Discovering the Great and Precious Promises of GOD (To the Liberal)

We are making head way in GODS many Promises to those who will be Obedient and become Christ ones the meaning of "Isr El" or Ben El and Sons of El, soldiers of GOD. Little by little here a little there a little is GODS way of restoring us to Himself through Christ. For this why we are to be "in Christ," as the prepared virgins were Jesus example. Even the wedding feast is an example of those who have received of Him as the honored guests clothed inside and outside with Christ. Paul used the illustration of our being dress in GODS armor of Light. Again I will draw from the spring of Pastor Hoekstra's writing on GODS Grace, with some editing. And making use of the ESV translation for the rest of our look at the Liberal.

                                 "God's Grace Teaching Us"
"For the Grace of GOD that brings Salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live Soberly, Righteously, and Godly in the present Age, looking for the Blessed Hope and Glorious appearing of our Great GOD and Savior Jesus Christ."  (Titus 2:11-13)

"Time and again, we have considered the connection between Grace and Justification. "Being Justified freely by (in) His Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus...In Him we have Redemption through His blood, the Forgiveness of sins, according to the Riches of His Grace" (Romans 3:24 and Ephesians 1:7). Now, we have an opportunity to ponder once more the Relationship between Grace and Sanctification. "For the Grace of GOD that brings Salvation has appeared to all men." It is GOD's Grace that brings Salvation to mankind. For nearly 2,000 years, that saving Grace of the LORD has been offered to humanity through the preaching of the Gospel. This particular verse now adds another function to the work of Grace. "For the Grace of GOD [is] teaching us."

The Grace of GOD not only saves the souls of all who Believe; it also works in Believers' lives to Teach and Instruct them. GOD's Grace, working through His word ("The word of His Grace" — Acts 20:32), Instructs and shapes our thinking and living: Gives each one clear perception in the purposes of GOD and His now Living Word within us. "Teaching and properly Equipping us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live Soberly, Righteously, and godly in the present Age." It is the Will of our Heavenly Father that His children (the Isr El) turn away from that which is worldly and spiritually compromising. He wants us to walk in Godliness, in Christlikeness. GOD works this into our hearts by His Grace. Restoring us to a Genesis 2 Adam, this is to say a free spiritual man.

GOD's Grace also develops expectant lives, eager to have the LORD Jesus return for His people: "Looking for the Blessed Hope and Glorious appearing of our Great GOD and Savior Jesus Christ."

The Grace of GOD impacting our hearts through His word by His Spirit is His Divine means to bring about such Transformation in us. To view sanctification as something we can produce through our own performance (that is, by Law) is akin to overlooking GOD's Grace and underestimating the provisions of the cross of Christ. "I do not set aside the Grace of GOD; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died in vain" (Galatians 2:21).

To the Liberal:
Psalm 41:1-4 "Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness You restore him to full health. As for me, I said, "O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!" (the word poor is one who realizes his extreme poverty and unsoundness before the LORD, he is said elsewhere to be humiliated and ashamed of his being and frame. For this is natural mans true poverty.)

Proverbs 3:1-12 "My son, do not forget My Teaching, but let your heart keep My Commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not My steadfast Love and Faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of GOD and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He Will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear (reverence and revere) the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights."

Proverbs 11:23-27, 22:9, 28:27 and Ecclesiastes 11:1 "The desire of the righteous ends only in good; the expectation of the wicked in wrath. One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it. Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it."

Proverbs 22:6-12 "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease. He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but He overthrows the words of the traitor."

Proverbs 28:20-28 "A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong. A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him. Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue. Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, "That is no transgression," is a companion to a man who destroys. A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the LORD will be enriched. Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. When the wicked rise, people hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase."

Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 "Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth."


Isaiah 58:6-11 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD Will answer; you shall cry, and He Will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD Will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail."


Luke 6:36-38, 14:14 (Jesus is speaking) "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you."
Luke 14:12-14 "He said also to the man who had invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." Matthew 25:34-40 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.'

Discovering the Great and Precious Promises of GOD (Obedience to Christ)

I will get one foot part way into the door with this one. But will leave the rest of the Promises of Christ for later discourse. From the pen of Pastor Hoekstra we have "the ability of GODS Grace," with some editing. And as has become my usual I will use the ESV translation for the study outline.

                                 "The Ability of God's Grace"
"And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His Grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance." (Acts 20:32)

"GOD's Grace has such marvelous abilities. It is able to give the eternal inheritance of GOD to His children. It is also able to build up their lives here on earth for greater service and increased fruitfulness.

It is by the Grace of the LORD that we can anticipate being recipients of a heavenly inheritance. "The word of His Grace, which is able to . . .  give you an inheritance." An inheritance is obtained by being born into a family. We have been born again into the family of GOD. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of GOD, even to those who believe in His name: who were born . . . of GOD" (John 1:12-13). We who believe Jesus are God's children, "and if children, then heirs — heirs of GOD and joint heirs with Christ" (Psalm 2:6-8, Romans 8:17). We are blessed beyond measure to know that heavenly treasures of fellowship, worship, and service await GOD's children in glory above. All of these eternal riches are ours by the Grace of GOD alone. But as we are find out in the Promises these same treasures are ours spiritual while here on earth as we grow in the knowledge of the LORD. (Matthew 11:29)

GOD's amazing Grace also has the ability to build us up as we await our inheritance here on earth below. "The word of His Grace, which is able to build you up." The LORD wants our spiritual roots of hunger and trust to be Growing deep into Himself. He wants our lives to be undergoing continual construction in Christ. He wants our character to become increasingly stabilized in the Faith, that is, in His word. "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the LORD, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the (His) Faith" (Colossians 2:6-7).

It is the Will of GOD that we be edified. "Let all things be done for Edification" (1Corinthians 14:26). All along the way from New birth into His Family until our full heavenly inheritance as His Family, GOD desires that His children be spiritually strengthened and increasingly developed in Christian maturity. We are NOT to stay as mans religions recycle their teachings every 3 to 5 years over and over keeping us as children and babes. Being feed only watered down milk at best and we all know that no one can grow in the true Gospel knowledge of the LORD on watery milk.
Our ministry to one another can be an effective part of this edification process. "Let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another . . . Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification" (Romans 14:19; 15:2).

It is essential to remember, however, that GOD's Grace is what accomplishes the building up process. "The word of His Grace, which is able to build you up."

Our requirement is Obedience to Christ:
Matthew 4:18-22 "While walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Without question immediately they left their nets and followed Him. And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him."

Matthew 7:24-27, 28-29 (Jesus is speaking) "Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."
When Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes."

Matthew 9:9 "As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed Him."

Matthew 21:6-11 "The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and He sat on them. (this took place exactly to the very that Daniel said it would in chapter 9:24-27, on the 24th day of April) Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before Him and that followed Him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!" And when He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."

Matthew 26:17-19 "Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where will You have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'" And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover."

Luke 5:3-11 "Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, Jesus asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."
And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him."

Luke 6:46-49  "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."

John 2:2-11 "Jesus also was invited to the wedding with His disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast." So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now." This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him."

John 11:27-29 "She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of GOD, Who is coming into the world." When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to Him."

John 14:18-21 (Jesus is speaking)  "I Will Not leave you as orphans; I Will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also Will Live. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Whoever has My Commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me Will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

John 21:4-6 "Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, do you have any fish?" They answered Him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish."

Discovering the Great and Precious Promises of GOD (GODS Word is our Spiritual Food)

Yesterday we saw that GODS Promised are both for the Temporal, the hear and now which is passing away with use. And the spirit of mans restored to Him as opposed to the fallen deity who holds all unredeemed man in his slavery by deception and all manner of lies. Starting today I will look at GODS Word being our spiritual food. And because it is for us to eat, as food I have chosen to use small letters as opposed to caps. In many Bibles the term used maybe "Food for the Soul" or the "Word as Food," but I choose to use Food for our spirit or Spiritual Food when it is received from GODS Own mouth. Moving on to Pastor Hoekstra'a teaching on Grace verses Law. And from my E-Sword program I will continue to use the ESV translation.

                                           "The New Covenant: Grace, Not Law"
"I will make a New Covenant . . . not according to the Covenant that I made . . . the gospel of the Grace of GOD."  (Jeremiah 31:31-32 and Acts 20:24)

"The old covenant of Law was the covenant that GOD made with Israel "in the day that [He] took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt." The promise through Jeremiah was that the Lord (I leave this as is because it speaks of Jesus in this manner dressed out in mans flesh) would make a different type of covenant some day, "not according to [that] covenant." This New Covenant would be a Covenant of Grace, provided by the Lord Jesus Christ. "For the Law was given through Moses, but Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).

The Law of GOD passed to Israel through Moses was an impossible way to relate to the LORD. It required perfection, but it offered no perfecting assistance. It was able, however, to convince people of their need for the Grace of Christ found in the New Covenant. "The Law was our Tutor to bring us to Christ  " (Galatians 3:24).

Now, we live and proclaim this New Covenant of Grace, the"New and Living Way which He consecrated for us" (Hebrews 10:20). This was the Mission and Message of which the Apostle Paul spoke. "The ministry which I received from the LORD Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the Grace of GOD" (Acts 20:24). The Gospel is all about the Grace of GOD, not about the Law of Moses. "The word of the Truth of the Gospel, which has come to you . . . the Grace of GOD" (Colossians 1:5-6).

Gospel means "glad tidings," or "good news." The Good News of the Grace of GOD Provided through Christ Jesus, Christ is the Preeminent Message in all of Creation. In fact, the Gospel of Grace is such Good News that some unbelievers initially reject it as "too good to be true." Indeed, it is an astounding reality to consider that Forgiveness, Justification, and New birth are all available "by Grace . . . through Faith . . . the Gift of GOD, not of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9). It must be pointed out that Jesus spoke of faith as being one of the smallest seeds known a mustard seed saw used for this. This seed starts as our trusting Him first for our Redemption for it is in Redemption that we begin to learn by the Holy Spirit our Tutor the word of revelation which draws us to the wanting for a deeper knowing of the mystery of Jesus. Which will bring us to acknowledge our own need for His Promised Salvation.

Perhaps we should not be surprised that some believers react in this same manner when they begin to consider the Message of Grace for Growth and Sanctification. To hear that the entire Christian life is to be "Grace upon grace" (John 1:16) may at first seem "too good to be true."

At times, we may ask (or have others ask us), "Isn't there any human responsibility in GOD's plan of Salvation?" The saved and unsaved alike must always be willing to respond to the offer of GOD's Grace in Christ. We must all relate properly to the LORD Christ Jesus for every work of Grace, because it is "the Grace of our LORD Christ Jesus" (2Corinthians 8:9). In all matters, we must seek Him and trust in Him."

GODS Word our Spiritual Food:
The word becomes our very sustenance after we have entered by the gate or door His Promised Salvation. For it is then that we know it is Divinely inspired without doubt.
Deuteronomy 8:1-10 "The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD Swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your GOD has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And it is He Who humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your GOD Disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your GOD by walking in His ways and by Reverencing Him only. For the LORD your GOD is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your GOD for the good land He has given you."


Job 23:8-17  "Behold, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive Him; on the left hand when He is working, I do not behold Him; He turns to the right hand, but I do not see Him. He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the Commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food. He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him back? What He desires, that He does. For He Will complete what He appoints for me, and many such things are in His mind. Therefore I am terrified at His presence; when I consider, I am in dread of Him. GOD has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face."


Mem.
Psalm 119:97-104 "Oh how I love Your (Word, Will) Law! It is my meditation all the day. Your Commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep Your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep Your Word. I do not turn aside from Your rules, for You have taught me. How sweet are Your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way."


Jeremiah 15:15, 16-18, Ezekiel 2:8, 3:1 and Matthew 4:4 "O LORD, You know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In Your forbearance take me not away; know that for Your sake I bear reproach.
Your Words were found, and I ate them, and Your Words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O LORD, GOD of hosts. I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because Your hand was upon me, for You had filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?"
Ezekiel 2:8-10 "But You, son of (Adam) man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you." And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And He spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe."......And He said to me, "Son of  (Adam) man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and He gave me this scroll to eat. And He said to me, "Son of (Adam) man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey."
Matthew 4:1-4  Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of GOD.'"


1Peter 2:1-4 "So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the LORD is good."

Discovering the Great and Precious Promises of GOD (Blessings Promised are both Spiritual and Temporal)

Many people who call themselves by Christ's name get hung up on the Temporal part of the Promised Blessing of GOD. And because they do they miss out on the greater and Better portion of GOD Himself. In the beginning of my own walk that was exactly where I stood and it frustrated me no end because I was so caught in that snare. And I guess that is the reason I do what I do and say what I say today. Because GODS Own Love within me wants the world at large and the nations within it to be freed from that snare. This is know in scriptures as having the mind of Christ, the setting of all sons of Adam at liberty, freed from the snare of mans own religions and denominations under the spell of Satan's deception and perversion of the LORDS Gospel. And has become my standard of operation I will turn to Pastor Hoekstra's writings on Grace and then use the ESV translation for our subject passages on the Temporal and Spiritual Blessing.

                                               "Growing in the Grace of God"
"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ."  (2Peter 3:18)

"Let's reflect upon some of the heavenly territory we have explored thus far. Grace is for our Spiritual Growth and Progress in the Knowledge of the LORD. It is not intended only for our re-birthing and starting out with the Lord. "But Grow in the Grace . . . of our LORD and Savior Christ Jesus." Growth in Christ is to be produced by GOD's Grace at work in us.

Often, GOD's people are apprehensive about an emphasis upon His Grace. We become concerned that irresponsibility, ungodliness, laziness, or indulgence will result. We can rest assured on the Promises and Purposes of GOD that true Grace does not produce such consequences. Such effects are produced by the flesh of man, either by licentiousness or by legalism. Because swore on a Oath to DO His Will within those who would become His Adam sons again.

Licentiousness hopes to turn Grace into a means by which sinful indulgence is acceptable. "For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the Grace of our GOD into licentiousness" (Jude 4). Legalism aspires to add religious performance to Grace, thereby appealing to the self-righteous hopes of man. "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit,  are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:2-3).

When a person truly lives by the Grace of GOD, Righteousness results, not ungodliness. When a person increasingly learns to draw upon the Grace of GOD for daily living, Christ-likeness develops, not worldliness. When Grace becomes more and more the resource for Life, sin diminishes; it does not increase. "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under Law but under Grace" (Romans 6:14).

The temptation is to rely upon the Law of GOD in order to generate godliness. The demand of the Law to be Holy, Loving, and Perfect becomes a false security to our flesh. We think that by hearing, repeating, or depending upon this demand, we can thereby accomplish it. Let us not forget that "the Law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a Better Hope" (Hebrews 7:18-19). GOD's Perfect Grace is the "Better Hope" that does not fail to bring forth what GOD Desires.

The LORD GOD (Christ's Own Anointing in us) has ordained for us a life-long involvement with His Grace. He wants to work "Grace for [upon] grace" (John 1:16) for the rest of our days. This is the "New and Living way" (Hebrews 10:20). Perhaps this could all be summarized in another acrostic on Grace: Glorious Realities As Christ Empowers."

Blessing Temporal and Spiritual as Promised:
Exodus 23:24-25, Deuteronomy 28:2  "You shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall serve the LORD your GOD, and I Will bless your bread and your water, and I Will take sickness away from among you."
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 "And if you faithfully Obey the Voice of the LORD your GOD, being careful to do all His commandments that I command you today, the LORD your GOD Will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you Obey the Voice of the LORD your GOD."


Psalm 81:13-16, Proverbs 28:20 "Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes. Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward Him, and their fate would last forever. But He would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." Proverbs 28:18-20 "Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall. Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished."


Isaiah 30:21-26, Joel 2:26 "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, "Be gone!" He Will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people, and heals the wounds inflicted by His blow."
Joel 2:24-27 "The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I Will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, My great army, which I sent among you. "You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your GOD, Who has dealt wondrously with you. And My people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your GOD and there is none else. And My people shall never again be put to shame."


Amos 9:13-15, Zechariah 10:1 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them," says the LORD your GOD."
Zechariah 10:1 "Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD Who makes the storm clouds, and He Will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field."
Malachi 3:9-12, 13-15, 16-18 "You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe (our spiritual worship of Romans 12:1-3 done in spirit and Truth, John 4:24)) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. And thereby put Me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I Will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I Will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of Hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of Hosts.
"Your words have been hard against Me, says the LORD. But you say, 'How have we spoken against you?' You have said, 'It is vain to serve GOD. What is the profit of our keeping His charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of Hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.'"
Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed His name. "They shall be Mine, says the LORD of Hosts, in the day when I make up My treasured possession, and I Will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the Righteous and the wicked, between one who serves GOD and one who does not serve Him."


Matthew 6:25-33, 34 and Luke 18:30 (Jesus is speaking) "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if GOD so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But Seek first the kingdom of GOD and His Righteousness, and all these things Will be added to you.
"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Luke 18:28-30 "Peter said, "See, we have left our homes and followed you." And He said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of GOD, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life."

Discovering the Great and Precrious Promises of GOD (to the Obedient)

Today we will look at the LORD Christ's words concerning Obedience. But first a look at Grace as written by Pastor Hoekstra. And as has become my norm I will use the ESV translation for the scriptures.

                              "The Ongoing Grace of GOD"
"I Will put My Law in their minds, and write it on their hearts . . . it is good that the heart be established by Grace."  (Jeremiah 31:33 and Hebrews 13:9)

"Our initial encounter with the Grace of GOD involves Forgiveness and Justification. "In Him we have our Redemption through His blood (our being point of our recovery of what Adam lost), the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His Grace" (Ephesians 1:7). Rich measures of GOD's Grace washed away our sins and gave us New Life in Christ. Of course, that initial Justifying work of GOD could not exhaust His Grace. Rather, it was "according to the riches of His Grace." There are unlimited riches yet available for our daily Sanctification, our ongoing Growth in Christ. And our acquired Learning of the LORD Christ (Matthew 11:29).

Hebrews 13:9 is one of the many places in scripture that indicate Progressive Sanctification, that is, Growth in Godliness, is by Grace. "It is good that the heart be Established by Grace." This Truth clearly pertains to Sanctification and Growth, not Justification and New birth. At regeneration, we are given a New heart. "I Will give you a New heart and put a New spirit within you; I Will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). Then, after Receiving a New, yielding, responsive heart, the spiritual stabilization of that New heart must follow.

It is from within the heart that the development of Practical Righteousness must proceed. What is eventually seen and heard in our daily Christian lives sources from within the core of our inner being. "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of Life" (Proverbs 4:23). The Lord Christ Jesus now "LORD" within us, wants to work from deep within us. "I Will put My Law in their minds, and write it on their hearts."

If an unstable, inconsistent life is being expressed outwardly, an unestablished heart within is the cause. Jesus taught that "out of the Abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). Whatever is developing and filling up our inner man (one of two deities GOD's or Satan's character, Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13) will eventually come out to be seen and heard.

In order to develop in us an increasingly mature, Christlike walk, our heart must be re-Established. The Holy and Royal Law of GOD is not designed to change men's hearts. GOD's Grace is the essential and sufficient cause to bring about this desired work of Godliness, restored. "It is good that the heart be Established by Grace."

Once more we have powerful biblical insight showing us that Grace is not only GOD's Provision to forgive and birth us into His Family, but Grace is also His Resource for Maturing us as His children."

Christ's Words Concerning Obedience:

The Base Rock of Character:
Matthew 7:24-27 (Jesus is speaking) "Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Daniel identifies this rock as being Christ in chapter 2 as a stone) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them Will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."


Essential to Membership in GOD's Family:
Matthew 12:46-50 "While He was still speaking to the people, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him. But He replied to the man who told Him, "Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?" And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the Will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."

The Key to Spiritual Knowledge:
John 7:14-18 "About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews (composed of the elitist's of the doctors, lawyers,and the Priesthood) therefore marveled, saying, "How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?" So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone's will is to do GOD's Will, he will know whether the teaching is from GOD or whether I am speaking on My own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of Him Who sent Him is true, and in Him there is no falsehood."

Secures the Blessing of Divine Fellowship:
John 14:18-24 and 1John 2:17 "I will not leave you as orphans; I Will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I Live, you also Will Live. In that day you Will Know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Whoever has My Commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me Will be loved by My Father, and I Will love him and manifest Myself to (within) him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We Will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word that you hear is not Mine but the Father's Who sent Me."

1John 2:15-17 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the Will of God abides forever."

For more revelation and understanding please take it upon yourself to read John 17 and the LORD's Intercessory Prayer found there. As it covers: the Definition of Eternal Life in verse 2 thru 4, the Prayer of Restoration in verses 5 thru 8, a Special Prayer of the Church in verses 9 thru 14,  a Prayer that the Church may be Kept Pure in verses 15 thru 20, a Prayer for the Unity of the Church in verses 21 thru 22 and the Exaltation of the Church in verses 23 thru 26.

Discovering the Great and Precrious Promises of GOD (to the Obedient)

We are looking into the Obedient and our next subject is Christ's own Obedience. But first we will look at Grace and the Law as written by Pastor Hoekstra and as has become our usual custom I will use the ESV translation. Keeping in mind that all Grace and Truth is the Character of Jesus as stated by John in John 1:14 and 17.

                               "The Initial Grace of GOD"
"I Will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more . . . For by Grace you have been saved through (the faith of Christ Jesus Who walked trusting the Fathers Promises and His Faithfulness) faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the Gift of GOD, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  (Jeremiah 31:34 and Ephesians 2:8-9)

"Again, we have the opportunity to compare Justifying Grace and Sanctifying Grace, Initial Grace and Ongoing Grace. This is always an edifying and valuable exercise, since we tend to forget that we are Sanctified through the same means that we are Justified. 

The Initial Grace that impacts our lives forever was the Justifying, Forgiving Grace of GOD. The prophets of old proclaimed this hope. The apostles of the church age applied it to us today. "I Will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I Will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34; also in Hebrews 8:12). When we repented of our sins and called upon the name of the Lord, we were forgiven and justified, declared not guilty and righteous in His sight.

This saving work of God on our behalf was all accomplished by the grace of God. "For by Grace you have been saved." The saving Grace of GOD is applied to lives as they grow to trust Jesus Christ as their LORD and Savior. "By Grace you have been saved through His Faith."

None of this process originates in man. All of it comes from GOD. "And that not of yourselves; it is the Gift of GOD." No aspect of Salvation derives from the efforts of man, so no one will ever be able to brag about their contribution in being saved. "Not of works, lest anyone should boast." All glory, now and forever, will go to the LORD Himself. "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD" (1Corinthians 1:31)
.
Yes, even faith does not source in man. Jesus is "the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). When we believed the Lord Jesus, it was in response to an authoring, revealing work that He was doing on our behalf. Jesus manifested Himself to us through the Gospel is the One Who was able to save us sinners. The Holy Spirit was convicting us of our need. We trusted His saving work for us. Thereby, He authored Faith in us. "Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing" (Revelation 5:12).

As we have seen previously, and will have opportunity to examine again and again, the Grace of GOD of which we partook for new birth and justification is the same Grace that must continually be at work in us for growth and sanctification."

Christ's Example of Obedience:

John 14:25-31 (Jesus is speaking) "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father Will send in My name, He Will Teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard Me say to you, 'I am going away, and I Will come to you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I Will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on Me, because I do as the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father."


John 15:1-11, 12 (Jesus is speaking) "I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Vine-dresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit HE takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit HE prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the Vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it Will be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples. As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My Love. If you keep My Commandments, you will abide in My Love, just as I have kept My Father's Commandments and abide in His Love. These things I have spoken to you, that My Joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
"This is My Commandment, that you love one another as I have love you."


Romans 5:18-21, Hebrews 5:8  "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, Grace Abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, Grace also might reign through righteousness of One, leading to Eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD."

Hebrews 5:5-10 "So also Christ did not exalt Himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by Him Who said to Him, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You"; as He says also in another place, "You are a Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. And being made perfect, He became the source of Eternal Salvation to all who obey HIM, being designated by GOD a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek." (Of the Line of Shem a gentile priest of the Most High GOD.)


Hebrews 10:4-10 "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.  Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have You prepared for Me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do Your Will, O GOD, as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book.'" When He said the above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the Law), then He added, "Behold, I have come to do Your Will." He does away with the first in order to establish the Second.  And by that Will we have been Sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Discovering the Great and Precrious Promises of GOD (to the Obedient)

We are on a learning curve to acquire the true and accurate Knowledge of our LORD through Obedience and once more we will not stop nor settle for nothing more. Every thing else is nothing but second best and we with Him want the Best He has for us all. As He is our supreme commander, LORD, and we are His soldiers as the Most High GOD, "Is are El's" is what we are. This is not saying that we are Israel as it a race of special people. But rather because GOD "Is El" and we were all created by Him in His likeness and image we are His Family and as such we bear witness to all the His IS in us. With that said to day we are looking at the Promised Blessing of our own Obedience. But first Pastor Hoekstra's teaching on the Promised New Covenant. And as has become my norm I will make use of the ESV translation found in  my E-Sword program.

              "New Covenant Provided by the Blood of Christ"
"This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is shed for you . . . knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."  (Luke 22:20 and 1Peter 1:18-19)

"The well-known Lord's Supper words from Luke 22:20 remind us that the glorious riches of Grace founded the New Covenant are all purchased by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, as He died on the cross for us. "This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is shed for you." Customarily, believers in and those of Christ think of forgiveness of sins when they hear these words. Forgiveness is certainly included in the blessings secured by the death of our LORD. Notice, however, that Jesus did not say "this cup is forgiveness in My blood." He said, "This cup is the New Covenant in My blood."

The New Covenant is far more than forgiveness of sins. As previously indicated, the scriptures reveal that the New Covenant has three basic areas of blessings. First is the forgiveness of sins. "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more" (Hebrews 8:12). Second is an intimate Relationship with the LORD. "All shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them" (Hebrews 8:11). Third is an Internal work of GOD producing an increasingly Godly Life in and through us.  "I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts" (Hebrews 8:10). The word of GOD further confirms that all of these grand blessings depend upon GOD's Provision, not our performance. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from GOD" (2Corithians 3:5). 

How can it be that such measureless Spiritual Abundance becomes ours through the New and Living Covenant of Grace? Well, consider the amazing and effective redemption price paid to establish this New Covenant. "Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ." This New Covenant was not purchased with limited earthly wealth, like silver and gold or even the lesser price as required by the Law of Moses. Rather, it was paid for by infinite heavenly treasure, the blood of Christ. Making it the Life Giving Blood of GOD Who was in Christ Jesus as His Father. No wonder the New Covenant Provides such amazing and effective resources for all who depend upon the One Who died for them. 

One final reflection — realizing all that the cup of the New Covenant represents can turn the Lord's Supper from a "religious snack" into a "spiritual feast"!"

The Blessing Promised for our Obedience:
Exodus 19:3-6 and Deuteronomy 4:30 "Moses went up to GOD. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed Obey My Voice and keep My Covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."

Deuteronomy 4:25-31 "When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your GOD, so as to provoke Him to anger, for I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD Will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD Will drive you. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from there you will seek the LORD your GOD and you will find Him, if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your GOD and Obey His Voice. For the LORD your GOD is a merciful GOD. He Will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that He Swore to them."


Deuteronomy 5:28-33, 7:12-16, 28:1-2 "The LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, 'I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear Me and to keep all My Commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! Go and say to them, "Return to your tents." But you, stand here by Me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.' You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your GOD has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the Way that the LORD your GOD has Commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess."

Deuteronomy 7:12-16 "And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your GOD Will keep with you the Covenant and the Steadfast Love that He Swore to your fathers. He Will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He Will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that He Swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the LORD Will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will He inflict on you, but He Will lay them on all who hate you. And you shall consume all the peoples that the LORD your GOD Will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you."

Deuteronomy 28:1-2  "And if you faithfully Obey the Voice of the LORD your GOD, being careful to do all His Commandments that I command you today, the LORD your GOD Will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you Obey the Voice of the LORD your GOD."

1Kings 3:10-14, Job 36:8-14, Zechariah 3:6-7 "It pleased the LORD that Solomon had asked this. And GOD said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in My Ways, keeping My Statutes and My Commandments, as your father David walked, then I Will lengthen your days."

Job 36:8-14 "If they are bound in chains and caught in the cords of affliction, then He declares to them their work and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly. He opens their ears to instruction and commands that they return from iniquity. If they listen and serve Him, they complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness. But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword and die without knowledge. "The godless in heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them. They die in youth, and their life ends among the cult prostitutes."

Zechariah 3:6-7 "The angel of (messenger) the LORD solemnly assured Joshua, "Thus says the LORD of Hosts: If you will walk in My Ways and keep My Charge, then you shall rule My house and have charge of My Courts, and I Will give you the right of access among those who are standing here."


James 1:19-25, 1John 3:13-22 "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of GOD. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the Perfect Law, the Law of Liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."

1John 3:13-22 "Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into Life, because we Love the brothers. Whoever does not Love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has Eternal Life abiding in him. By this we know Love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does GOD's Love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, GOD is greater than our heart, and He knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before GOD; and whatever we ask we Receive from Him, because we keep His Commandments and do what pleases Him."


Revelation 22:14-15, 16 "Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
"I, Jesus, have sent My angel (messengers) to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

Discovering the Great and Precrious Promises of GOD (to the Obedient)

In yesterdays post we looked at the Promise of GOD to those who would of free will become Obedient to Him. To day I am going to regress just a bit to cover those who will obey GOD so we cover the whole gamut of Obedience. I will again cover the writing of Pastor Hoekstra and his covering to the New Covenant of Promise, with some editing by me. With the ESV translation as it seems to a much easier reading one.

                  "Other Descriptions of New Covenant Living"
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me . . . be filled with the Spirit . . . I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  (Luke 9:23; Ephesians 5:18; and John 10:10)

"Living as servants in the New Covenant is not some exclusive, esoteric religious concept, available only to an initiated few. Rather, it is just another way to speak of the life that is to be, and can be, lived by all who have placed their trust and faith in the ascended LORD Christ Jesus. The difference is that the language used is unfamiliar to many millions of people including Christians. 

Some familiar terminology that speaks of the same biblical reality would be "Christian discipleship." A disciple is active follower of Jesus Christ. In Luke 9:23, Jesus explained what was involved in following Him as a disciple. "Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me'." In order to follow the LORD, a person must be willing to renounce the self-life, the sin nature, which is produced by one's own sufficiency. Then, that person must agree that such a self-produced life deserves to be judged as it is separated from God and keeps us beggarly and naked in our own bankruptcy before Him. Finally, everything that is needed for godly living must be found by pursuing a growing relationship with the LORD Christ Jesus who is both LORD and Christ. 

Some other terminology that describes the essence of New Covenant living would be "the Spirit-filled life." "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." The LORD calls His people away from earthly influences that can dominate and diminish lives and urges us to live by the fullness of His Spirit. When Christians answer this call, they are willing to live by GOD's powerful, unlimited resources, instead of by man's feeble, finite means. They have chosen to allow GOD to assist them in their spiritual grow which by the way HE is so willing and happy to do. But it not an mediate over night growth for HE is extremely patient with us but HIS perfection and our own maturity will come as we to learn of the LORD.

One other familiar phrase that depicts the same reality as life in the New Covenant is "the abundant life." "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." When Jesus came into this world, His mission was not only to rescue us from the consequences of our sins but also to provide us with "Abundant Life,"  a spiritually enriched life that only He could produce in us.
New Covenant living — it is the same reality as "Christian discipleship," "the Spirit-filled life," and "the Abundant Life" none of which we can reproduce of our own self-will."

Obedience to GOD our duty our pledge to His and our Fidelity:

Wholeheartedness Required:
Deuteronomy 26:16-19  "This day the LORD your GOD commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared today that the LORD is your GOD, and that you will walk in His ways, and keep His statutes and His commandments and His rules, and will obey His voice. And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for His treasured possession, as He has promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments, and that He will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that He has made, and that you shall be a people Holy to the LORD your GOD, as He promised."
Deuteronomy 32:44-46  (Moses has just finished his song to the LORD in the above passages being at verse 1 thru 43 read them with intent and purpose as words of this Law) "Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel (here is a nugget of pure gold, "Is are El"), he said to them, "Take to heart all the words by which I am warning (verses 1-43) you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law."

The Price of Sacrifice:
Joshua 1:7-9 The LORD is speaking "Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the Law that Moses My servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your GOD is with you wherever you go."

Better than Sacrifice:
1Samuel 15:20-23 "Saul said to Samuel, "I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal." To this Samuel said, "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king."
Jeremiah 7:21-26 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the GOD of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: 'Obey My voice, and I Will be your GOD, and you shall be My people (the "Is are El's"). And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.' But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all My servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers."

Secures Entrance into GOD's Spiritual Kingdom:
Matthew 7:21-23 (Jesus is speaking) "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the Will of My Father Who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.'"

Luke 8:19-21 "Then His mother and His brothers came to Him, but they could not reach Him because of the crowd.  And He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You." But He answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of GOD and do it."

The Imperative Duty of Life:
Acts 5:27-32 "When they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the High Priest questioned them, saying, "We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us." To this charge Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, Whom you killed by hanging Him on a tree. GOD exalted Him at His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, Whom GOD has given to those who obey HIM."

Discovering the Great and Precrious Promises of GOD (to the Obedient)

As I stated in yesterdays post I was to day going to write on Prayer but again this morning while mediating on it it came to me that before prayers can be answered we must first be Obedient. The Old Testament is loaded on the side of those who became Obedient to the vision, voice or illumination they received while technically yet sinners. What set them apart was their obedience to GOD in the fashion that He used to get their attention and then they did as directed in the vision, by the voice, that is the audible word heard or an unusual internal illumination of Divine magnitude. All draw attention to GOD by so doing is why they are recorded in scripture as being Obedient to Him. What is important are those not written of because they failed to DO as directed and they could be greater in number. As is my usual custom I will again draw from the pen of Pastor Hoekstra's writings and make use of the ESV translation found in my E-Sword program. And as is also my usual custome I will edit parts of the teaching of Pastor Hoekstra's.

   "Our Living as Servants and Witnesses of the New Covenant"

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from GOD, Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives Life."  (2Corinthians 3:5-6)

"We who follow the LORD Christ Jesus are "ministers of the New Covenant." The term "minister" means servant or a subordinate. The phrase "New Covenant" speaks of relating to GOD by (through His) Grace. Thus, we are those who serve GOD and are subordinate by the resources of His Grace. In our day by day lives, lived in service of the LORD GOD Almighty, are to be developed by the Grace of GOD at work in us. What is involved in this biblical, heavenly approach to Life here on earth? 

The first issue pertains to our own inadequacy. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves."  So often we overlook our personal insufficiency or try to convince ourselves that we can become sufficient, with just a little more time, effort, or preparation. This approach is in direct disagreement with the LORD. GOD wants us to agree with Him. In our being Subordinate to HIM.

Even when we begin to face our spiritual inability to produce the kind of Life GOD is looking for, we easily underestimate the extent of our deficiency. We may think that we are just not able to produce as much as GOD desires to see in our lives. The LORD has a more radical viewpoint. He says that we are not able to supply "anything"  that He wants to see. Again, GOD wants us to agree with Him. 

The second issue pertains to GODs adequacy. "Our Sufficiency is from GOD." The sufficient resources for living the "Christian" Christ-likeness Life are to be found in GOD alone. We are to be the recipients of GOD and His Grace, that is, His fully adequate supply. We are not to think we are the manufacturers of that grace. GOD is our source for all that is needed for Godly living. Once more, GOD wants us to agree with Him. And keep or stay this course continually in steadfastness anchored to Him through Christ. Being One with Them.

The difference between living by GOD's supply or by our own resources is a "life and death" matter. "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives Life." Living the "Christian" Christ centered Life by our own capabilities will spiritually kill us. It will eventually leave us exhausted, discouraged, condemned. Whereas, depending upon the Spirit of GOD to supply the Abundant Grace of GOD leaves us strengthened, encouraged, and comforted. We are said then to be in His rest."

Our Spiritual Obedience:
Exodus 20:4-6 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your GOD am a jealous GOD, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments."

Exodus 23:20-25  "Behold, I send an angel (pastor, teacher, a subordinate spiritual adviser) before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for My name is in him. "But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. "When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall serve the LORD your GOD, and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you."

Deuteronomy 4:32-40  "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that GOD created man of the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your GOD did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is GOD; there is no other besides HIM. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might discipline you. And on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of that fire. And because He loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with His own presence, by His Great Power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is GOD in Heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep His statutes and His commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your GOD is giving you for all time."

Deuteronomy 11:18-25, 26-28 "You shall therefore lay up these words of Mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the LORD your GOD, walking in all His ways, and holding fast to Him, then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. No one shall be able to stand against you. The LORD your GOD will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as He promised you.
"See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your GOD, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your GOD, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known."

1Kings 11:34-39 "Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David My servant whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David My servant may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put My name. And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in My ways, and do what is right in My eyes by keeping My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.'"

Isaiah 1:16-17, 18-20  Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

Mark 3:31-35 "His mother and His brothers came, and standing outside they sent to Him and called Him. And a crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you." He answered them, "Who are My mother and My brothers?" Looking about at those who sat around Him, He said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the Will of GOD, he is My brother and sister and mother."
 Luke 11:27-28 "As He said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which You nursed!" He said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of GOD and keep it!"John 7:14-18 "About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, "How is it that this man has learning, when He has never studied?"
So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sent Me. If anyone's will is to do GOD's Will, he will know whether the teaching is from GOD or whether I am speaking on My own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of Him Who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood."


John 14:18-24 (Jesus is here speaking)  "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.
In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We Will come into him and make Our home within him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word that you hear is not Mine but the Father's Who sent Me."

So it is not only the word spoken but also the thought of that word be it spoken or simply heard within our spirit, the motive of the revelation then spoken. Of this there are two types, physical and spiritual.....if we only apply the physical we miss the proper understanding and application.

Discovering the Great and Precrious Promises of GOD (to the Humble)

To days post will be dealing with the subject of our being Humble before the LORD our GOD. I was at fist planning on doing a treatment on the Promise to Answer Prayer. But that was changed as I was getting ready. I will again pull from my E-Sword program on Pastor Hoekstra's writings and the ESV translation.

                                 "The New and Living Way"
"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us."  (Hebrews 10:19-20)

"Here, Life under the New Covenant of Grace is described as the "New and Living Way." This could be contrasted with the "Old and Dying way" of attempting to live under the Old Covenant of Law. The "newness" of Grace is not really a matter of time sequence, because the Grace of GOD actually precedes the law in man's history with GOD. The "tree of life" in the garden of Eden was GOD's provision of Grace for Adam and Eve. The Promises of GOD to Abraham, given hundreds of years before the law, depended upon the Faithful Grace of GOD, not the legal performance of Abraham. 

The "Newness" of Grace is its every day freshness and vitality. Day by day, by the Grace of GOD, fresh measures of Life are abundantly available to those who look to the LORD as their supply. This makes Life with GOD fresh and new every day. 

Under the Old Covenant, only one person, the High Priest, could enter into the intimate presence of GOD, the Holy of Holies. Furthermore, this was only allowed one day a year. Such limited access would certainly "get old" in the hearts of all who hungered after the Living GOD. 

Now, under the New Covenant of Grace, every believer in Jesus, our great High Priest, can confidently approach the LORD personally any moment of every day. "Having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus." Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, which forgives All of our sins, we can speak to the LORD and enjoy His presence in our lives continually. 

Jeremiah gave some early insight into this kind of fresh and vital relationship with GOD. "Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I hope in Him! '" (Lamentations 3:22-24). 

The Apostle Paul wrote profoundly concerning such "Newness."  "But now we have been delivered from the Law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the Newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:6). This the "New and Living Way."  This will never "get old."

To the Humble:
Psalm 138:4-6 "All the kings of the earth shall give You thanks, O LORD, for they have heard the words of Your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD. For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar."

Isaiah 66:1-2 "Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; what is the house that you would build for Me, and what is the place of My rest? All these things My hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word."

Luke 9:46-48 "An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by His side and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him Who sent Me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great."


Luke 14:7-11 "Now He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."


James 4:1-10 "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with GOD? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of GOD. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives more Grace. Therefore it says, "GOD opposes the proud, but gives Abundant Grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to GOD. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to GOD, and HE will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the LORD, and HE will exalt you." 

 1Peter 5:1-5 "So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of GOD that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as GOD would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "GOD opposes the proud but gives Grace to the humble."

Discovering the Great and Precrious Promises of GOD (to the Poor)

We are progressing in the Promises of GOD which HE swore on Oath and these are the Better things of Hebrews because in the New Covenant seal by the blood and Life of Jesus are now active within the who will receive of there blessing as restored beings to HIS Divine Light and Life in Love. Our subject is the term "Poor" which is best revealed in Psalm 34:18 as one with an empty hand or a large void, emptiness or broken heart, also spoken of as having a contriteness of heart. Both of which we have already looked at. And has become my custom I will turn again to the pen of Pastor Hoekstra and my E-Sword program from which I will also draw from the ESV translation.

               "The New Covenant Inaugurated for the Church"

"But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a Better Covenant, which was established on Better Promises . . . And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us . . . This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I Will put My Laws into their hearts . . . Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a New and Living Way which He consecrated for us."  (Hebrews 8:6; 10:15-16, 19-20)

"This New Covenant of Grace that is promised to Israel eventually has already been Inaugurated for the Church now (this is the secret of Deuteronomy 29:29 and elsewhere revealed only after the ascension of the LORD and that mainly through Paul, and while I am at it the Church is the Body and ultimately the Family of GOD restored to GODS Own Character and Nature, the true apple of HIS eye). The book of Hebrews documents this Fact repeatedly. "But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a Better Covenant, which was established on Better Promises." Here in chapter 8, verse 6, the New Covenant is referred to as "a Better Covenant." Then, the instituting of this New Covenant is described in the past tense, "was established." It is already put into operation for the Church. 

In Hebrews 10:16, the Promise of the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31 is quoted. "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts." In the previous verse, we are told that this quote from Jeremiah includes a message from the Holy Spirit to us, the Church (the resurrected, restored Body) of Jesus Christ. "And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us." 

Furthermore, in Hebrews 10:19-20, the New Covenant is applied to the access of the "brethren" (the Church, GOD's children) to their Holy GOD and Father. "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a New and Living Way which He consecrated for us." Through His death on the cross, Jesus consecrated (that is, inaugurated, instituted, established, put into operation) the New Covenant for us today! 

Of course, this all fits perfectly with the application of the New Covenant to the Church celebrating the LORD's Supper. "In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the New Covenant in My blood' " (1Colossians 11:25).

To the Poor:
Job 5:8-16  "As for me, I would seek GOD, and to GOD would I commit my cause, Who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number: He gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields; He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.  He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end. They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night. But HE saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth."


Divine Protection for the poor:
Psalm 12:1-5, 6 "Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, those who say, "With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?" "Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I Will now arise," says the LORD; "I Will place him in the safety for which he longs."
The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times."

Psalm 14:4-6 "Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up My people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD? There they are in great terror, for GOD is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge."

Psalm 68:5-6, 7-10 "Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is GOD in His Holy habitation. GOD settles the solitary in a home; He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before GOD, the One of Sinai, before GOD, the God of Israel. Rain in abundance, O GOD, You shed abroad; You restored Your inheritance as it languished; Your flock found a dwelling in it; in Your goodness, O GOD, You provided for the needy."

Psalm 69:29-33 "But I am afflicted and in pain; let Your Salvation, O GOD, set me on high! I will praise the name of GOD with a song; I will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek GOD, let your hearts revive. For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise His Own people who are prisoners."

Psalm 109:30-31 "With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise Him in the midst of the throng. For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death."

Psalm 140:12-13 "I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence."

Isaiah 11:1-5 "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from His roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
And His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what His eyes see, or decide disputes by what His ears hear, but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins."


An Overshadowing Provision:
Isaiah 25:1-5 "O LORD, You are my GOD; I will exalt you; I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. For You have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners' palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. Therefore strong peoples will glorify You; cities of ruthless nations will fear You. For You have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down."


Answer to Prayers:
Isaiah 41:17-20 "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD Will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.  I Will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I Will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I Will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I Will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it."


Heavenly Inheritance:
James 2:5-7, 8-10 "Listen, my beloved brothers, has not GOD chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it."

SHOW NO PARTIALITY LOVE with the Love given you by the LORD!