Commandments

The Commandment to Fear the Lord

Peter
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The Treasure of the People of God

We are commanded to fear the Lord, but we know not what this means until we are taught it by the coming of the Living Gospel, the Promise that is Jesus Christ. It is when we are drawn to Christ by the Father that we begin to be taught the fear of the Lord. Hearkening unto Him is hearkening unto His Commandments, which now teach us to fear God.

Psa 34:11  Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Fearing the Lord thy God has always been a key Commandment for initiating and maintaining our walk with God, and always doing what He pleases. Fearing God goes hand in hand with the first great Commandment.

Deu 8:5  Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. 

Deu 8:6  Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. 

Deu 10:12  And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 

Jesus Christ has not changed.  The Living Word is the same, yesterday, today, and forevermore.

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

Learning the fear of the Lord happens when our eyes are opened to see the Gospel, the mystery hidden from the world. By the mercy of God, we see and hear the Gospel and are turned to the Living Commandments as the way of life. Our knowledge of the Truth, that is, Jesus Christ, the Living Word of Commandments, has begun.  Those blinded by God remain blind and despise the Commandments we now preach, and above all, do which we learn from our spiritual father and mother.

Pro 1:6  To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. 

Pro 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

Pro 1:8  My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 

It is the coming of the Promise, the Living Christ,  which is also the seven spirits of God that are One Spirit, planted into our hearts and minds by which the Spirit of the fear of the Lord is manifested. We now grow in grace and knowledge through the Gospel, as Christ grows in us unto maturity.

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 

Isa 11:2  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 of the fear of the LORD; 

It is by eating the Lord’s supper, taking communion by breaking the living bread, which is our study and meditation on the Commandments by which we are learning and growing in the fear of the Lord. All the assembly learns and grows together, being of one faith, body, and baptism.

Act 2:42  And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 

Act 2:43  And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 

Act 2:44  And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. 

When the Spirit falls upon the assemblies of God’s chosen people,  they walk in the fear of the Lord and are increased and prospered in the faith.

Act 9:31  Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. 

When the Gospel comes, judgment has fallen upon the house of God. This is a very good thing, the wonderful works of God that are saving us. We are being perfected, overcoming sin as we strive to be holy in the fear of God. Fear of the Lord is always in the mix when holiness and overcoming sin is in view. Without the fear of the Lord, flesh and its lusts continue to rule.

1Pe 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 

1Pe 1:17  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: 

2Co 7:1  Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 

Fearing the Lord is respecting and being in subjection to the Commandments, which is the Wisdom of God. We are taught to fear the Lord as we believe and strive to obey the Gospel we have now heard.  We press into the Commandments as the fear of the Lord moves us onto perfection in the Father’s timing. Fear of the Lord leads to obedience that grows our knowledge and brings understanding of the holy versus the profane.

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 

Job 28:28  And unto man God said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. 

The Lord raises shepherds to be His ministers, prophets, and apostles to teach the flock the holy and the profane through the Gospel. We are fulfilling these Commandments and Scriptures today.

Eze 44:23  And they [Ministers] shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 

The Lord’s purpose is to save us from our sins. All that He is doing works for this greater good. The Lord, the Living Word, comes by way of trials to prove and test our faith. We learn to obey, thus learning the difference between the holy and profane, by being scourged and chastened for our disobedience. The chastening of the Lord is grace that brings salvation by teaching us righteousness. Chastening by grace is also how we are being taught the fear of the Lord, so that we no longer sin. It is the way of salvation.

Exo 20:20  And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 

Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ

As sons of God, the Lord is our parent who loves us and is raising us to be righteous and holy in His image and the Father’s name. Without these trials and the resulting chastening and scourging, we are not true sons of God. So we rejoice in our trials, knowing they are accomplishing their purposes.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 

Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 

The rod, meaning our chastening for disobedience, is not spared by our Father to raise sons unto righteousness. Knowing these truths, we serve God with reverence and godly fear, knowing His ways and purposes in delivering us from all sin.

Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire. 

Pro 13:24  He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly. 

We learn in our day of judgment that if we willfully sin after knowing the Commandments, we have every expectation of a fiery discipline response from the Lord whose Word He sent forth is not returning to Him void. Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.

Heb 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 

Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 

Unless and until the Lord has mercy, the Gospel remains hid from our eyes, and the Book is sealed unto us. We first draw near with our lips, and not our hearts, and the fear of the Lord we at first learn is based on the precepts of men and not God. Extra-biblical topics such as reverential awe of the man Jesus Christ and deep respect for God go beyond what is written and do not save anyone from their sins.   The false doctrine of eternal torment is a prime example; millions believe it, yet they continue in sins, and their hearts are far from the Commandments.

Isa 29:11  And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: 

Isa 29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 

For those chosen for salvation in this age, the Lord shows mercy and performs His wondrous works as our knowledge of God and understanding are being made new, and we are being taught the true fear of the Lord.

Isa 29:14  Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 

Our old life is passing away; we acknowledge Him, meaning the Commandments in all our ways, and those Commandments are now the light unto our path. We are fearing the Lord, that is, revering the Commandments, striving to obey them. We are thus departing from evil and being saved from all of our sins.

Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 

Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 

No man teaches themselves to fear the Lord or walks in the fear of the Lord except they be caused by the Spirit of Grace. Salvation is all the Lord’s work, and as clay in His hands, all that we do is in Christ. All men first run to shed blood, that is, reasoning with our carnal minds, accusing and excusing one another, not knowing the Lord. Neither are we yet exposed to the true fear of the Lord that has us in fear of the Commandments, so that we obey them.

Rom 3:15  Their feet are swift to shed blood: 

Rom 3:16  Destruction and misery are in their ways: 

Rom 3:17  And the way of peace have they not known: 

Rom 3:18  There is no fear of God before their eyes. 

We are taught to fear the Lord, and the result is our being caused to obey Him.  Teaching us is the work of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Grace that is shed abroad in our hearts and manifests the love of God.

Rom 5:5  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 

Eze 36:27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 

Joh 6:45  It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 

The grace of God bringing salvation is the Promise, the Living Commandments that are guiding and teaching us the ways of righteousness. We inherit our earth, meaning we overcome our sins as we are taught to rest in the Commandments and cease from our carnal thoughts. The Promise, the Holy Spirit, is the secret, the Living Gospel of Commandments that now lives in us and brings us into the everlasting covenant as sons.

Psa 25:12  What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. 

Psa 25:13  His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. 

Psa 25:14  The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. 

Now that we abide in fear of the Lord, we are being led to newness of life, and evil is fleeing from us. The old is gone, all things are made new. Without the fear of the Lord, salvation from sin is elusive.

Pro 19:23  NKJV The fear of the LORD leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil. 

When we abide in the fear of the Lord, the angel of the Lord, the same Commandments, deliver us from our sins and all our enemies.

Psa 34:7  The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 

The Gospel ushers in the era when we learn and abide in the fear of the Lord. Receiving the Gospel begins our learning God’s wisdom and simultaneously we are learning the true fear of the Lord. Christ, the Wisdom of God, is contrary to the world’s wisdom. We are blessed to see this and be able to speak of the mystery, the secret, hidden from the world.

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 

1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 

The fear of the Lord has us hating what the Lord hates, which are all abominations to Him. As Christ, we seek to please our heavenly Father in all that we do or speak. There is no pride or lie in us when we fear the Lord, and we no longer hate our neighbor or run after evil, or create strife among brethren. We speak Truth, the Commandments, in our speech and deeds.

Pro 8:13  The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. 

Pro 6:16  These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 

Pro 6:17  A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, 

Pro 6:18  A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, 

Pro 6:19  A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. 

The Commandments teach us to fear the Lord, and we learn them and enter into doing them, the Sabbath rest, only through many tribulations.  These trials are what burn up and consume our carnal thoughts and lusts, making all things new in our lives.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 

Now knowing the Truth, we are no longer being tossed to and from by every wind of doctrine and the carnal reasonings of men; we stand in the wisdom and knowledge of God. We all heard the adage “knowledge is power,” and this is true in the spiritual: the knowledge and Wisdom of God are the power of the Gospel that brings forth our salvation. Our fear of the Lord IS become a treasure and stabilizing force that keeps us on the narrow way of life, the highway of holiness.

Isa 33:6  And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure. 

Solomon learned that the whole of our existence can be summed up as fearing God and keeping His Commandments. The two actions are opposite sides of the same coin. To find either of these two actions in our lives, we see both as the dream is one and they are inseparable.  The Lord is working all things for the counsel of His will to bring this about in His Elect in this age.

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole [duty] of man. 

Ecc 12:14  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. 

Peace and grace to the scattered pilgrims who are learning and treasuring the fear of the Lord.

 

Commandments

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God

Peter
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Trusting in the Lord’s Provision

Our gift of faith of the Lord Jesus Christ is what turns us into sons of God, being remade in the likeness and image of our Lord.  Our faith is not our own; it is a gift, given by measure to all of God’s Elect as ordained before the worlds were formed.  The Commandment to seek first the Kingdom of God has us seeking to obey the Lord in everything we think, do, and say. If we do this, we are promised to be blessed, prospered, and given what is needed both physically and spiritually to abide in this world.

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

The Kingdom of God is the Gospel, it is the Commandments, another name for the Promise, the Living Christ who comes to dwell in us.  When we look to Christ, first, in all our thoughts and behaviour, we are seeking the Kingdom of God and doing what is pleasing in our Lord’s and Father’s sight.  The Lord showed us the way to follow.

Joh 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 

Joh 5:20  For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 

Joh 8:28  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. 

Joh 8:29  And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. 

Seeking God first is doing nothing of ourselves, as we are now bond servants, redeemed with a price, who belong to the Lord. Our life is sacrificed unto the Lord’s purposes, which is our reasonable service.  Few are given the mercy and grace of God to enter into and abide in this calling.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Entering the Kingdom of God is entering into the true Sabbath, that is, the Lord’s rest promised from our carnal works. This is also our obedience to the first and great Commandment, on which all others hang. Seeking first the Kingdom of God is putting the Commandments first, which our eyes and minds are always focused upon.  There are many overlaps with this Commandment and many others that all lead back to seeking first the Kingdom of God.  A sample of only a few is these.

  • Do not be anxious
  • Do not worry about tomorrow
  • Build your house on the rock
  • Let your light shine before men
  • Come out and be separate
  • Love your enemies

Seeking the Commandments first is making the Most High, which is the Father’s Commandments, our habitation.  The angels, which are messengers, are also these Commandments, that are alive and which quicken us to newness of life, protecting us, delivering us, and keeping us in God’s way.  When we do this, we are immensely blessed and prospered with salvation, rising above the carnal mind and trampling the dragon underfoot.

Psa 91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; 

Psa 91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 

Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 

Psa 91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

Psa 91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 

Psa 91:14  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 

Psa 91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 

Psa 91:16  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. 

The Lord used the examples of sparrows, ravens, and lilies to rebuke the weak in the faith who worry about tomorrow and seek not the kingdom of God first.

Mat 6:28  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 

Mat 6:29  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 

Mat 6:30  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 

James calls this a double-minded man who does not reap the blessings of God because they waver in their carnal reasonings of unbelief.

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 

Jas 1:7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 

We are far more valuable than the birds and flowers of the field, which the Lord provides for their every need.  As God’s Elect, we are the apple of His eye, and our Maker knows what we need physically and spiritually and is providing them.  None of our worrying or stressing over these needs adds one iota to our lives, as all things have long ago been declared.

Mat 6:25  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 

Mat 6:26  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 

Mat 6:27  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 

We trust Him as we grow in faith and enter into His rest, ceasing from our carnal works and the worries which had previously occupied us our entire lives.  We seek Christ first, and this is how we are shaped and molded through the trials the Lord brings us every day.  We are alert and awake, focused on today and the evils and related trials the Lord is bringing to mold and shape us unto maturity.

Mat 6:31  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 

Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

Trusting in His precious promises through faith in His Commandments, we look and trust in the Lord to provide our needs.  Our sufficiency is in God and not in ourselves.  All of our knowledge and trust beyond the Commandments is dung and brings about spiritual death when we seek it instead of the pure and sincere Word of God.

2Co 3:4  And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 

2Co 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

The Commandments are the Father’s Commandments, the Living Word, the Son of God, for which purpose Christ was created and sent forth to speak and witness on the Father’s behalf.  We are raised with Christ for the same purpose to preach the Gospel and be the light unto the world.  We are becoming the Living Word.  When Christ is seen, the Father is seen as they are One Spirit.  We are often reminded, told again, that we are sent as the Father sent Christ because we are Christ in the world.

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 

Christ trusts fully in the Father’s provision and spends no time worrying about the things his body of flesh needs.  All things were put into subjection to the Father’s Commandments, leaving the world and its ways and customs behind.  That is seeking first the Kingdom of God.

When the Lord is not first in all our deeds, one remains a fornicator and an idolater and does not enter into the Kingdom and remains outside.

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

To seek the Kingdom of God first, we sell all we have, meaning giving up all of our carnal reasonings and the trust in ourselves, and seek to obey the Commandments, trusting in the Lord’s provision.  Hardly can a rich man enter into the kingdom, and the rich young ruler is unable to forsake all to follow Christ

Luk 18:22  Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. 

Luk 18:23  And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. 

Luk 18:24  And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! 

As the blessed seed of Christ the Lord promises to make provision for all of our needs. Our worries about having these things are not of faith and add nothing to our lives, and we know He is working all things according to His counsel.  The righteous who walk by faith are not forsaken or found begging for bread.  Our spiritual needs and physical needs are provided for as the Lord works all things according to His counsel and purposes.

Psa 37:25  I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 

Psa 37:26  He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. 

We are taught by the Spirit to fear not anything of the world, trusting fully in the Lord’s provision.  It is the Father’s good pleasure and purpose to give us the Kingdom, and we learn patience and tarry for it to come, yet we seek it earnestly.

Luk 12:28  If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? 

Luk 12:29  And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 

Luk 12:30  For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 

Luk 12:31  But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 

Before faith comes, we act in unbelief, storing up treasures on earth, trusting in our riches, knowledge, money, and abilities rather than the Commandments.  Those who do so are not rich towards God.  The parable of the rich fool who trusted in himself exposes all of us who focus on building bigger barns to store our own riches.  The story told in Luke 12 is a warning for those not ready for the coming of the Lord, who comes suddenly with the trials that test our faith.

Luk 12:21  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 

Building bigger barns, trusting in ourselves, is all vanity that is instantly made so when the trials come, and our fleshly riches are of no use to save us from our sins and deliver us from our enemies.  We cannot serve God and mammon, which is disobedience, spiritual idolatry, and fornication.

Mat 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Luk 12:34  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

Thus, the Commandment to seek ye first the Kingdom of God is a big one upon which many other Commandments fall under.  It always comes back to the first great Commandment of loving the Lord thy God with all our hearts, minds, and strength.  Anything else is idolatry and corruption of the Commandments, seeking to serve God and our flesh.  We have died to those desires and instincts when Christ comes in our flesh and the Kingdom of God dwells in us.

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 

Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 

Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, who are those having laid down their lives unto the Lord, selling all they had for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake.

Commandments

Do Not Give what is Holy to Dogs

Peter
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Do Not Cast Your Pearls Before Swine

We are given a tremendous blessing and a great honor, all by God’s grace, to be the stewards of the oracles of God. The oracles of God are the Lord’s treasures, His joy, which are also the pearls of great price that are the Father’s Holy Commandments. We share and speak the oracles with one another, edifying, strengthening, and washing one another’s feet.

1Pe 4:10  As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 

We are given this blessing and gift to become the witnesses of the Lord and thereby spread the message and love of the Gospel. Our mission is to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and bring them into the sheep pen.

Mat 10:5  These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 

Mat 10:6  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

Mat 10:7  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

The blessing comes upon few in this age, as many are called and only a few are chosen. Our anointing of God carries a great responsibility that is fulfilled by obeying all the Lord’s Commandments. The Commandment is to be selective and discriminating in who we share the holy things. It is disobedience to share the holy things and give the treasures of God out to those not prepared to receive them.

Mat 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 

If we disobey the Commandment, the Commandments are trampled by the carnal reasonings of those the Lord has blinded and made deaf. In time, they turn and rend us, which means to argue and engage in debate over the holy things.  We can lose our peace and descend into the spiritual violence that is carnal reasoning.  We redeem the time wisely and do not waste it with those whom the Lord has not shown mercy.

2Ti 2:23  But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

Tit 3:9  But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. 
Tit 3:10  A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; 

Only those whom the Father gives to the Lord are prepared to hear our words and receive the Gospel. Those not given the gift of faith and its accompanying ears to hear do not hear our words as they are not of God.

Joh 10:26  But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 

Mar 4:23  If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

We obey the divisions the Lord makes in separating us as a holy people and do not serve the holy things to those the Lord has not made ready.

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 

We discern with whom we are gathered and obey the Commandments on when and when not to speak. Preaching the Gospel and doctrines of Jesus Christ is laying hands on people, which imparts God’s wisdom and understanding to those prepared to hear. The key is that they have been prepared beforehand. As the Lord’s ministers, we have a duty and the Commandment to validate this before we lay hands on them.  Those claiming Christ’s name is no assurance that one has been prepared, as only a few are chosen and prepared in this age.

1Ti 5:22  Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure. 

Eze 12:2  Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. 

Being wise as serpents requires discernment of the situation and determining whether the person before us has been prepared by the Lord to hear and receive the Gospel. Christ does not engage with those to whom the Father has not ordained to be given mercy.

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 

Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 

The practical way to obey this Commandment is to always answer those who ask about the hope of Jesus Christ that lives in us. We answer them, giving a little and wait to see if it is received before giving more. We are always ready to share and to give the Gospel to all who ask in sincerity.

1Pe 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 

The Lord opens the door that allows those so ordained to come to Him, meaning the Commandments. We wait on the Lord to open the door and show us those He has prepared to hear. It is the Lord’s work; He causes it.

2Co 2:12  Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 

Psa 10:17  LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: 

Our instructions being sent to preach the Gospel command us to first enquire and determine who is worthy, meaning prepared of the Lord to hear. If the house is not worthy, we depart and do not cast our pearls and holy things.    The litmus test is to test and see who has ears to hear and eyes to see. If anyone argues with us or wants to debate the Gospel, they are not worthy, and we are commanded to shake off their carnal reasonings, the dust off our feet, and depart that house. If the house is worthy, we share the peace of Jesus Christ, the Living Commandments with that house.

Mat 10:11  And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. 

Mat 10:12  And when ye come into an house, salute it. 

Mat 10:13  And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 

Mat 10:14  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 

The laws about food from the Old Testament symbolize the Commandments regarding whom we eat spiritually and to whom we do not. Those who gobble down their spiritual food without considering it are likened unto swine. Swine eat both the clean and the unclean, and the Lord’s people only eat the unleavened and undefiled bread of sincerity and truth. A little bit of leaven spoils the whole lump. Eating the clean and unclean is fornication. The same is having relations apart from Christ, and we are commanded that we not eat with those who the Lord has not prepared to eat His Gospel.

Lev 11:7  And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. 

Lev 11:8  Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you. 

1Co 5:11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 

Likewise, those who do violence to the meat, tearing and ripping it, symbolize those who add their carnal reasonings to the Commandments, and thus show they are spiritual dogs, likened unto ravenous birds. To such we do not cast our precious meat of the Gospel.

Deu 14:11  Of all clean birds ye shall eat. 

Deu 14:12  But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, 

Dogs and swine alike eat virtually anything with little regard for care and inspection. It is true in the natural and the spiritual. Ultimately, those who eat like dogs or swine return to their carnality, and the waters in which they abide are muddied by their carnal reasonings, and the Commandments are corrupted. Many who began well fall away back into their carnality and the reasonings of their flesh.

2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 

2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

The kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking but of peace and joy abiding in the Commandments, that is, the Holy Spirit. Thus, we are given many instructions and admonitions to be careful about how and with whom we eat so as not to corrupt ourselves by poor eating habits.  Abide in the Living Christ and do not be entangled again in the bondage of flesh.

Act 15:29  That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. 

Php 3:2  Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. 

Studies

The Eternal City of God

Peter
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Coming Out of Spiritual Babylon

Peter and Rohnel, servants of God, feeding the Gospel to the scattered saints to bring them into the holy city. Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are many Scriptures that speak about the city of the Lord, a spiritual realm, and a holy city wherein righteousness dwells.  The Lord is found here, that is also in the mountain of His holiness.

Psa 48:1  Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. 

The chosen of God are pilgrims in this carnal world, being in the world but not being of it.  We are passing through as sojourners seeking the eternal city of God. We abide our days pursuing the Living Christ, by believing and obeying the Gospel that is the Commandments.  As a consequence, we bear the reproach and persecution from those of the world who the Lord blinds and are not given to hear our words.  Abiding in clay vessels, we do not yet abide in a continuing eternal city, but we seek the one promised to come.   We follow the example of the Lord, being sent as He was, in seeking the lost sheep of Israel.  As the small remnant separated from our brethren, we preach Christ and seek the continuing city of God where the elect saints are being gathered.

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 

Heb 13:14  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 

The Lord, through Christ, who are His angels, builds the true Jerusalem and gathers the chosen outcasts into His city.

Psa 147:2  The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. 

Eze 34:13  And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 

Flesh and blood that we now abide does not inherit the kingdom of God, and thus the eternal city of God is a spiritual place, not an outward or physical one.  The eternal city of God comes down out of our heaven, meaning our mind, in our day of the Lord, when the revelation of Jesus Christ in us is being revealed.

Rev 21:10  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

We are connected to Christ and one another [His Christ], being one Spirit and one mind.  The Spirit of Christ that is the Living Word of the Commandments that defines our faith and baptisms, is how we are all connected, being One Spirit, One Mind, and One Church by the Promise that lives in all of us.

1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. 

Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

Eph 4:5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Eph 4:6  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

We are connected in Spirit to the little flock we gather with now, but also to all the elect who have walked the walk before us.  The original Apostles speak to us today; their letters and epistles, like Christ’s words, are alive, and the Spirit of Christ that is in them edifies us to this day.  Those who are baptized into Christ, receiving the Promise, are the true Jews who are One with all who are in Christ.  We walk in lockstep, following and obeying the Commandments, not looking to the right or the left as we are Jesus Christ in the world.

Gal 3:27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Eze 1:12  And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.

The Living Christ that is the Word of God, “ is, was, and will be”,  as Christ comes little by little to us as we grow from newborn babes into the fullness and stature of the mature man.  This is why it can be said that we are coming into the holy city of Heavenly Jerusalem, yet we also seek the continuing city to come.  Both are true in the mystery of God, who speaks of things that are not as if they already were established in full.  Having received the Gospel and the Promise, we are entering into the Mt. Zion [Sion], the city of the Living God, little by little as we are being perfected.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Our entering into the city “is, was, and will be” means the more we mature, the further we enter into the spiritual realm as we near the end of our race in these clay vessels.    All those who went before us, who never tasted of physical death, live today, and are gathered with the Lord and His Christ, who are the innumerable company of angels we are promised to see at the end of the age.  We are united with them in the fullness of the Spirit at the end of the age to judge the world and the nations.

Jud 1:14  And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints

To preach and obey the Gospel is the work of Jesus Christ in us, who builds His church and the city of God, ready to be revealed in the last days.  We joyfully suffer the reproach of the world, knowing the enduring substance reserved for us in heaven and the manifestation of all of God’s elect who are the sons of God and firstfruits.  As the children of God, we have an earnest deposit and connection to the city of God, but the fullness awaits the redemption of our bodies, when we are transformed fully into spirit, when our race in the clay is done.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Our understanding of the various cities and gatherings we experience on the journey has grown as the Lord continues to show mercy. Clarity on these cities strengthens our faith as we see ourselves fulfilling Scriptures and being transformed into the sons of the Living God.  When Christ is revealed in us, we see new Jerusalem coming down out of our heaven, which is the congregation of the saints, the bride of Christ, the elect, the firstfruits unto salvation.  John saw visions of the fullness, where there is no more sea, symbolizing the end of flesh and its carnal mindset.

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

The everlasting city of God is built on the Wisdom of God, Christ, who is the Living Commandments, which are also called the holy mountains.  The Lord loves us as the apple of His eye, as we are the entry way, the gates into the Holy city.

Psa 87:1  His foundation is in the holy mountains.

Psa 87:2  The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Psa 87:3  Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.

When the Promise comes, we are raised with Christ and grow to become a pillar through which all others come to Christ and approach the holy city.  By the laying on of hands, those who hear the Gospel receive the Holy Spirit, their baptism of fire, and thus their escape from spiritual Babylon begins.  The Gospel is thus spread and the Lord builds His church one saint at a time.

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Joh 10:2  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

Entering new Jerusalem is the opposite side of the two-edged sword of leaving spiritual Jerusalem, also known as spiritual Babylon.  The eternal city of God is established in us as we are coming out of Babylon, the harlot city, which hears the Gospel and claims His name but does not obey and continues to fornicate with other gods, hating and killing Christ spiritually in their hearts.  Spiritual Babylon is a very convincing deception that has all who come out of her in amazement at the Lord’s ways.

Rev 17:4  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.

Rev 17:5  And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Rev 17:6  I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.

All first err in believing our gatherings with the many called is the true Israel of God and the Lord’s Body until the Lord reveals greater truth by the brightness of His coming.  The false prophets, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Scribes, within ourselves and without, having a form of godliness but deny the power to overcome sins and eventually turn and crucify Christ and part His garments.

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city [Jerusalem], which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Jer 23:14  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

Only a tiny remnant is ordained to escape from spiritual Babylon, that is, spiritual Jerusalem, in every generation, and become the elect of God.

Isa 10:20  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

Isa 10:21  The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Joe 2:32  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. 

The Lord’s harvest comes by the application of an agricultural process known as winnowing.  This means by way of division, separation, and purging the clean from the unclean of those that claim the Lord’s name “Israel”.

Luk 3:17  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

The criterion used to separate the people of God is the Commandments, also known as the plumbline.  When the Commandments are placed in the middle of us, the separation, the harvest has begun within ourselves and without.

Amo 7:8  And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:

The angels of God are the resurrected Christ in the world, who preach the Gospel, and are the instruments by which the wheat is separated from the tares and the sheep from the goats.

Mat 13:40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

Mat 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

Mat 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

We are entering into the Holy City of New Jerusalem simultaneously to our coming out of the harlot city, when one hears the angels preach the everlasting Gospel.  We tarry in spiritual Jerusalem until we are born again, meaning when the Promises come, and then we enter new Jerusalem.

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

The names of Jerusalem and Zion in the Scriptures symbolize the gathering and assemblies of the many called to be saints who claim the Lord’s name.  These spiritual cities are only a shadow of the true city of God, as we learn by living them and looking behind ourselves.  We come to see there are many things that defile and are unclean in these cities and gatherings, as the Lord reveals His Gospel to us in the last days.  It is through the mercy of the Lord that we are given to escape.  Two angels rescuing Lot from Sodom is a type and example of how those ordained of God are led out of spiritual Babylon and born again in the Spirit.  We depart and do not look back from whence the Lord has delivered us.  Remember Lot’s wife.

Gen 19:15  And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

Gen 19:17  And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

All come through Babylon to find our wife, the true Christ, and enter into marriage with our Husband.  There is no other way.  We are caused to go into spiritual Babylon that is likened unto Sodom, and we are caused to come out of her in the appointed time.

Jer 29:10  For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

The Lord commands us to tarry in spiritual Jerusalem, having John’s baptism and wait for the power on high, the Promise of the Living Spirit of the Father and the Son to come.  While we tarry, we are in the womb, the woman in childbirth waiting to be born again.

Luk 24:49  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.

Isaiah spoke of our pregnancy period, where we now know the Commandments, yet struggle to overcome, lacking the power of the indwelling Spirit of Grace.

Isa 26:17  Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.

Isa 26:18  We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

The remnant of Israel coming out of Babylon is also known as the daughters of Jerusalem, Zion, and/or Judah.  All of our time trying to overcome without the Promise, still being under the schoolmaster, waiting for our promised deliverance and overcoming of sin.  The Promise coming is the Kingdom of God coming to us.  It is through much tribulation that we come out of Babylon and enter into the Kingdom.

Mic 4:7  And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.

Mic 4:8  And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

Mic 4:9  Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.

Mic 4:10  Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

The Lord builds His church and establishes the true city of God by severing and separating those chosen for salvation from their brethren, who are the many called.  The enemies of the Gospel are those of our own household.   The wicked and unjust are severed from those chosen to be faithful and do not continue with Christ and are cut off from the city of the living.

Psa 101:8  I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.

Nothing unclean remains or is allowed to enter the holy city of God that is known as new Jerusalem and heavenly Jerusalem.  Only those written in the Lamb’s book of life before the worlds were formed enter in, as they have been made righteous through the work of the Living Christ.

Rev 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

All the spiritual dogs, and sorcerers, whoremongers, and idolaters, who corrupt the Commandments are kept outside and do not enter in.

Rev 22:14  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.

Rev 22:15  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Those who despised Christ, His Christ, and the Commandments, within and without, come bow before our feet, knowing we are the city of the Lord and that He loves us. The Lord does not release these brethren from the carnal law that binds them, and while they worship with their lips, their hearts remain far from the Gospel.  We pray the Father to forgive them, who reject and crucify us, as they know not what they are doing.

Isa 60:14  The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

The chosen few ordained to be faithful come out of the many called who are the professing Israel of God.  We dwell together, the wheat and the tares,  in Jerusalem and in Mt. Zion, fulfilling the prophecies and living by every Word God spoke.  Here are some more examples of the remnant, the daughters of these cities being separated for salvation.

Isa 62:11  Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

Isa 62:12  And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

Psa 48:11  Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. [chastening thru the Commandments]

We come to understand this and grasp its relevance to our journey only after we have lived it out and fulfilled the prophecies.  We look behind ourselves and see the Lord’s hand in orchestrating every jot and title of our life experience.  All things were for our sakes, the elect of God, chosen before the world was formed.

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

Christ told those who followed and bewailed Him to weep for themselves and for our children who would be raised in Christ from our preaching.  At the appointed time, all chosen for salvation follow the Lord, carrying their cross, laying down their lives for the brethren.

Luk 23:27  And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.

Luk 23:28  But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

The daughters of Zion and the daughters of Jerusalem come out of the daughters of Babylon.  It is a miracle if the Lord has mercy and one is given to see the hand of the Lord of the Universe working His purposes in election and blinding everyone else. Here is a great promise given to the precious few.

Zec 2:7  Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

Zec 2:8  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

Zep 3:14  Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

Zep 3:15  The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.

Zep 3:17  The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

A remnant escapes the deception and allure of spiritual Babylon and bears the fruits unto God when they leave the harlot city that deceived them, and which is not the true continuing city of the Lord.

2Ki 19:30  And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

2Ki 19:31  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

The escaped remnant finishes their race and fully enter into the Holy City of new Jerusalem when they leave these clay vessels, never tasting of death anymore.  By the mercy and will of God, we are coming out of spiritual Babylon, leaving the great harlot and all her carnal merchandising behind. Those not given to come out of her are destroyed by the flood of lies from the evil one, which is spiritual violence marked by carnal reasoning, and the accusing and excusing thoughts of the wicked one.  Those who did not know the day of their visitation are drowned in their fleshly reasonings.

Rev 18:21  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

Unlike the true Holy City, in spiritual Jerusalem, which is actually spiritual Babylon, there are many things that are unclean and that defile us, which we are blind to when we abide there.  The two-edged sword contains both a positive Jerusalem and a negative one, and we live and fulfill both.

Jos 15:63  As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.

2Ki 21:4  And he [Manasseh] built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

2Ki 21:6  And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

We know we have found the eternal city of new Jerusalem in earnest when we have learned to discern between the holy and the profane and are drinking only the pure water of life, the Commandments devoid of all carnal reasonings.

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

The coming of the Promise is the coming into the city of new Jerusalem.  The throne of grace is established in our hearts and minds, and the indwelling Spirit of Christ is now judging us and reproving us in all things.  There is no more darkness; we have been set free from it and now dwell and walk in the eternal light of the Living Commandments.

Rev 22:3  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

Rev 22:4  And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

Rev 22:5  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

We are now singing the new song that only those chosen for salvation and receiving the Promise can sing.  We are coming out of spiritual Babylon and are dwelling in the Holy City, waiting for the fullness to come.

Isa 52:9  Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.

Isa 52:11  Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.

The inhabitants of heavenly Jerusalem come to the wedding feast when called and leave the harlot city behind.

Isa 62:1  For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

Isa 62:4  Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.

The Lord returns to the true Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, and there He dwells and establishes His Holy mountain.  This is the city of Truth, the eternal city wherein the Commandments of the Lord are known and obeyed.  We are entering the Holy City by the mercy of the Lord.

Zec 8:3  Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

All of us are born and raised unto maturity in heavenly Jerusalem, as even the cities of God are made new when the Living Christ comes to us.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

We are entering into the true Sion, the city of Truth, the dwelling place of the Living God, little by little, as we are coming out of spiritual Babylon. All those who went before us, who never died, are alive, and gathered with the Lord and His Christ, having been married in Spirit.  We partake of our deposit yearning for the fullness to come and the redemption of our clay bodies.

Remember that the knowledge about these cities and seeing ourselves fulfilling the Scriptures is useful, to expand our understanding and even strengthen our faith, but this knowledge itself means nothing unless we obey the Commandments and love God. Praise ye the Lord.

1Co 13:8  Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.