The Roasted Lamb

 

Exodus 12:8-9

 

“And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof”

 

The Lamb slain shows us our redemption by the blood of the Lamb of God and represents our Lord Jesus Christ as crucified in the room and stead of His people. The crucifixion of Christ was that means wherewith Christ Jesus finished the transgression and made an end of sins for His elect, as it is written: “ Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Daniel 9:24). Our Lord was not crucified for Himself, that is He was not crucified because of any iniquity that was in His nature, as it is written: “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin” (I John 3:5). Nor was our Lord crucified because of any sin that was committed by Him, as saith the Apostle Peter: “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (I Peter 2:22). Our Lord was not crucified because of any affinity He had to sin or for sin. He hated sin, that is He “knew no sin” 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). His death was: “not for Himself” as it is written: “ And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:26). Thus saith the John the Baptist: “..Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This world was chosen in Him and predestinated to the adoption of children by Him according to the will of God, as it is written: “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will” (Ephesians 1:3-5).

 

Christ Jesus fulfilled the law in its precept and penalty for others and not for Himself. He did all that He did for the children that God had given Him before the foundation of the world, as it is written: “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:11-14).

 

The roasted lamb represents Christ Jesus (our Surety) as “being made a curse for us”, as saith the Apostle Paul, “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). Our Lord Jesus endured all the curse of the law, that is He endured all the vengeance of a Thrice Holy God against the sin nature and the sins of those who had been given Him as His brethren, as it is written: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30). And again it is written: “But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50). Someone may ask, how shall we do the Father’s will? To whom the scriptures answer: “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son (by faith: writer), and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40). Believers are the brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it is written: “Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee” (Hebrews 2:12).

 

Christ Jesus was made a curse for those who are His spouse, as it is written: “Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards. Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed” (Song of Solomon 4:7-12). And again, it is written: “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: on the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:9-14).

 

Christ Jesus was made a curse in the room and stead of those who are His children by being their Everlasting Father, as it is written: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). “And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me” (Hebrews 2:13). These are believers, the children of the prophets and of the covenant, as it is written: “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” (Acts 3:25).  Today Christ Jesus is gathering the children of God that are scattered abroad, as it is written: “And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad” (John 11:52). Our Lord Jesus saith unto Mary Magdalene: “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17). And again He satih: “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). “And the Word was made flesh..” (John 1:14). This was a necessity: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14), “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead” (I Corinthians 15:21). “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” (Colossians 1:20-22).

 

The God-Man, Christ Jesus was represented by a lamb “roast with fire”, not boiled in water nor eaten raw; but “roast with fire”. This is to communicate the direct and unmitigated contact with the fury of God that the Son of Man from Nazareth of Galilee endured in His body and soul as the Sin Offering prepared by God, as it is written: “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:8-10).

 

Christ Jesus made an end of the sins of His elect. The lamb being roast with fire, bore witness that the unmollified wrath that was poured out like fire upon the Head of the church was endured by the Lamb of God and the heat of the fury penetrated to every member of the Lamb (Psalm 139:16; I Corinthians 12:12-13, 27; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18). In the reckoning of God, every member of the Lamb was roasted by the heat of the flame, all the tissues and even to the marrow of the bones. And all His members including every joint and tendon, every fiber and morsel was “roast with fire” as it is written: “Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof” (Exodus 12:9). The whole Christ of God, with all His members was roast with fire.

 

The Apostle Paul saith: “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread (which is Christ Jesus John 6:35: writer). Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar” (I Corinthians 10:17-18)? As Israel after the flesh was “partaker of the altar”, in the same manner the church of Jesus Christ is partaker of the sufferings of Christ. Being in the reckoning of God “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), “dead with Christ” (Romans 6:8; Colossians 2:20) and “risen with Christ” (Colossians 3:1). Now therefore we “have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

 

Christ Jesus is the propitiation for the world of God’s elect alone and not for others, as it is evident because not all men have faith, which is the gift of God, as it is written: “And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith” (II Thessalonians 3:2). The elect of God being one bread in Christ, rejoice in their fellowship with God. This rejoicing is because all the members of Christ suffered the wrath of God, not in their own proper person; but vicariously in the person of Jesus Christ. It is a risen living Christ to whom we come, who is at this moment seated at the right hand of God.  And the Prophet Isaiah saith: “In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together” (Isaiah 27:2-4). The vineyard is the church, Christ Jesus is the True Vine and believers are His branches (John 15:5). And they with the Father and Son rejoice in fellowship together in Christ Jesus (I John 1:3) and His finished atonement. The red wine of redemption “cheereth God and man”, as it is written: “And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees” (Judges 9:13)?

 

 

The roasted lamb is a picture, or a type of Jesus Christ enduring the wrath of God on behalf of those who were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. In the reckoning of God, Christ Jesus “stood as a Lamb as it had been slain” from everlasting, as it is written: “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (Revelation 5:6). The Lamb stood as the “Head over all things to the church” (Ephesians 1:22), who constitute His members who are in Him and who will not worship “the beast out of the sea”, as it is written: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). “These are they which were not defiled with women (would not be partakers in idolatry with the great whore: Writer); for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Revelation 14:4-5). “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:30). The entire assembly of believers was “crucified with Christ”. Paul speaking as a member and representative of the whole church saith: “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).

 

Those who ate the lamb literally represent those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God spiritually, as it is written: “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (John 6:53). Having been saved from wrath through the blood on the doorposts, the Israelites had peace with God inside the house through the blood of the lamb. Eating together evidences fellowship and is a testimony that there is no rift between those who partake of the meal and He who provided Himself a Lamb (Genesis 22:8). The Israelite rejoiced in having peace with God by eating the lamb in the presence of God. Believers eat the flesh and drink the blood of Messiah spiritually when they hear, rejoice and are fed by the gospel of the Son of God, who is their life, as it is written: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). Believers share (have fellowship: writer) in the issues that emanate from the death of Christ which belong to God, as it is written: “He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death” (Psalm 68:20). The God of salvation justifies whomsoever He will by the bloody death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God, as it is written: “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification’ (Romans 4:25) and again: “..If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:31-34). In the reckoning of God, believers endured His wrath when they were “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). Now Christ Jesus saith to His beloved spouse: “Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee” (Song of Solomon 4:7).

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writer’s blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com and hear the true Gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Unleavened

 

 

 

 

I Corinthians 5:7

 

“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us”

 

Christ Jesus our Passover is sacrificed for us and the referenced “us” are believers. Christ Jesus is sacrificed for believers and because Christ Jesus is sacrificed for those who are given faith in Christ to rest in Christ as the complete Savior of His people, those who believe are unleavened. That is they have no sin laid to their account viz. they have no sin imputed to them because all their sins were put away by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as it is written: “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9: 24-26) Someone may say: I know that I have sinned, and that I am a sinner in my own person, in thought, word and deed. How is it possible then that I am without sin in any way and accounted unleavened by a Thrice Holy God?

 

It is admitted that men are certainly sinners in their own proper persons, and that all who are sinners must die (Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23). But it is also true that all the elect people of God have already died vicariously in the Person of Jesus Christ. And those who are “dead with Christ” (Romans 6:8) have no sin because they are dead to the law by the body of Jesus Christ (Romans 7:4) and dead to sin because Christ Jesus bore their sins on the tree, as it is written: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24). Those who are dead to the law cannot sin against the law, to which they are already dead and they cannot transgress against the law because of their death in Christ, as it is written: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). Those who are dead to the law cannot transgress the law, as it is written: “Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15). Believers are freed from the law, as it is written: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). Those who are dead to the law having died vicariously under the sentence of the law in the Surety of the New Testament, are without fault before the throne of God (Revelation 14:5) and are the mystical body of Jesus Christ who is their head (Colossians 1:18) in whom they are “one bread, and one body” (I Corinthians 10:17).

 

It is not suitable, fit, nor proper that those who are made the holy people of God by the blood of Jesus Christ, should walk in this lower world according to the manner of those who are of this world. Those who have been given the most holy faith of God’s elect and who God has separated unto Himself are not of this world, even as Messiah is not of the world, as it is written: “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:14-16). Verse twenty of this seventeenth chapter of John makes it clear that the whole body of the elect are included as the objects of this prayer of our Great High Priest, as it is written: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:20). This prayer is not for the Apostles only; but it is for all believers of all ages. That is, it is for the elect of God of every age, as it is written: “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11). And again it is written: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4). That is, the children of God have overcome the spirit of antichrists and that is made evident by how they speak and who they hear, as it is written: “They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (I John 4:5-6).

 

“Purge out therefore the old leaven” What is the old leaven? The old leaven is the evil of this world in many and various forms, as it is written: “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (I Corinthians 5:8). Malice and wickedness are the modes of common life of the those who are of the world. Murder, theft, cheating, and swindling are the trades of many who are of the world. Others of the world are pleased with themselves through a sanctimonious self-righteousness, that is characteristic of the Pharisees who were instrumental in the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord warned of the leaven of the Pharisees, as it is written: “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6). Our Lord made His disciples understand that He spoke of the evil of false doctrine, as it is written: “Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:12). How are we to purge out the old leaven of the evil nature of the natural man?

 

Thus saith the Holy Ghost by the pen of the Apostle Paul: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:16-26).

 

The Apostle Paul experienced and the rest of the people of God do experience the internal conflicts of sin indwelling the flesh and the principles of the new spiritual life in them who are in Christ Jesus, as it is written: “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:14-25).

 

The Apostle John saith: “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (I John 1:5-10). Christ Jesus is the propitiation for the sins of the people of God of all nations, kindreds and tongues (I John 2:2; Revelation 5:9). Those who believe on Christ Jesus as the Christ of God are unleavened, being made the righteousness of God in Him, 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). “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (I Corinthians 1:26-31).

 

For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Someone may ask: is the fact that Christ Jesus is sacrificed for the children of the covenant the whole, entire and complete reason that the children of God are unleavened? Yes! Let us diligently hear the words of the Holy Ghost: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). Precious believing Reader, before you were born or even thought of (save in the mind of the Eternal One) Christ Jesus sat down on the right hand of God as your Mediator, Sponsor and Spokesman. He spoke for you in the everlasting covenant of grace before the world had been called into being. The whole and entire company of the election of grace (Romans 11:5), that is all the people of God of all ages were washed in the blood of Jesus Christ when He, our Passover was sacrificed for us.  His precious blood is the blood of the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20) and His unspeakably and incomprehensibly holy blood is called the “blood of the New Testament which is shed for many” as it is written: “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28).  And again: “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Revelation 1:5).

 

The blood of the New Testament being shed has washed the many who are “heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29), being shed so that: “they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15). Being washed in the blood made the heirs of promise every whit clean, as it is written: “Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean” (John 13:10-11). The fact that the blood is shed for many and not for all men is unquestionably declared in the fact that our Lord Jesus said “Ye are not all clean”. The betrayer demonstrated the intent and purpose of his own heart by his actions. It is also clearly demonstrated that God had given him, (“the son of perdition” John 17:12), up unto his own purposes, as it is written: “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).

 

In the times of their lives men demonstrate themselves to be what God knows that they are in themselves and in being given up to themselves they perish to all eternity. It is as one has said: “men will perish in hell to all eternity if God will allow it. But God has determined that a company of comparatively few (Matthew 7:13-14) of the sons of men “shall never perish” (John 10:28) because that “God hath from the beginning chosen them to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and the believe of the truth, as it is written: “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 2:7-14). How very precious is the love of the truth and the faith of God’s elect!

  

 AJ Ison

 

See the writer’s blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com and hear the true Gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.