A Defense of the Gospel on Marriage
This is a continuation of the topic of Marriage and Divorce. The original study can be found Clicking Here:
The gospel has always been contended with and needed to be defended by the Lord’s servants. So it is in this generation as the ones preceding.
Jud 1:3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
On one side, we are not to keep endless reasoning and contending for the truth with those who do not receive our words. One either hears the words of truth or they cannot as it is all given of the Lord
Pro 20:12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made them both.
Luk 10:16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.
Yet on the other hand, this dispute and the study on the High Calling of Marriage did not come to light hastily. There is a narrow way in all our conduct with regards to sharing the truth and correcting brothers who err and answering Pharisees [who are all of us in our time] who twist the Scriptures. This topic has been disputed for some time with several lengthy written admonitions, exchanges of letters with some live conferences. At what point and after how many rejections of truth does one not proceed forward and speak truth to those who have asked sincere questions? After several admonitions none of which were received, my spirit was stirred up by the Lord as the unbelief and idolatry in the city came to light.
Act 17:16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
Act 17:17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.
The word of God is not bound by the unbelief of any man no matter who they are or where they have come from. The Word will go forth and that is exactly what the Lord has caused to happen here. I am led to respond to what has been shared by those who do not share my joy in the gospel which cast doubt upon the truth and twists the Scriptures to their own destruction. Those entrusted with the truth cannot sit by idly and bow to the reasonings of men when the very spiritual life of the Lord’s sheep, including our own, are at stake.
Eze 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
Eze 33:7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
I hope to stir up as many as the Lord ordains to a higher level of understanding and faith in His promises. My flesh wants nothing of this trial that has contention and opposition with my fellow brethren. Yet it is all part of fulfilling the Word of God and our spiritual lives are at stake.
1Th 2:2 But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict.
1Th 2:3 For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.
1Th 2:4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
Our understanding of the true knowledge and grace of God has us giving thanks to the Lord for all the things He is working with no exceptions.
Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Even unbelieving spouses are the creatures of God we are not to refuse but trust the Lord that our living a godly life [prayer and fasting] WILL [not maybe] sanctify them.
1Ti 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
1Ti 4:5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
The words recently shared about cutting off the Edomites and Jezebel read by themselves seem compelling enough at face value yet they fail to stand the test of faith by which we are to try all spirits.
These OT verses was cited as a proof text to divorce under the gospel.
2Ch 21:11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.
2Ch 21:12 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
2Ch 21:13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:
This verse below was also referenced taken from Revelation, a signified book speaking to the day of the Lord experience for those in the faith. We are to flee from fornication always and especially in our day of the Lord. But to take this verse to support divorce contrary to the simple commands and the sum of the word is simply false.
Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Revelation 2:20 is speaking to us as the Lord’s straying spouse as we commit sin and entertain the lies and false doctrines of Jezebel another type and symbol for Babylon. Similarly, to the Edomites we are to separate from, meaning we are to take captive our fleshly and carnal thoughts [Jezebel spirit] and abide only in faith … be faithful. Neither of the cited verses comes anywhere close to speaking of divorcing our spouses as these next verses should make perfectly clear.
Israel is Always Surrounded and Abides in a Fornicating World
Fornication is sex outside of marriage plan and simple. The entire world is ruled and defined by physical and spiritual fornication. Spiritually speaking this is also known as idolatry as are all these named sins.
Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Does the Lord take us out of the world so we can avoid fornication? No, He does not. We are purposefully left in a world full of fornication to navigate the narrow way and sanctify those the Lord puts into our path especially the spouses He gives us in marriage.
Joh 17:14 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.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
The example of fornication being committed in the church is a second witness to this truth we are to abide in this fornicating world but not to be of it.
1Co 5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
1Co 5:10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
Consistent with the sum and the truth, we are to put them away, to separate and not share spiritual meals with them and wait for the Lord to grant them repentance when we take them back and the sanctifying work of the Lord can continue.
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.
1Co 5:12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
1Co 5:13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
It should be much clearer how we are to look at verses like those cited from Chronicles in dealing with fornication. Twisting them into supporting divorce is truly a departure from faith and another gospel.
We are absolutely to flee fornication, and not engage with it and allow its seduction to spoil the simplicity of our relationship with our true spouse.
1Co 6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
1Co 6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
1Co 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
1Co 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
Living with an unbeliever who is by nature a spiritual fornicator never by itself causes the believer to commit fornication. As believers we are to obey God rather than men. Being submissive to one’s husbands does not expand to disobeying the Lord. We have so many admonishments about fearing God, the one in charge and not men, we can never say one is caused to commit sin because they are married to an unbeliever. It takes faith to obey the Lord under such pressure but that is the high calling of God.
Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
It was even suggested that the Lord imputes sins on those who are not committing those sins. This is false. The Lord does not impute the unrighteousness of others upon spouses or anyone else. The soul that sins shall die and bear the punishment of the Lord. Outwardly no one is caused to commit any sin if they stand up for the Lord and do not fear men.
Eze 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
I hope the spiritual lessons of the OT and Revelation about putting away fornication, not sharing spiritual food with fornicators until they repent can be put back into their proper place and not be used as a launching pad for watering down the Lord’s commandments on marriage.
The Divorce of Israel
In Jeremiah 3, God tells of the promise of salvation for the new man being preceded by the cutting off [divorce] of the old man. The new man which comes to all men in the appointed time is never divorced if we read the whole of Jeremiah 3. The Lord sends us into captivity in Babylon. But this is all before our NEW MAN is married to the Lord under the law of Faith. We cannot forget we are in a new age when the gospel has come upon us. This brings with it the new and much higher standard for marriage meaning no more divorce. The law is not longer ruling us and we are reverting back to how it was from the very beginning just as the Lord said in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke.
Mar 10:4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
Mar 10:5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
Mar 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
Divorce is of the flesh, it is on the other side of the veil where men are carnal and bound by the righteousness of their own carnal reasonings and not faith in God. That mindset must be put away and divorced in order for us to receive the gospel and be saved. Hence we see it being done in Spirit by the Lord to Israel after the flesh.
Jer 3:7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
Jer 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
But stopping here and claiming the Lord gives us the example to divorce is not the sum of the word or even the point the Lord is primarily making in Jeremiah 3. Just a few verses later the sum of the word begins to harmonize perfectly with the gospel of faith. The Lord does not divorce the one who is being saved [being sanctified] by the gospel but He does speak of things that are not yet as if they are [Rom 4:17].
Jer 3:14 Turn [repent], O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
We are certainly to separate from those [within and without] that bring lies to serve Christ but not by disobeying the marriage commands. This was the error of the Pharisees, the traditions of men that the Lord rebuked sharply. Justifying disobedience of one command by pointing to another command is proof one is still under the law and not walking by faith. It is in the gospels and here is the Matthew version the Jews wise in their own eyes justified not taking care of one’s parents since they were giving their gifts instead to the church. This is the leaven of the Pharisees otherwise known as hypocrisy.
Mat 15:1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Mat 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Mat 15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Mat 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
Mat 15:5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
Mat 15:6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Mat 15:7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Lord willing, we will not continue to make the commandment of God of none effect by mixing the law for the lawless with the gospel. We are coming out of Babylon; we are coming out of Tyre where our carnal thoughts and reasonings [dust] are being mixed with the waters of life and thereby mudding them and keeping the sheep in confusion.
Eze 26:12 And they [Tyre/Babylon] shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
The Lord rebukes His shepherds who have muddied up His clear commandments with the residue of their feet.
Eze 34:18 Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?
The Lord has pleasure in the death of His saints. This means when they rest from their own works, know and trust that He is working all things for the counsel of His will. That is the true work of God that those saved in this age will attain to. Giving up your life and believing the gospel and the Lord working all things for the greater good is how we will be saved.
Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
This contention is a fight of faith either to death or to life. The Lord knows who are His and none of His little ones will be lost to a corrupted gospel. Christ suffered for us, dying for us to leave us an example and that was done while we yet sinned and abode in unbelief. That is our example and no reasoning of the Scriptures can change that truth.
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
The commandments for marriage are really simple. Even a child given faith can understand them. Yet men have always made them complicated and that is exactly what has happened here with the incorrect mixing of the old versus the new. Only the Lord can solve this issue, one is either given to believe or they are not. With that gift comes the requirement of suffering.
Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake
The old has passed away and is no longer of any effect when we are being saved by the Lord in our Day of the Lord. Those still reasoning under the law and what was lawful back then and applying it to the last day are operating outside of the faith.
In Day 3, we are far from perfect at the beginning. Yet the Lord, despite our unbelief, our adultery and fornication, does not divorce His unfaithful and disobedient bride. Instead, He operates and provides for us the example we are to follow with our fellow man and our physical spouses. He seeks reconciliation and long suffers with us and ultimately wins the day.
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
But we don’t go away from our spouse we remain married and seek to win them over by our godly behavior and seek reconciliation all the while waiting on the Lord.
The law for the lawless and carnal nations of men, all of it 100%, including all the references to divorce are just a shadow of the good things to come [Heb 10:1] when the “good news” gospel comes to us. The OT does however prophesy that Christ would marry us when faith is born in us and we become converted. This happens in our day of the Lord when Christ comes the second time for salvation. From that point forward divorce is never ever an option again.
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 62:2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
Isa 62:3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
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.
Isa 62:5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin [one receiving the gospel is a virgin], so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
Returning to our first love in the day of the gospel, we return to how it was before the law was given. It is only those that trust the Lord and His promises who will receive the blessing of Abraham which is salvation.
Gal 3:14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The law of Moses which is also the law of the Gentiles was added because of transgressions as a temporary place of confinement until the seed of Christ is born in every man.
Gal 3:17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.
Gal 3:18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
Gal 3:19 What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.
But now that faith has come, if indeed it has come to us, then we are no longer bound by that law and are now free to marry Christ.
Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
It is our failure to understand the stark differences in the two covenants and the fact the marriage with Christ only comes after we have come out of the second covenant having died to that law for the lawless. This is huge if you can receive it. Only when we die to that law, only then are we free to marry Christ, NOT BEFOREHAND. The Lord is not an adulterer or a polygamist who marries someone who is already married.
Rom 7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? [your father the devil, the carnal mind]
Rom 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Rom 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
The above is the correct way to see what Paul was saying and in no way does he contradict the Lord and suggest one can leave their spouse by deciding they are “spiritually dead”.
It is incorrect and sin [not of faith] to bring forward what was lawful and just under the law of Moses/Gentiles into our Day 3 covenant of faith. That is the very error the book of Galatians among others admonishes us not to do. Under that law there is a lot of reasoning to do in one’s mind.
- What is enough fornication which is also idolatry to endure?
- How many times do I allow it before I call a lawyer to seek divorce?
- How many teeth must be knocked out before I can seek divorce?
- How many birthday parties can I allow in my house or holidays to be celebrated, all of which are spiritual fornication do I tolerate before I divorce my spouse?
- ETC ETC, the possible questions and situations are endless as there is no standard and singleness of Christ’s command with this reasoning.
This is being under the law of Moses and is not of faith. All questions and reasonings with no exacting standard. All certainly lawful under that law and just in the eyes of all the Gentiles [Rom 2:15 – the world] but that is no longer our standard, we must believe and trust 100% in the Lord.
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
We are not married until we repent and believe [not just hear] the gospel. Then we as the Bride are being made ready in our Lake of Fire experience.
Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen [bought in the fire Rev 3:19], clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
The watchmen in the flock will first fall asleep as all the disciples fell asleep before they are reawakened to Truth. I too have been sleeping until just awakened by the Lord so it is not about any man but about the Lord. It is while we sleep that the enemy comes in and plants the tares [lies and false doctrines], some of which are now being manifested as tares [Matthew 13]. May we be awakened to the truth and run to the mountains of Christ.
Lam 4:11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
Lam 4:12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
The Lord divorcing Israel in the flesh is not a physical reality, it is a shadow and an example we are to learn from in our day of the Lord. That is the reasoning it was written down for us [1Co 10:11, 1Pe 1:10-12]. Under our new covenant, the Lord will never ever divorce us but only put us away for a time until we are reconciled back. That is our example to do unto others and we wait for the Lord to bring all men to us so they will be saved. We are in the last days and need to be very circumspect as we are told many false prophets have gone into the world bringing the narrow way of truth into condemnation.
2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
This is a matter of spiritual life or death. Unless and until we are dead to the law of the carnal reasonings, we will in no way enter into life. The truth which is so simple a child can understand is being rejected by many in favor of deep sayings contrary to the most basic promises of the Lord. For those few given the gift to believe the gospel, it is all now simple and spoken plainly to know the truth.
Joh 16:25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
Joh 16:26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
Do Not Fear Men
Much of the New Testament deals with Christ and the Apostles’ contending with those wise in the flesh who knew the Scriptures but did not know Christ. Who are those Jews today? How do we live out these words and experiences in the New Testament today? We live them out by experiencing the rejection and influence of men, the Scribes, Pharisees and Chief Priests of today when living in the Israel of God. Here are three witnesses to this “fear of men” and it is holding back immature believers in standing up for the Truth.
Joh 7:12 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.
Joh 7:13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.
Here is a second example of fear of men.
Joh 12:42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him [defend the truth], lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
Joh 12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
Our fellow brethren are the parents of the blind man who now sees. They will at first defer being a witness out of fear and send the Pharisees back to their son that now has had his spiritual eyesight healed.
Joh 9:21 But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
Joh 9:22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
I hope these words and Scriptures clarify some things and strengthen you all to fight the fight of faith. We encourage and embolden each other to make the defense of the gospel and contend for the faith no longer fearing men.
Php 1:14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
The fields of the land are ripe for the harvests but there are so few laborers willing to truly work and believe on the Lord. Again here is the work that needs to be done.
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
We have to endure these same trials and rejections by our own people to fulfill the Word of God. Some angels [messengers of God and the gospel] have left their first habitation and departed the gospel.
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
This is all of us in our time, we all do it as we must live by every word. We all begin well but come to a point where we are seduced into another gospel and bewitched.
Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
Gal 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Gal 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Gal 3:4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
Lord willing, the truth will continue to be preached in the temple and its courts despite the objections of the modern-day Pharisees. This is the boldness of the Lord’s true preachers who have been freed from being bound in unbelief and now fear God and not men.
Act 5:25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.
Act 5:26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.
Act 5:27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
Act 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
Act 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
The last days are upon those being saved in this generation. The promises of God are not “maybe” or dependent upon “X, Y or Z” happening. Those promises are not dependent upon any reasonings of men. They are only dependent upon faith and whether one believes the Lord under the law of faith or not. Very few do. Faith in God must become our anchor and that includes all the promises of God even those about how an unbeliever is won over and sanctified or led of the Lord to depart. These verses in Hebrews speaking of the maturing process in the faith struck me as being very appropriate to bring to your remembrance.
Heb 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful [in the work of believing], but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Heb 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
Heb 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
Heb 6:16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
Heb 6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
We all will desire and seek a plan B when weak in the faith in case the Lord is not faithful to His promises. Our carnal mind will want to impute doubt [unbelief] into the promises of God including these:
1Co 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
1Pe 3:1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
Remember that where unbelief abounds, not many mighty works of the Spirit get accomplished. The word of God is never bound and will always go forth and be preached where the Lord sends forth His few. The truth has now been preached twice to Israel on this subject and will continue to stand right here and wait on the Lord.
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Those in the faith have no dominion over anyone’s faith but are to remain a helper of anyone’s joy and ready to answer questions of the hope that lies within us.
Pete
