I remain on Mark 4:10-13 and the hidden things of this important passage overlooked and not thought of by babes or adolescent children of GOD. There remain two areas that I would like to study in this posting to close out Mark 4:10-13, these are our conversion and our ignorance of GOD. Of these two I will do the "Ignorance of GOD" first and then our "Conversion." Even after our conversion while a young-child, this is to say a babe in GODS kingdom, and even while yet an adolescent we become our own worst of enemies because old habits and ways of thinking have not yet progressed to maturity in the LORD of hosts, or in the knowledge of Christ restored to our soul. This are a great handicap for all and more especially for those still trapped in the evils snares of the worlds order. For we have not yet learned to be in dependency of the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit of Truth and Grace within us. For GOD is but One, just as the Son of man was One with the Father and as such He revealed His name to the disciples and then to us. Instead many fall back to the ignorance of GOD, as did Israel and many pick up Israels bad habits by its own traditions, customs, and religious ceremonies. These are the same patterns of mans many and varied religious performance.
Man's Ignorance of GOD,
Judges 2:6-10, 11-13 "When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. And the people served the LORD God all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD God had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that He had done for Israel.
The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD God and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD God to anger. They abandoned the LORD God and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth."
Jeremiah 4:19-22 "My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Crash follows hard on crash; the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment. How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? For the LORD God in me is telling me, "For My people are foolish; they know Me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are 'wise'—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not."
Jeremiah 8:1-7 with 9:3 "At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. Death will be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the LORD of hosts. "You will say to them, Thus says the LORD: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return? Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turns to his own course, like a horse plunging headlong into battle. Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and the crane keep the time of their coming, but My people know not the rules of the LORD."
Jeremiah 9:1-7, 8-9 "Oh that My head were waters, and My eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of My people! Oh that I had in the desert a travelers' lodging place, that I might leave My people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men. They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me, declares the LORD. Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity. Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know Me, declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of My people?
Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him. Will I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD, and will I not avenge Myself on a nation such as this?"
John 15:18-25, 25-16:4 (Jesus is speaking) "If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, for I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. For all these things they will do to you on account of My name, because they do not know Him Who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.
For the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: 'They hated Me without a cause.' "But when the Helper comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, Who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning." "I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor Me. For I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. "I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you."
Acts 17:22-31 "Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very piously religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being LORD of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath (His Spirit) and everything. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us, for "'By (through) Him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed His offspring.' Being then GOD's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now HE commands all people everywhere to repent, because HE had fixed a day on which HE will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom HE has appointed; and of this HE has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead."
Our Conversion required;
The Divine Law the Agent of,
Psalm 19:7-14 "The law (the direction one is required to take to acquire life, ancient Hebrew Strong's H8451) of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear (dread) of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I will be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer."
Joyful are believers Used as Instruments,
Psalm 51:10-13 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You."
Essential to Entrance into GOD's Kingdom,
Matthew 18:1-6 "At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. "Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me, for whoever causes one of these little ones who believe Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."
Prepares for Christ service,
Luke 22:31-34 (Jesus is speaking) "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Peter said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death." Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know Me."
Enjoined upon all men,
Acts 3:13-16, 17-26 (Peter is speaking) "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. For you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, Whom GOD raised from the dead. To this we bare witness. His name—by faith in His name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that was in Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. For what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, HE has fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times (seasons) of refreshing may come from the presence of the LORD, and that HE may send the Christ appointed for you, through Jesus, Whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which GOD spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago. For even Moses said, 'The LORD God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to Him in whatever He tells you. And it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed from the people.' (Deu 18:15, 18-19) for all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring will all the families of the earth be blessed.' (Gen 22:18) GOD, having raised up His servant, sent Him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness."
The Supreme Task of the true Church,
James 5:19-20 "My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."
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