this isn’t by accident. This is by design, the intricacy again of the Scriptures. That everything is so intricately put together.

Daniel 4:17a
"This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand of the word by the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will,…" Drop down to verse 34:

Daniel 4:34
"And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar (the Gentile king) lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most high, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, (He’s the Most High God) and his kingdom is from generation to generation:"

Alright I’ve got one more while we’re in Daniel turn to chapter 5 - verse 18, because I want to drum into you that this is a term, title or a name of God as He is associated with the non-Jewish world. Now I probably should qualify that. The Hebrews are part of the whole bigger picture, but they are more concerned with Yhovah God and El Shaddai and some of those other titles, but "the Most High" is always connected with the non-Jewish world.

Daniel 5:18
"O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty and glory, and honour:"

We can go all the way through Scripture then, and whenever you have a reference to the "Most High God," we’re dealing with the non-Jewish world. And that’s why Paul speaks of it now with regard to the Melchizedek's priesthood back there in Hebrews that he was the priest of "the Most High God." Alright let’s come back to Genesis, because when the Scripture repeats and repeats and repeats, it’s for a reason. It’s not here just to fill the page.

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLVII

Hebrews 5:9
"And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec."

Then we drop Melchizedek, as not another word is spoken throughout all of chapter 6 or the rest of chapter 5 until we get to chapter 7. Now why? Well, the next verse in Hebrews 5 verse 11 tells us. These people were not ready for any teaching concerning Melchizedek. They were too unspiritual. They were still babes in Christ. They couldn’t comprehend this priesthood of Melchizedek, and I imagine that’s most of church people today. Most people haven’t got a clue as to this priesthood of Melchizedek. And who he was and what he accomplished. And here’s the reason:

Hebrews 5:11
"Of whom (he says) we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing."
They weren’t ready for anything concerning Melchizedek. And then he goes on and he brings them to task, that even though they should have by now had enough handle on all of these things to go out and teach others, could they? No. No, they couldn’t teach anybody, they didn’t know it themselves.

So, everything down through here and then all the problems that we covered with those who were apostate up in chapter 6 and all these other things, he had to bring them down to the place where we just finished now in chapter 6 that they now understood. They now understood that the way into the Holiest of all had been opened up because of what Christ had accomplished not only on the Cross in the flesh as the son of man. But also that which has been veiled in what we call the Lord's Last Supper. And so now then, if we understand that much, hopefully, we’re ready to study Melchizedek. Now that’s the way I have to look at it. All of a sudden, because they were carnal believers and still on milk, Paul had to drop the subject of Melchizedek in chapter 5, until he got to the end of chapter 6, and hopefully they are becoming more mature, and getting there, and ready to understand the mystery about Melchizedek. Now let’s look at chapter 7 verse 1.

Hebrews 7:1a
"For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God,…"
Now if you don’t mind marking your Bible, underline those three words. The "most high God."

Hebrews 7:1b-2
"…who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;"

Which means in the Hebrew ‘Shalom,’ he was the King of Peace. Let’s go back and pick all that up in Genesis chapter 14. Here we will be introduced for the first time to this high priest of the Most High God. In the Hebrew I think it was El Elyon. Now, we’re going to take this rather slowly because, like Paul indicates, you can’t understand these things concerning Melchizedek if you don’t have a pretty good handle on mature spiritual things.

Genesis 14:17-18
"And the king of Sodom went out to meet him (that is Abraham) after his return from the slaughter of the Chedorlaomer, (who had invaded Sodom and Gomorrah and had taken Lot and all of his family with them) and the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh which is the king’s dale.”
Remember Abraham is coming back having been victorious, and had rescued Lot and his family. Here we see Abraham as a type of Christ as redeemer of Lot who now meats with the high priest-king another type of Christ.

Genesis 17:18
And Melchizedek king of Salem (The King of Peace, which of course are the last letters of the city of Jerusalem, and would be the city of Jerusalem in a later day) brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God."
Now the Most High God is a term that is never used concerning the children of Israel. The children of Israel were more acquainted with the term Yhovah, or El Shaddai but "the Most High God" you see, as I’ve stressed is the term of God that was not unique just to Israel, but to the whole of creation. He’s "the Most High God" of everything. Yhovah is primarily the God concerning Israel. But this is the "Most High God" and you’ll see this throughout Scripture.

I’m going to make a couple of points before we leave and chase down this title. We have this first introduction to Melchizedek with Abraham here at about 2000 BC. I say about, because we don’t know within a hundred years or so. But here we’re introduced to this high priest of the Most High God at about 2000 BC. Now we might as well follow the Scripture so if you’ll follow me there and then we’ll come back. Jump all the way up to Psalms 110, and I think it’s verse 4. There is no mention of him in between from Genesis to Psalms. And now the Psalmist writes:

Psalms 110:4
"The LORD has sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLVI

John records this in chapter 12 and verse 24 we'll start with verse 23 and we'll pick this up. But remember that time and time again Paul tells us to heed the Holy Spirit because he is repeating what the Lord Himself said "I can do nothing on My own, I only do and say what I've heard and seen of My Father doing or saying":

"And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say to you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit. He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will Father honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Your name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified and will glorify again.'" Then John records that Jesus said this in verses 30-33:

"Jesus answered and said, 'This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me.' This he said, signifying what death he should die."

Then Paul reveals in Galatians the following in chapter 2 and we'll pic up in verse 19, now remember that he is upbraiding those who want to return to the system of works under the Law:
"For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives 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. I do not frustrate the Grace of God: for if righteousness came by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."

Now don't get the word here used “law” confused with the Levitical Law, this is not that Law but is the law that was given by way of a spoken word in the form of a commandment as found in Genesis chapter 2 verses 16-17:

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.”

Now this is the law of lawlessness or rebellion which we've found to be sin which brought about mans separation from God or death. Jesus reveals that through death man can be restored to his rightful place with God and that it will be through His obedience to that death of mans flesh. Then Paul also reveals as seen in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 the course unto Eternal Life (the promised New Covenant) for all who would be so willing as Jesus said “If” this cup pass not from my hands be It they Will of God”. Here in is the Gospel of Grace, the “It is finished” of the cross. Man was redeemed, restored and Satan cast out from God's presence because he was defeated in the death requirement of mans flesh, which Jesus did as the son of man. Oh, there are many more scriptures that confirm this but you can get the drift of things from these. The rest will come by way of personal inspiration by the holy Spirit if we but ask it of Him.

Hebrews 6:20
"Wherefore the forerunner…"

The Lord Jesus Himself is the One Who opened it up and as most of you know when the darkness fled and Christ gave up the ghost there back in the crucifixion, what happened to the veil at the Temple? Well, it was rent in twain. Not from the bottom up where men could have done it, but from the top down, showing that it was an act of God. This is all tied together, that as He opened up the veil and we are now given access into the very throne room of God, but we do it through the teachings of the Apostle Paul who was our particular leader as a member of the human race.

Hebrews 5:9-10
"And being made perfect, (or totally complete. He brought everything to fruition, which Peter used the word healing in 1Peter 2:24 which means the samething) he became the author (there’s that word again instead of Captain) of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God, an high priest after the order of Melchisedec."

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLV

I Corinthians 4:16
"Wherefore I beseech you, (I beg you) be ye followers (he doesn’t say of Jesus, but of who?) of me."
Alright, now what does he mean by that? To pick that up you’ve got to turn and look at another verse. This should make it easier to swallow - I Corinthians 11 verse 1 where again the admonition is:

I Corinthians 11:1
"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."
So it stands to reason that the Apostle is not taking anything away from Christ’s leadership or from the fact that He is the Captain of our Salvation. But you want to remember that as Paul came in, he too was the "head of the line" of lost sinners saved by Grace as he made so plain:

I Timothy 1:16
"That in me (Paul) first, Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting."
Since Paul was the first (and a pattern for the Church), we’d better pay attention to the instructions that he gives for salvation. Our Lord used Paul to write these great doctrines of Grace based on the finished work of the Cross. And so, since he is the one to whom all these things were revealed, you see, this is why the Holy Spirit inspired him to write, "be ye followers of me, as I am of Christ Jesus." Paul is the one who has truth for this day and age. When this is said my question is what is meant?


Jesus is said to have said in Matthew chapter 11 drop down to verse 25 to get the flow:
"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. Come to me, all that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Now we know that in many places He revealed what was ahead of Him by way of the crucifixion, His death, burial, His resurrection and then His ascension. We have to also hear what He is saying in regards to the Passover and especially the last week and the Lord's Supper (as the Lamb of God) and then look closely at what He did and said during it. Because this is for the, most part over looked by the church and the world as it being just another Jewish custom or ritual, but is it? Before we turn to John and while we're in Matthew suppose that we turn to chapter 22 and look at verse 2 to catch the flow and then chapter 25 and verses 1-10.


Matthew 22:1-14
“Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 'The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king (God the Father), which made a marriage for his son (Jesus), And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden (Israel) to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner (the kingdom gospel of Jesus): my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it (how many are there that make light of it?), and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants (the Prophets and His disciples in particular), and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city (this took place in 70 AD). Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy (Israel as a nation was found to be not worthy because of unbelief). Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants (the Apostle Paul and his disciples) went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests (the Gentiles and the individual Hebrew or the mystical Body of Christ). And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless (he was not clothed in Christ nor was the Spirit of Christ found in him). Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.'”
Now I want you turn to chapter 25 and study the verses 1-10 for yourself. Remember that in the book of Revelation chapter 19 is revealed that the Lambs Marriage feast had already taken place but it does tells us when or where, for that we're admonished to hear what the Spirit is saying. Where it says: "for the marriage of the Lamb is come..... he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." Then Paul reveals in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 the rest of the story.

John records this in chapter 12 and verse 24 we'll start with verse 23 and we'll pick this up. But remember that time and time again Paul tells us to heed the Holy Spirit because he is repeating what the Lord Himself said "I can do nothing on My own, I only do and say what I've heard and seen of My Father doing or saying":

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLIV

Hebrews 6:19a
"Which hope we have as an anchor or the soul…."
An anchor that is steadfast. Immovable. And that anchor then is that which will permit us to enter into that which is behind or "within the veil." Now, always stop and think as you read Hebrews - since Paul is dealing with primarily Jewish people, he uses all of his examples coming out of the Old Testament economy, because they knew what he was talking about then. Now, when he spoke of going in "within the veil" he was talking about that huge curtain of separation across the Temple or, earlier, the Tabernacle that separated the front sanctuary from the Holy of Holiest. So Paul is telling us that we are now able to enter in within, behind that veil, into the very Holy of Holiest, and into the vary presence of God. In other words, there, behind the veil that every Jew understood hung there in the Temple where only the high priest of that year could enter and then only after he had been ceremonially cleansed:

Hebrews 6:20
"Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."
I want you to underline that word "Forerunner," because in the next chapter, in the next verse we’re going to come back and pick up Melchizedek the high priest of all, who Jesus personified when He went in behind the veil. Now the word forerunner is a unique Greek word, and it doesn’t just mean that he went in and accomplished the work of the high priest, but when he went in as a forerunner, he opened the way for everyone that follows Him. What do I mean by that? Remember, in an earlier chapter in Hebrews, Paul called Christ the ‘captain of our salvation’? And I pointed out that, in the Greek, that word captain was really better translated "a file leader."

In other words, I think I’ve used the analogy, if you can think back when the cavalry were still working in the old west, we’ve all seen movies where the officer was up at the head of that line of horseback-riding cavalry, what was that? That was a "file" of soldiers going to battle, and the leader was out in front. Well now, that’s the way we can picture Christ. He is the Captain of all of us who are following as believers. As the Captain of our Salvation, He then has become the forerunner, or as the word implies, someone who is at the head of the line. He has led the way in behind the veil now opened. Let’s look at Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 16, and these aren’t empty words. This is because the Captain of our Salvation has been the forerunner Who has taken us through the open veil right into the Holy of Holiest whereby He tells:

Hebrews 4:16
"Let us there for come boldly into the throne of grace, (See that?) that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in our time of need."

Why, because the forerunner has opened the way. He is the file leader Whom we are following and that takes us right into the throne room the vary presence of God. Now, when the high priest of Israel went in behind the veil it was nothing like that. He had to come back out and no one else would dare go into the Holy of Holiest except the high priest, once a year. It was a closed room, but for us, the file Leader has opened it up. The forerunner has gone ahead and now we have complete access to God. We don’t have to go through anyone else. Wherever we are, whoever we are, we can pray and know that He hears us. As long as we're a God-child we have instant access to God the Father of spirits.

Hebrews 6:20
"Whether the forerunner (the captain or the Author of our Salvation, Jesus the Christ, the Author of our faith) for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."

Remember, for those of us in this Age of Grace, we are in a totally different scenario than Israel was in Christ’s earthly ministry. And so I’m going to bring you back to I Corinthians chapter 4 where Paul makes a statement that a lot of people don’t like. But when people say, "Well I follow Jesus," then that’s making a pretty strong statement. And I don’t say it to be superfluous or anything like that, but I have to put it this way. If you’re going to follow Jesus, what are you going to do when He comes to the shore of the Sea of Galilee and keeps going?" You can’t follow Him. You can’t walk on water. And the same way with a lot of things that He did in His earthly ministry.

But, here we have the Apostle of the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul, who never, never attempts to take the place of Christ in anything. In fact, that’s all Paul suffered to for twenty-five years, was to lift up the name of Jesus Christ. But here he says in I Corinthians chapter 4 verse 16, and take this to heart because, after all, all of our doctrines for this Age of Grace come from the pen of this Apostle. That doesn’t mean, as I’ve said over and over; we don’t throw the Old Testament away. You don’t throw out the Four Gospels, and you don’t throw away the book of Revelation or any of that. But when it comes to basic doctrines for us in this Age of Grace, Paul is the Apostle for the Gentiles and indeed all who would become Christ like. So he says, in verse 16:

I Corinthians 4:16
"Wherefore I beseech you, (I beg you) be ye followers (he doesn’t say of Jesus, but of who?) of me."

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLIII

Hebrews 6:17-18a
"Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, (and He) confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie (God cannot lie) we might have a strong consolation,…:"
In other words, we can rest on these promises. I think for us today, the world is in a turmoil like I don’t think it has ever been before. When I watch the evening news or late-night news my it’s the Philippines, it’s Indonesia, it’s China, it’s Taiwan, it’s India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel - you just go all around the globe and it’s conflagration on conflagration or on the local level its murder and mayhem. Never have I seen it, at least in my lifetime, so completely global. All this is but due to one thing the desire of self will even expressed within a nation and through that nation of people matters not the nations religious form.

Now we know everything else is "global," and so, are the problems. Now, the secular world out there doesn’t have an answer for it. All they do is worry and lose sleep and wonder whether there’s going to be another Enron debacle tomorrow. Well, we could care less, because you see, we haven’t got all our money tied up in earthly stocks - we as believers have got ours put up in Heaven. And it’s from there that we look for all of our final returns. For we count all things earthy as nothing of value because it is only temporal or temporary and is reduces to nothing by the using or by allowing it to sit idle.

But, here we have it that since God cannot lie, He has given us all these promises that, yes, all the turmoil of the world has to happen. That doesn’t surprise me, and I hope it doesn’t surprise you. Because out of all this you see, the world is just getting set. The stage is getting prepared for the coming of the anti-Christ. Though he's been here shortly after Christ's return, when he was kicked out of Heaven. For our Lord said that He had sen Satan kicked out and fall to the earth, I believe “like a bolt of lightning” was the expression the Lord Himself used. And oh, he’s going to bring in a pseudo peace, he’s going to bring in what they normally think the Messiah would bring and so we know all these things are coming. He is said to have taken up religion as an angle of light and that his minions or evil spirits as ministers of that light. So when we see or hear of the supernatural, mystical, even the workings of Jesus being done who could be at the root? Here's another thought what about the so called prosperity, or the name it and claim it or even the sign and wonders gospels that are out there running rampant these days are they all of God or the lawless one? We know about the new age, and the occult but where there's so much lawlessness in the world my question is who's at its root? And now, finish the verse, and so we are like those: "...who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:"

When I saw that word refuge, as I was preparing this, I thought of the Cities of Refuge in Israel’s history. Let’s go back to Joshua chapter 20. Here Joshua has now taken up the reins of leadership and Israel is moving into the Promised Land. And all the laws of civility are being laid upon the nation. How to get along with our neighbors as well as all the spiritual ramifications of the Levitical Law. But, in the midst of all their civil law was a unique one. And that was that Israel was to establish three cities of refuge on both sides of the Jordan Valley. Three between the Jordan the Mediterranean and three others between Jordan and the land to the east and around the east side of Galilee. Now these three cities of refuge then were just exactly that. They were a place where a person could flee and be totally protected in a unique circumstance.

Joshua 20:1-3a
"The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: That the slayer that killeth any person unaware and unwittingly…"
In other words, he has no idea. I use the example, there used to be a lot of hedgerows, I’m sure in Europe and the Middle East. And I can just picture this farmer cleaning the rocks off of his field. Because after all, Israel has their share of rocks. And I can just see him cleaning the rocks off of his field and he probably just threw them over a hedgerow to get them off his field. And one of them happened to hit a passer-by on the head and killed him.

Well, he had no intentions of killing anybody. Never even entered his mind. But, the fact remained that he had killed someone. So now what could he do? He could run to one of those cities of refuge, lest some avenger come and take advantage of him and kill him. Now that’s the picture. Not anybody with any malice. No premeditation but he has without any knowledge of his own killed someone unawares. Alright so that this person in verse 3 could do what?

Joshua 20:3b
"…may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood."
So it goes on to say that he can be there in total safety. No one can come into that city of refuge and try to arrest him, or deal with him or anything else. The only thing is, of course, he’s not going to get off all that easy - he has to stay in that city of refuge until the high priest of that present day dies. Then, as soon as the high priest dies, he is free to go back to his own farm or whatever. Now, let’s drop down to verse 6 so you see where I’m coming from:

Joshua 20:6
"And he shall dwell in that city, (the city of refuge) until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come into his own city, unto his own house, and unto the city from whence he fled."
Now, that was refuge in a time of distinct need. That’s the first thing I think of when I see that word. Now come back with me to Hebrews again. So here we have that blessed hope that we, too, have been able to "flee to the refuge" that is the Lord Christ Jesus, who has been made available, and we have entered into the refuge with our trusting His faithfulness. Alright, and then again, reading verse 18, so as we flee to that place of refuge:

Hebrews 6:18b
"…to lay hold upon the hope (there’s that word again, faith, hope and love. And now) set before us:"
Oh, what is it? The promises of God! I just told a young man earlier, "He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us." Regardless of what may happen, He is always there and He will never leave us. Alright, and this hope then becomes:

Hebrews 6:19a
"Which hope we have as an anchor or the soul…."

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLII

Hebrews 6:14
"Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee."

Stop and think. What are we talking about? We’re talking about one man who is already 75 years old. His legitimate wife is already 65, well past the normal age of expecting children. And then God makes them wait another 25 years. By that time you would think they would have totally given up. But you know, isn’t that the way it works. God stretches us past our limits of endurance to prove His supernatural abilities and when we've passed through those limits we find that God uses the some simplest of things which baffle us. For this is the meaning of Isaiah 49:13 where He uses the word afflicted, Jesus used such words as broken and contrite of heart.

I have to tell people when they ask, "Why do we have to go through pressures and so forth before God answers." I always use this comparison - I don’t know how many of you like to eat the blue concord grapes like I do. But the first thing I do when I put a blue concord grape in my mouth is, I squeeze out the pulp, you know what I’m talking about. And how that pulp in your mouth just pops out of the skin. Alright, That’s how I feel when God deals with me a lot of times? I feel like the pulp in that grape skin. He just squeezes me into the corner, tighter and tighter and I finally get to the place, "God aren’t you ever going to hear me?" Then ‘faster than ever’- there’s the answer! And so this is what He did even with Abraham. He just squeezed him and squeezed him and I suppose Abraham was almost thinking he could never have a son by this 90 year-old wife. That is exactly how we're dealt with because first it produces His Love in us and then it turns our trusting of Him into faith, why, because we're trusting His faithfulness.

And what happened? The miracle of God, she had the promised son Isaac! And so this is what we have to constantly remember, that God will never go back on His promises. And that’s what makes our Christian experience so exciting. Now verse 15.

Hebrews 6:15
"And so, after he had (what?) patiently endured, and he obtained (what?) the promise."
Here it came! A hundred years old - his wife 90, and here came the promise. Up until that time, he must have agonized, how will a nation of people possibly come from me when there’s no chance that my wife can have a child. But you see, Abraham, just like us, underestimated the power of God, but it came. And he held the promise. Verse 16.

Hebrews 6:16a
"For men verily swear by the greater:…"
In other words, the more authority you can get backing you up the better we like it. I imagine if you deal with corporations, I’ve found that you don’t like to make the underlings angry or anything like that but I’ve found one thing, if you want to get something done, you go as far up the ladder as you possibly can. Even if you have to bypass a few people that won’t like it. You go to the top if you want to get something done, and so, this is the same way here. Why go to anything less than the God of Creation, because He is the greatest that can give a word of promise.

Now then the two things that are mentioned here are the two immutable witnesses which would be His Word and His Oath. He not only spoke it but He promised it! He put an oath on it.

Hebrews 6:16b
"…and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife."
The casual reader probably reads right over that. What does that really mean? Well, until you get somebody to sign on the dotted line, what is there still room for? Negotiation. But once you get them to sign on the dotted line, there’s no more argument. That’s what you signed, and that’s what you agreed to.

Well, that’s what God has done. God has sworn it with an oath, that these things are going to come to pass and there’s no room for argument. Oh, they can scoff all they want. The unbelieving world can ridicule it but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the Sovereign Creator God is in total control. It’s going to happen according to His timetable and you can rest on it. Verse 17.

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CLI

Hebrews 6:11
"And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:"

Who is he talking about? Well, he’s talking about the "beloved" up in verse 9. He’s not talking about those who had turned their backs and went back into Judaism and became the apostate or wicked, but rather about the believing element. Let me read it. "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you," Alright it’s to those believers that he says, "they have the full assurance of hope." For how long? "Unto the end." Now we know eternity has no end, so in this case he must be talking about what? Their sojourn on earth until death, until they fall to sleep and that God will never forsake them. Now a verse always comes to mind with a thought like that. Just back up a few pages to Philippians. Because even though Hebrews is written to Hebrews, never lose sight of the fact that the whole concept is the same as what Paul has written to us as Gentiles. And in Philippians chapter 1 verse 6, we have that same concept, as he writes to us as Gentiles.

Philippians 1:6
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you (in other words, he has brought us to the place of embracing our salvation, and we know that we’re saved. Now here’s a promise) will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"

He will never let us go, nor will He ever forget about us, it’s the same concept here in Hebrews 6. Even with these Jewish believers who had stepped right on into this same concept of Paul’s Gospel now, that they were full of the assurance of hope.

Now verse 12 - here is an admonition to those believers, as well as believers today, as we pointed out, that they were to move on. They were to keep growing in Grace and Knowledge and unto a maturity, and leave the elementary things behind. Now verse 12:

Hebrews 6:12
"That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the (what?) the promises."

Oh, the promises of God! Most of us are aware of the Old Testament promises given to Israel which, of course, were all material and earthly promises, and they’re still waiting for a good portion of them. But even for us in this Church Age or this Age of Grace we, too, have a multitude of promises. Paul’s letters are full of them. He will never leave us nor forsake us, and we have the assurance that we are His. And he tells us in Romans chapter 8 that we’re what? "We’re joint-heirs with Christ." Well, those are promises that we can hang on to and know that they are ours. Now when it comes to promises, I’ve already said, the first place we normally go is the Old Testament. And so does Paul in verse 13:


Hebrews 6:13a
"For when God made promise to Abraham,…"

That’s why we call that period of time, in between Abraham and the giving of the Levitical Law, a time of promises. Because over and over, God promised the patriarchs. Number one to Abraham, that out of him would come a nation of people. In the next chapter God promised that He would give them a geographical area of land. And then later on as He comes to King David, He gives David the promise that out of him would come the royal family which would bring forth the Messiah. All promises of God!

Then all the promises concerning the coming Kingdom, that age of peace and prosperity of which the Nation of Israel has always longed for. Promises. And so, it’s just to show us that when God makes promises, even though His wheels grind slowly, they grind surely. Okay, so reading on in verse 13:

Hebrews 6:13
"For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself," (Genesis 22:15-18; Luke 1:73)

You see, only God could do that! So God can swear on the veracity of His own Person, that these things will come to pass. We tell people, don’t ever give up on God, just because things don’t move as fast as we think they should. My, how long did Abraham have to wait before he even got the first fulfillment of the promise of a son, Isaac? Almost fifty years as far as we can determine. You can’t put that in concrete because we don’t know exactly how old he was when God spoke to him down in Ur.

We know he was seventy-five when he went from Haran down into Canaan. And we also know that he was a hundred before Isaac was born. So it was somewhere between 25 and 50 years that Abraham patiently waited for the promise of a son. Of course, we know that in the meantime, Abraham took things into his own hands for a short spat of weakened trust, but nevertheless he came back and he waited until finally his wife Sarah brought forth Isaac. So with that as a backdrop, that God will never go back on His promises, this is what God told him in verse 14.

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CL

Ephesians 2:11a
"Wherefore remember, (he’s writing to Gentiles. He’s writing to us) that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision…"
Which remember was a derogatory term that the Hebrews used concerning Gentiles. And usually they made it a little more derogatory by adding the word dogs. Gentiles were uncircumcised dogs in the Jewish vernacular and so Paul is alluding to that same thing. That that’s what the circumcision in the flesh called Gentiles. Now verse 12.

Ephesians 2:12
"That at that time (while God was dealing with Israel back there in that Old Testament economy and during Christ’s earthly ministry and yes, even these Hebrews to whom Paul is addressing in this Epistle) ye (Gentiles) were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel (we weren’t citizens of Israel. We’re not Hebrews. We were uncircumcised Gentiles) and strangers from the covenants of promise,(consequently where were the Gentiles before the Age of Grace?) having no hope, and without God in the world." But verse 13, This is the flipside – we’re no longer in that time, we are now in this Age of Grace,

Ephesians 2:13
"But now in Christ ye who sometimes were far off (we Gentiles) are now made nigh (not through the Mosaic Law. Not through Judaism. Not through legalism of some form of religion. But through what?) by the blood of Christ." Through the blood of Christ. And remember what the Book of Romans said concerning the blood of Christ? "Put your wholehearted trust in it through His faith in it, and believe it with all your heart." God has said that the blood of Christ has paid your sin debt. But when and how did we become accounted worthy of His blood, at the Lord's table during the meal of the Lambs Wedding feast when He said "this is the blood of the New Covenant"(Matthew 22:1-14, 26:28, Mark 14:24; Jeremiah 31:31, Leviticus 17:11; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32) Alright, Hebrews chapter 6 verse 9 again,

Hebrews 6:9-10
"But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, through we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister." So these people Paul is commending because they were true believers.

We’re going to jump right in at Hebrews chapter 6 verse 11. Just for a little bit of review so that we can pick up the flow, we have been coming through those verses that dealt with a portion of Scripture that has confused a lot of people. It is not a matter of being saved and lost, and saved and lost. But for those who have deliberately scorned and turned their backs, they have no more opportunity for forgiveness, as we have seen in verses 4-6, which of course, was applied primarily to Jewish people who were not willing to let go of all the ramifications of the Levitical Law with its ordinances and rituals here in this Epistle of Hebrews. They had come far enough to recognize that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, their promised Messiah, but to step on into the doctrines of Grace as we understand them, they were having a problem. Then for some, of course, they just deliberately turned their backs on everything and went back into Judaism. And that’s why the term was used ‘there is no further repentance,’ and sacrifices and so forth. For they were no longer worthy of the Lord's table not His alter because they've made a mockery of His Blood and the Cross.

Then we saw in verse 10 where we left off, that God is not unrighteous. He’s never unfair. And God will never forget the work of the believer in love. Now, before I go any further, I guess I might as well point it out right now. You can do this in your own Bible. Remember when we were back in I Corinthians 13, the very last words of that chapter are:

I Corinthians 13:13
"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, (love) these three; but the greatest of these is charity." (love)
Now I made the point when we were there, that if you’ll watch all through Paul’s Epistles, you constantly see those three words popping up. Sometimes one at a time, maybe here and there, and sometimes all three together. But here’s another good example. Up here in verse 10, we have "He will never forget your work and labor of (what?) love." Then you come down to verse 11 and "…to show diligence to the full assurance of (what?) hope." Then to verse 12, "…that you be not slothful but followers of them who through faith...."


If you’re looking for them, they’ll just jump off the page at you. "Faith, hope and love." See, these are little tidbits of Scripture that just show us how intricately this whole Book is put together. It’s not just a bunch of stuff thrown in by various authors. This Book is Divinely inspired. It has been Divinely programmed so that everything fits. Alright, let’s jump in in verse 11 where Paul writes to these Jewish people:

Hebrews 6:11
"And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:"

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CXXXXIX

Now let’s go to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4. Remember this is all jumping off from that word Salvation in Hebrews chapter 6 as Paul was agreeing that the believing element of these Hebrews had salvation. So he wasn’t condemning them for being apostate but it was the people who were part and parcel of their congregation who were and had been.

Ephesians 2:4-6
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins,(as the offspring of Adam) hath quickened (or made us alive spiritually through the office of the Holy Spirit) us together with Christ, (for by the Spirit of Grace are you saved") And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" God always has a purpose in everything He does, and here is another one, in the next verse.

Ephesians 2:7-8
"That in the ages to come (eternity) he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (and here comes that classic verse that every believer should know) For by grace are you saved (through the benefit or our benefactor, no its much more than that, that we don’t deserve, no we did not but God in His infinite Love placed a greater value on us then we deserved) through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

Is there anything added there? No. There’s nothing in there of baptism, or of tongues or even of works. There’s nothing in there of good works, because the only way we’re saved is by trusting in His faith plus nothing! Now I have to qualify that. That doesn’t mean that we can say, "Oh I’m saved", and then go on our way. That’s not what we're teaching. We’re saved for the purpose of sharing in His producing fruit, and that’s not "easy believeism." It’s not easy to get out there in His likeness and then allow Him to produce fruit through us. You’ve heard me use it over and over and I’ll use it again. If you’re paddling a canoe up a river, that is upstream, how much of the time can you take the paddle out of the water? Never! Because the moment you do, back down the river you go. We're the vessel that He uses, we're His mouth and His message bearers. We work with the Holy Spirit just as Jesus did as our leader and forerunner or captain. It's only in and by the power of the Holy Spirit that we're to do anything.

And it’s a constant exercise of energy to keep moving on in the Christian experience. So don’t ever let anyone accuse me of an easy believeism. All I say is it is so simple because God has done all that needs to be done and all we have to do is first receive and then believe it. But, recognize that God’s going to move in and make us a new creation, so that we can bear His fruit. To get some kind of handle on this let's turn for a moment to 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verses 3, and 6-10:

2Corinthians 3:3, 6-10
"Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart..... Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth."

Now we'll quote from a book written by Andrew Murray entitled "The Two Covenants" and from chapter 7: "Think a moment of the contrast. The Old Covenant was of the letter that kills. The law came with its literal instruction, and sought by the knowledge it gave of God's will to appeal to man's fear and his love, to his natural powers of mind and conscience and will. It spoke to him as if he could obey, that it might convince him of what he did not know, that he could not obey. And so it fulfilled its mission : "The commandment which was unto life, this I found to be unto death." In the New, on the contrary, how different was everything. Instead of the letter, the Spirit that gives Life, that breathes the very Life of God, the Life of heaven into us. Instead of a law graven in stone, the law written in the heart, worked into the heart's affection and powers, making it one with them. Instead of the vain attempt to work from without inward, the Spirit and the law are put into the inward parts, thence to work outward in life and walk.

This passage brings into view that which is the distinctive blessing of the New
Covenant. In working out our Salvation God bestows upon us two wonderful gifts.
We read: "God sent forth His Son, that He might redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because we are sons, God
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Here we
have the two parts of God's work in our having entered into His Salvation. The one, the more objective, what He did that we might become His children---He sent forth His Son. The second, the more subjective, what He did that we might live like His children He sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. In the former we have the external manifestation of the work of redemption; in the other, its inward appropriation; the former for the sake of the latter. These two halves form one great whole, and may not be separated."

Notice that Mr. Murray said that these two actions now can't be separated and indeed that is so but only after we've spent our time under God listening to the Holy Spirits training and teaching of us. In what we've called "our first estate" under the Law because when He's done His work we find our true self life lacking and in utter shambles of sin. If we've allowed Him to do that to which He is first given and that is to bring us to Christ and His alter and our table. For it's only through His office as our trained and teacher that we can pass and then come to the knowledge of Christ which is the subject of our teachings. Now back to our outline.

Ephesians 2:8-10
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (and you don’t work for a gift) Not of works, (because if it was works then) any man should boast. (now we follow-up after salvation) For we are his workmanship, (We are something now that God is working in us to form us and to prepare us for our service) created in Christ Jesus unto good works, (Not for salvation I think that’s evident, but as a result of it.) which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Alright now, I’m going to look at verses 11, 12 and 13 because again, too many people don’t know these are in their Bible. Look what they say:

The Epistle to the Hebrews part CXXXXVIII

Romans 7:4
"Wherefore, my brethren ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; (In other words, by virtue of His crucifixion but it follows His Last Supper and therefore they are connected as being one action)that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, (now this of course, is just a scriptural use of words to prove a point, that we are now united with Christ. Just like a man and woman are when married, and for what purpose) that we should bring forth fruit."
We should have an impact on people around us to the place that you can bring in some lost souls or bring some to the point of revelation. Now, I believe most believers go all the way to their grave never having led one person to Christ because they don't Know Him or this Gospel. Even their own children, they have never brought them to a knowledge of true Redemption let alone this great Salvation. And if every believer would just win one, my what a difference we could make! But we don’t do it. Why? Lack of knowledge of the truth and the mysteries by way of an inward knowing. Its not through a head knowledge because that alone will fail us. Anyone can memorize scripture and even the whole Bible. But that doesn't mean that they have a Spirit led understanding, they're not empowered to put the scriptures together in such a way as to caused them to speak Life to an otherwise dead spirit.

I remember in my younger days, hearing people say, "Well, that’s the preacher’s job. That’s the Sunday School teacher’s job." Well, yes but it’s yours also, and it’s mine. And I have to say, that it doesn’t mean you collar people and force these things down their throat. No! It simply means that you’re skilled enough in the Scriptures that when someone asks a question – take them to The Book! If nothing else have a few notes in the back of your Bible. That will help you to show them some Scriptures. How that it is by trusting in His faithfulness and then in the work of the Cross plus nothing!

I know people hate to hear that! Why do people think they have to DO something?" Well it’s that old Adam-Satan nature? And so to overcome that takes a lot a patience. I had another gentleman say, "You know, I can’t understand it, since I’ve been saved," he says, "I’ve gone back to the church where I was raised and I present these things." And he said, "I’ve asked some of my fellow church people, do you know what the Gospel is? And you know what? They look at me and they don’t have a clue. They don’t know what the Gospel is." All they've ever heard was what we call a blended gospel or one form of it, wealth, health, the power gospel, bless me, bless me kind of thing or a name it and claim it kind of thing as they are called by many names in different organizations or groups. Theirs one group close to us that calls the worlds church a "National Parks Church" not realizing that that is just what they are also. Why? Because they deal with mans psychology or psychotherapy and a form of socialism in the guise of religion.

Another gentleman said, "You know what most people in my church answered when I asked them, "What’s the Gospel?" They said, "The Bible." "Well," he said, "The Bible’s got the Gospel in it, but that’s not this Gospel." But see, this is where Christendom is. They are so pitifully ignorant that most church people cannot tell you what Paul’s Gospel is, or what the mysteries are, and how you can gain the Lord's Salvation. They simply don’t have a clue.

Well, that’s where we come in. We’ve got to let them know that it’s not a whole bunch of do’s and don’ts. It’s not getting so holy that you’re just sort of an oddball. No way. The Christian life as we’ve said over and over, is the most practical thing on earth. There is nothing more practical than a solid Christian life. You’ll never find a good, true believing Christian caught up in the throws of court proceedings and crime. That’s not their lifestyle. Now, we can all fail. My, we can all make a mistake, but it is not the Christian’s lifestyle to be constantly on the police blotter, or practicing the worlds religious ceremonies, customs and rites of ritual. And so, this is what the Scripture tells us, that now we’re to consider ourselves just like a woman that is married to her husband. We are in union with Christ we're conjoined to Him and the purpose is that we are to allow Him to be productive by fruit bearing through us. We’re to get busy sitting under God listening. And we’d better or the Muslim-Islamic world will overtake us. And then, we’ll wish we would have.

Before we move on allow me to show you something my wife just brought to me. We'll turn to Psalm 25 and verses 4, 14 to start with:
Psalm 25:1-5
"Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.(4) Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day." In the surrounding scriptures there are many words which reveal the twisting of the covenant by way of misinterpreting it and now verse 14:

Psalm 25:9-15
"The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great. What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. (14) The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net."
Now from this we could do a word study which will reveal many things about the church being upside down in its teachings and our perception of the Lord's Word.But from here lets go to John's Gospel chapter 7 and verse 17:

John7:15-19
"The Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. (17) If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?" and now turn to chapter 15 and verse 15:

John 15:12-18
"This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you."
and finially turn to Acts chapter 20 and verse 30:

Acts 20:29-31
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. (30) Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears."
Those who are of perverse things are the ones who have twisted the gospel not knowing the difference between the Gospel of the kingdom which the Lord Jesus proclaimed and this Gospel of Grace which the Apostle Paul proclaims through the power of the Holy Spirit.