Honoring the Father and the Son
Peter and Rohnel, bond servants by the will of God, to those who share our precious faith of Jesus Christ; grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Christ our Lord.
We are commanded to possess our bodies in sanctification, which honors our Lord and our God. These Commandments from the Lord were passed down to the Apostles and to each succeeding generation, including ours. Part of all things being made new is the dramatic changes in how we live and possess these clay vessels for the remainder of our time in the flesh.
1Th 4:2 NKJV for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
1Th 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from fornication
1Th 4:4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
1Th 4:5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
Fleeing sexual immorality or what is more properly translated “fornication” means not engaging in any sexual relations outside of marriage, in the physical with our spouse, and in the spiritual with the Lord, meaning apart from His Commandments. This is the essence of one being sanctified and honoring the Lord.
We are putting to death all the various lusts that live in our flesh. Doing so is impossible, but through the indwelling Spirit of Christ, it is accomplished in making all things perfect. If we belong to the Lord, the Living Word fails not, and thus we are being sanctified after we receive the Promise.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
We learn to be diligent and vigilant in the fight of our faith, as the enemies, these fleshly lusts and carnal thoughts, are always seeking an opportunity. We are truly strangers in this dark world, always reminding one another of the Commandments to abstain from the worldly lusts that war against our souls.
1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
1Pe 2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Our victory in Christ does not happen in an instant by any means; however, meaningful progress is evident unless we have received the grace of God in vain. We do not reason within ourselves of what is right or wrong, as we know the Commandments, and thus we no longer justify ourselves by the carnal law of sin and death. Just obeying the Commandments justifies us.
Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
We are admonished not to receive the grace of God in vain, but put it to use by separating from the ungodly things within and without ourselves.
2Co 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
2Co 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
Our obedience and remaining set apart from the unclean bring honor to the Lord and show our reverence for His Commandments. Thus, the purposes of judgment, to save us and cause us to obey the Lord, are being realized and manifesting today in our lives.
Joh 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23 That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Pro 3:9 Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
The Lord received honor and glory from the Father, and so shall we in our appointed time. We are the beloved Sons of God in whom the Father is well pleased (speaking of things that are not yet as if they already were). When we serve the Lord first by our obedience, the Father honors us as His sons.
Joh 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.
2Pe 1:17 For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Formerly being brute beasts in the flesh, we overcome our sin and bring glory and honor to the Lord our God. There is no boasting except that we now know the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. There is no more pride, no more rebellion, all is submitted to the Lord, and we sing praises with our tongues for the great salvation He has wrought in our lives.
Rev 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of many people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God:
Holiness is the by-product or the result of our being sanctified. To sanctify is a verb; it is an action, and we likewise are proactive in choosing and striving to speak or act congruently with our faith. Doing so, we thus wash ourselves and one another’s feet [symbolizing our walk] daily with the Commandments.
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.
Joh 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
Once we hear the Gospel, the first coming of Christ to us, we tarry and wait for the Lord. He comes suddenly with the power of salvation that is the Promise. We are thus washed and purified in the fire of the Commandments as Christ, the Promise of God, has come to us. The Lord works quickly and is a swift witness against our fleshly lusts that defile us. The Living Christ is come to sanctify us and make our offerings righteous and pleasant to the Lord. The promised Savior has now come; today, we are being visited.
Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Mal 3:4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
The living Word of God, the Commandments, are washing us clean and purifying our evil consciousness, that is, the carnal mind. A new way, the Living Christ, the bread of life, has been made available to us. We draw near to those Commandments in full assurance that God is able to deliver. The Lord is preparing us to be His chaste virgin Bride.
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having a high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
All of our unrighteousness is being washed away; this is our sanctification, which is salvation.
1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Both our heaven and our earth are cleansed by the Living Christ, beginning with our mind. In due time, the fire of God works its way across our entire earth, purifying all our behavior. This is accomplished by truth and by grace, which is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. First comes truth, the Commandments, and then comes the grace, the fiery trials that transform and change us into holy vessels.
Psa 76:8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still,
Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
We are not departing these clay vessels, passing onto the spiritual realm, before all this is fulfilled in our lives. Today is the day, and the fervent heat of our trials, the great tribulation, is making all things new.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth [YOURS] shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
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.
The sooner we engage the fight, earnestly contending for our faith, the sooner we are hastening the appearing of the Lord and the remaking of a new you. If we do not fight for the faith, contending against our sins, we are overcome and do not grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. The battle for purity and sanctification starts in our heaven, and the Commandments are the weapons of warfare.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heaven
We flee from all evil, which includes our lusts, and strive to obey the Commandments, taking every contrary thought captive in obedience.
1Ti 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
We are reaping what we are sowing. Glory and honor to God are reaped, meaning they come to all who are conducting themselves in the will of God, being sanctified and purified from the evil of the world. We are learning how to possess our bodies with sanctification and honor to the Lord.
Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Rom 2:8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Rom 2:10 But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Being redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are now bondservants to our Lord and Master. Bondservants live in subjection to their Master and strive to obey the Commandments. We are losing our lives, shedding blood in the Spirit, to overcome our sins. Without the shedding of blood in spirit, there is no suffering, and thus there is no remission. We resist all our fleshly temptations at great cost, enduring much suffering to please and honor God.
Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
When we resist the devil until he flees, and we overcome the thoughts and temptations that live in our flesh. One who is sanctified is dead to sin, and thus we no longer live in those sins or routinely practice them. We are to examine ourselves to see if we are living in the faith or fooling ourselves.
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
One who is dead to sin is bearing the fruit of righteousness. A tree is known by its fruit, and we know we are on the right track when we see fruit budding forth in increasing volume.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
All who used to know us know us no more, as we are changed, and all things have been made anew. The life we now live is radically different from the life that defined us before Christ came to us.
1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
The coming of the Promise, the quickening Spirit, raises us up from our spiritual graves, abiding in death, being enslaved to the carnal mind. All men are in bondage to the devil, who is the prince of the world, before Christ comes and quickens us to new life.
Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
When Christ comes, judgment is come, and we are henceforth crucifying, meaning putting to death, the lusts that live in our flesh. We are taking heed and following the truth that we know now and hear in our heavens speaking to us the right way to walk. The Scriptures tell us what these various lusts include that we are putting to death in our process of being sanctified. The light of Christ is revealing them in us, so we can be washed.
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Before we are sanctified of heart, we honor the Lord with our lips, but our hearts and minds are far from obeying the Commandments. Being washed and purified in the fire is being cleaned on the inside, that is, our hearts and minds. What is on the inside works its way to the outside. Flesh prioritizes the outward appearance, and in our self-righteousness, we first clean the outside of the cup, paying no heed to the inside.
Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
What comes out of us is what defiles us and reveals the true nature of our hearts. Lord willing, we overcome and see much less of that which defiles coming out of our mouths when the grace of God appears to us. We are made new into a new creation, no longer being defiled.
Mar 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mar 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Mar 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Flesh concerns itself with the outside, but the Lord looks to the inside of our hearts. It is there that He finds His chosen ones to be faithful, who are the apple of His eye.
1Sa 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
The outward appearance means nothing to God if the inward is full of death and sin.
We live by every word, including being Pharisees and faking it for a time, appearing righteous on the outside. But we are not fooling the Lord with our lips and appearance of righteousness. He sees everything; our hearts and thoughts are all open to Him. Bondservants of the Lord, do not fake it or play games to look good. We serve the Lord with sincerity and truth, having the fear of God in our hearts.
Col 3:22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
In our day of judgment, the Lord is bringing these hypocrisies and insincerities to light so we can repent and turn back to the Commandments. The Lord makes all vessels, those of honor and those of dishonor, according to His will for every man. The first vessel is always the vessel of dishonor, so it can be destroyed and remade in His hands, and thus make known the riches of His glory to those precious few being saved in this age [See Romans 9:20-23, Jer 18:1-4].
In these last days, our focus is on the Commandments. The Living Christ, who is the indwelling Commandments, is the Spirit and the Truth, and what is, was, and will be sanctifying us through many fiery trials. It is through these pure words, purified in the furnace of our many fiery trials and tribulations, that our hearts and minds are being cleansed of the fleshly lusts that wage war against the Lord. The Lord prays for the truth to come to us and is sending ministers of the Gospel to build His church and, in time, brings the Holy Spirit to every man that cleanses us of all our sins.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Psa 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Rom 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Knowing these truths, Peter asks what kind of man or woman we should be. Those of faith are pressing into the Commandments, embracing the cross, the suffering, and thus hastening to the Lord and the remaking of their heaven and earth into one of righteousness.
2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
We thank our Lord for His great mercy in opening our eyes to His Commandments and giving us the zeal to be cleansed and purified of all our sin.
