The Resurrection and the Life

 

The Resurrection and the Life

 

John 11:25

 

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live

 

I am the resurrection, and the life: Our Lord Jesus Christ is all things to His people, as said the Apostle: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (I Corinthians 1:30). The relationships that exist between Christ and His people are according to the will God the Father, as it is written: “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10: 7-10). The same truth is declared by the beloved Apostle John: “ But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13) and to this we may add: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18).

 

God has sworn by His holiness in the everlasting covenant that Christ Jesus and His seed shall endure forever, as it is written in Psalm 89: “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah” (Psalm 89:34-37). This eternal promise is according to the purpose and grace of God wherein the church of Jesus Christ stands, as it is written: “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (II Timothy 1:8-9). And again in the New Testament the promise of the covenant is  established as it is written: “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all’ (Romans 4:16). And in the epistle to the Hebrews it is written: “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15). And again: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ”….“ And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise”(Galatians 3:16, 29).

 

 

 

To be absolutely sure to bring to fruition all that the triune God had promised His children of the covenant, the Father sanctified His family in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world, by making them the members of Christ as said the Apostle: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (I Corinthians 12:27). In the epistle to the Colossians it is written: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18). God in the Trinity of His most sacred Persons established the union of Christ and the church in the covenant of grace before the worlds were made. The church has been in Christ from everlasting, and each of His members are members one of another as it is said: “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:5). And in the Old Testament it is written: “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16).

 

Resurrection of the dead presupposes a death. All the members of the human family died spiritually in Adam. All the members of the family of God will be made alive in Jesus Christ. For it is written: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:22). And “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (I Corinthians 15:45). All who are in the last Adam, being given to Him of the Father, will in time receive the benefits of the covenant as it is written: “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). Our Lord Jesus said “(My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one” (John 10:27-30).

 

Since Christ and His members are one in the purpose and grace of God, and in the governmental and legal proceedings of God, all the accomplishments of Christ the Mediator are imputed to the church which is in Him (Ephesians 1:4; John 15:5; 14:19-20; I Corinthians 12:12-13, 18-20, 27). The righteousness of God (Romans 1:17) which was established by the obedience and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is imputed to the members of Christ, who receive it by God given faith. The law of God seeing Christ’s members righteous in Jesus Christ requires that they must have eternal life for: “he that doeth them shall live in them” (Galatians 3:12). The new born babe in Christ has fulfilled the law of God in Christ in that he has done all the law of God commands perfectly having been in Christ as a member in particular (I Corinthians 1:27; Ephesians 1:4) from everlasting. The new born babe in Christ is clothed in the garments of salvation and has Christ’s robe of righteousness for his covering (Isaiah 61:10). Therein he is justified in the sight of God and can never be more or less righteous in the view of the Father. Having the justifying righteousness provided by Our Lord Jesus imputed to his account the babe in Christ is made the righteousness of God in Him (II Corinthians 5:21). And having the righteousness of God put on him by the Father the new born babe in Christ stands in the bond of the covenant clothed in the righteousness of God which is a situation that time and eternity can never change for it based on the purpose, grace, and faithfulness, of God.  

 

At the time appointed in the covenant God the Holy Ghost puts a new heart in the children of the covenant, and He gives them a new spirit. This is to the children of God a new life in which they desire to live unto God and not unto themselves in the selfishness of the old nature. They have a desire to give themselves up to God completely. But God has purposed to leave the old nature in His child for His own wise purposes. But the old nature is no longer the reigning principle of life although it is still present. The regenerated child of God begins a life that is new to him. He has a new object in that life and that object is God. The new born saint wants to know all He can about his Father and his relation to that Father. As the babe in Christ grows in knowledge of the truth, he also grows in grace (II Peter 3:18) and therein is more able to (1.) rest in the assurance of salvation that is in Christ, (2.) become more patient in tribulation and (3.) less anxious about difficulties and necessities of this life knowing that he is in the care of the Lord Jesus. He knows it is well with his soul for he knows, by the testimony of the holy scriptures that he is made the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, as it is written: “ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Corinthians 5:21).

 

The primary principles of the new life of the children of God are gratitude and love. Gratitude is shown for the salvation that he has freely received by the grace and power of God and that salvation was purchased for him by the sufferings and death of Christ Jesus. The believer manifests a love for the true gospel including love of the preaching of the gospel, wherein he feeds and lives in Christ along with a love for the people of God who are his family, his brethren and sisters newly discovered. The newborn child does not want man’s counterfeit gospel, nor does he want Satan’s rendition of Christ’s gospel. But the new born children of God with all the family of God rejoice in the righteousness of God freely imputed to the account the children of God, and received by God given faith as these things are stated in the preaching of the true gospel as it is written: “ For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).

  

 

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the death that was due His people. He spoke of that death with Moses and Elias: “Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31), as said the prophet: “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself” (Daniel 9:26). The death of Christ was in union with His people, and for His people, so that they will never have to die the second death (Revelation 20:6,14). He died because of their sin which had been imputed to Him because of their eternal union. Christ Jesus is the Surety of the New Testament (Hebrews 7:22). And as Surety and Substitute for the people of God, Christ Jesus owned the sins and sin of His people as His own, as it is written: “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee” (Psalm 69:1-5). And again it is written: “O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart” (Psalm 38:1-8). In the New Testament it is written: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). And : “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Corinthians 5:21).

 

In the governmental and legal proceedings of God, all the members of Christ are viewed as dying with Christ. The Apostle Paul said, and every child of God can say, and every child of God should believe that: “ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). When Christ Jesus died it was because of the sins of His people which had been imputed to Him because of the union of the Head and the body, for He is the Head and Representative of His people who are His mystical body.

 

All the children of God died mystically (in hidden covenant union, known only to the members of the Godhead) in the death of Jesus Christ: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:3-6).

 

According to the law and justice of God, all the members of Christ were put to death in and with Christ at Calvary (Galatians 2:20). The members of Christ were baptized into death in Christ by the baptism of the Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13) and therefore have been executed under the penalty of the law of God, and have satisfied the law through death in Christ. “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God” (Romans 7:4). Since the members of Christ are dead to the law by the body of Christ, having fulfilled the penal arrangements of the law in the body Christ, there can be no condemnation from the law to those who have died to the law in the body of Christ. As it is written: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). “For he that is dead is freed (justified: writer) from sin” (Romans 6:7).

 

The children of God are justified from all things, as it is written: “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). And because they are justified in the sight of God, and righteous in His view, they are entitled to life according to the law of God, as it is written: “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 18:5; Galatians 3:12; Romans 10:5). If it should be asked: when did the children of God do the things required by the law of God to obtain life thereunder? It will be replied: the children of God fulfilled the law of God perfectly in Jesus Chirst, as He said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). Christ Jesus had His members, His seed, His church, in Him in all He did as the Head of His church and people. Therefore whatsoever Christ did as the head of His church, the chuch did as the body of Him who is the Head, for according to the judicature of God the Head and the body are one.

 

Perfect righteousness is the fulfillment of the law of God. All who believe Christ are joined to him in one spirit as it is written: “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (I Corinthians 6:17). The church is made the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Corinthians 5:21). Therefore the church of God has “right to the tree of life” as it is written: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14). All who believe the gospel of Christ have right to the tree of life: because “this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment” (I John 3: 23). When Christ Jesus arose from the tomb, (1.) He had all His members in Him, (2.) all His seed arose in Him, (3.) all His brethren, the family of God arose in Him (Ephesians 2:5,6; Colossians 2:13) and Christ Jesus is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25) of His many brethren who are His members, His seed, His church, His brethren, and His people. Reader, “believest thou this?” (John 11:26).

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writers blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Indefinite Words

 

Three Indefinite Words

 

John 3:16

 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

For God so loved the world. The world has been understood to mean every son and daughter of Adam. From this it has been inferred that God loves all members of the human family. This is to infer that which is not implied nor is it absolutely stated in the holy scriptures. Certain indefinite terms such as all, every, and the world, have been taken to mean all people in the world without exception. However, all may be understood to mean all of some sort. Consider the following: “Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (I Timothy 2:6). Christ Jesus gave His life a ransom for many, as He said: “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28) and again He said “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). The many for whom our Lord Jesus shed His blood of the New Testament, and ransomed the many for whom he died, is the blood of the everlasting covenant of grace (Hebrews 13:20) which covenant is made with Christ Jesus concerning the election of grace. Christ Jesus ransomed all the elect with His own blood of the New Testament, at mount Calvary. Christ Jesus ransomed all of some sort, and what sort is that? It is that sort, (1.) that were chosen in the covenant of grace from all eternity, (2.) they are the many for whom Christ Jesus gave His life a ransom, (3.) they are the many for whom He shed His blood of the New Testament. It would be in great error to declare that the Holy Spirit has intended to testify that Christ Jesus gave His life a ransom for all mankind, and at the same time to declare that Christ Jesus testified that He gave His life not for all but for many. There is no error when we declare that our Lord Jesus gave His life for all the elect, who are the many which the Father gave the Son in eternity past in the everlasting covenant of grace.

 

In the eternal decree of election, God chose His children in Christ Jesus and ordained them to eternal life (Acts 13:48). These are given the Holy Spirit who indwells them and teaches them of their standing in Christ through the preaching of the gospel. As it is written: “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (I Corinthians 12:3). Our Lord Jesus speaking to Peter said: “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Knowledge of the Person of Jesus Christ the Son of God unto salvation is a secret, hidden from the natural man by his own sinful unbelief and hardness of his heart; but revealed to the children of the covenant in time by the Holy Spirit, whom the world of the ungodly cannot receive because “it seeth him not, neither knoweth him” (John 14:17). This is a world that is not so loved of God. This world is given up to itself, and given over to a reprobate mind. Consider the following: “ Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them” (Jeremiah 6:30), “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient” (Romans 1:28) also “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith” (II Timothy 3:8) and finally “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). Reader is this the world that God so loved?

 

Every is another word that has been used to justify the false doctrine of universalism. In this regard Colossians 1:28 merits our close attention: “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus”. Hebrews 2:9 and the verses following are no less worthy of careful study: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man”. The word man is not in the original text in the epistle to the Hebrews, (See Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). In the original the verse reads: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every”. Every what? From verse ten we find it is every son who Christ Jesus is to bring to glory, from verse eleven and twelve we know it is every one who is sanctified, and every one of His brethren, from verse thirteen we find it is all the children that God had given him, form verse sixteen we find it is every one of the spiritual seed of Abraham. And it may be observed, the Apostle Paul did warn everyone of the brethren of Christ to whom he ministered, and he did teach every one of them in all wisdom of the doctrine of Christ, and everyone of those who Paul warned, and taught, as the instrument of God in the hand of the Holy Ghost will be presented perfect in Christ Jesus in a day to come.

 

Furthermore, there are verses of scripture that plainly deny that God loves all men. In the Psalms: “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity” (Psalm 5:5). It is acceptable to many today to say that God loves all men, but that He hates their sin. But God is unchangeable and that which was true of God in the day of writing of the Psalms still holds true today. It is all workers of iniquity that God hates, of course God hates their iniquity, but He hates those who do the works of iniquity.

 

Men who preach a false gospel in the name of Jesus Christ, are the murderers of the souls of men, and workers of iniquity for our Lord Jesus said: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? (preached in thy name: writer) and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23). God does not love all murderers, rapists, homosexuals, lesbians, and every evil man like Adolf Hitler, and many others. Such a thought is blasphemous. In another Psalm it is written: “There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them” (Psalm 53:5). Many in this day want to say and do say that God loves everyone but that teaching does not come not from the book of God. (Romans 9:11-13).

 

The scriptures give testimony that God has divided the population of earth into two groups: “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness” ( I John 5:19). The beloved Apostle John said “and we know that we are of God”, those who are of God are the children of God, that is believers are the children of God, and unbelievers, the whole world of them, lieth in wickedness. There is the whole world that is deceived: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9). Believers know the truth and those who know the truth are not deceived. Remember that our Lord Jesus said: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

 

God condemns the friendship of the world. The Apostle James wrote: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). If God has loved this world, He would not object that His children should be friends with this world, but the friendship of the world is enmity against God. In the scriptures believers are instructed: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (I John 2:15-17).

 

Priests pray for those for whom they are priests just as Aaron bore the names of the tribes of the children of Israel on his breast when he entered the inner sanctuary on the great day of atonement. The names of the Gentile nations were not prayed for by Israel’s high Priest. Aaron could not officiate for those for whom he was not the God appointed high priest. In like manner our Lord Jesus refused to pray for the world: “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine” (John 17:6-9). The reason that our Lord Jesus, the Great High Priest of the everlasting covenant of grace, would not pray for the world is because He is not the Great High Priest for the “world on the ungodly” (II Peter 2:5) He is not priest for those who are not of His sheep (John 10:26).

 

In the past, God has demonstrated His regard for the world of the ungodly including the angels that sinned, and the residents Sodom and Gomorrha. Peter wrote in his second epistle: “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overflow, making them an ensample to those that after should live ungodly” (II Peter 2:4-6). Reader, do these verses imply in any way that God loves all men, the godly and the ungodly alike?

 

Comparison should be made of the following scriptures. The Apostle Paul in his first letter to Timothy said: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; (2:2) For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. (2:3) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour (2:4) Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (2:5) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (2:6) Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (I Timothy 2:1-6). And to the church at Ephesus the same Apostle wrote: “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,  (4:2) With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; (4:3) Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (4:4) There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling (4:5) One Lord, one faith, one baptism, (4:6) One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (4:7) But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ”.

 

Our Lord Jesus said: “..The scripture cannot be broken” (John10:35). The word of God is true whether men rightly divide it or stumble in it, and introduce error in their understanding and teaching of it. In the above epistle to Timothy the Apostle calls for prayer for all men, for kings and all that are in authority. That does not mean that we should not pray for the poor and needy. But that we should pray for all men, in all sorts of circumstances, all different social stratum, taken from among all sorts of men; even as our Lord Jesus redeemed His elect “from among men” that is, from among all sorts of men (Revelation 14:4). And, even as our Lord redeemed His elect out of every nation, kindred, and tongue, (Revelation 5:9). As Christ Jesus redeemed His elect from all sorts of men, we are urged to pray for all sorts of men of all classes in this world. And God will have some of all sorts, all circumstances, all stations, all levels of authority in all social strata of men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth, that is all the elect and redeemed children of God (I Timothy 2:4; I Corinthians 1:26-29), for there one God and one Mediator, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all that are chosen out of every circumstance, to be testified in due season. Christ Jesus is testified in due season in the preaching of the gospel (Romans 10:10-15; I Corinthians 1:21) that is the preaching of the doctrine of Christ (II John 1: 9-11). The preaching of the doctrine of Christ is the preaching of the scriptures of the Old, and New Testaments, with the Holy Spirit enabling the speaker with power and authority from on high as our Lord Jesus said: “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).

 

In the Ephesian epistle it is written there is: “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:6). God the Father is the God and Father of all who are chosen in Jesus Christ and predestinated to the adoption of children (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 20:17). God the Father is not the Father of those who are not of the sheep of Christ, as it is written: “And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them” (John17:10). Our Lord said to the Pharisees: “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep” (John 10:26). The Pharisees were not Christ’s sheep, and He said “all mine are thine and thine are mine” therefore the Pharisees being not the sheep of Christ could not be the Father’s sheep or children of the covenant.  

 

God the Father is not and cannot be, the father of all those who are of their father the Devil, as our Lord Jesus told the Pharisees: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). Our God, is the God and Father of all and every one of the chosen and redeemed children of the covenant. Some of the children of God are not yet aware of their standing in Christ, for they have not yet experienced the gift of righteousness and of the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:17; Acts 10:47). But in the Father’s time their regeneration that will infallibly come to pass for God has sworn by His Holiness to the terms of the everlasting covenant and sealed it by the precious blood of His only begotten Son (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 13:20). “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men” (I Corinthians 14:20).

 

May God grant to all who read these lines that for which the Apostle prayed: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:17-18).

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writers blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times. Live services will be on the Middle Fork Baptist Church page on Facebook via live streaming Sundays at 11:00 AM until the corona virus pandemic is over and regular services resume.