Tag: fornication

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Letters

The Nicolaitan Spirit and its Deeds

Peter

The Seduction of Israel 

We give thanks to the Lord and our Father in heaven, who has quickened these words in our hearts to share and edify the saints scattered into the world.  May they be received with thanksgiving to those who hear them.

The Nicolaitan spirit and the resulting deeds are not what have been commonly taught by the precepts of men.  A Nicolaitan spirit has nothing to do with the lordship of one over another, as some have been taught.  That is all extra-biblical and found nowhere in the Scriptures.  This false teaching then aids those who speak against the ministers the Lord sends forth to preach the Gospel in all boldness and power.  Carnal men have gone beyond what is written to concoct their false doctrine of the Nicolaitans.  Recent trials brought this issue to mind and led to this letter that brings necessary correction and admonishment by way of the Word.

A Nicolaitan in spirit is something completely different, as the sum of the Word of Truth makes clear.  A Nicolaitan, in the simplest terms, corrupts the commandments of the Lord.  We are to take nothing away from or add to the Lord’s commandments, but just do them.  That is brotherly love unfeigned.  The simplicity of Christ, the commandments are readily corrupted by the carnal mind, the tempter who brings in a little leaven at an opportune time.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

Many false teachers and antichrists have corrupted the holy things of the Lord, the commandments, with subtle twists and turns. This is not the purity a chaste virgin is to have, and is indeed a corruption of the Gospel and the living commandments.  The bride of Christ, the pure virgins, are set apart only for their husband and do not have relations elsewhere.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Those with a Nicolaitan spirit are corrupting the commandments of Christ.  This is justifying themselves by adding to or taking away through the eating of things sacrificed to idols and engaging in spiritual fornication.  A Nicolaitan spirit takes no heed in their walk to abide by the four necessary things the Apostles commanded in their letter after the council on circumcision.   A recent letter or study on this topic can be accessed by clicking here.

Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 

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. 

A Nicolaitan spirit is a slothful spirit that takes the commandment to be set apart and “be ye holy because I am holy” and waters them down to justify themselves and reap the wages of unrighteousness.  The Lord hates this Spirit, as do those in the church of Ephesus.

Rev 2:6  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 

The churches of Pergamum and even Thyatira, however, do not purge out this spirit and continue to eat things sacrificed to idols and commit spiritual fornication.

Rev 2:14  But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit spirtual fornicaton. 

Rev 2:15  Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which things I hate. 

The Nicolaitan spirit is better known as the doctrine of Balaam that teaches Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and commit spiritual fornication against the Lord.  It is idolatry and unfaithfulness to the commandments.  A Nicolaitan spirit does not strive to be holy and to diligently keep and wholeheartedly obey all the commandments of the Lord.  It is the same as a Jezebel spirit; it is idolatry and spiritual fornication.  The Lord hates these deeds as He is a jealous God and demands our whole heart in faithfulness to Him alone.  Even with this spirit that God hates, we have many things right and are doing much charity and service in the faith.  Yet the Lord’s standard is even higher than we yet know.

Rev 2:19  I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. 

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. 

Understanding this is why “the HOW” we partake of the Lord’s supper when we come together is vitally important.

1Co 11:17  Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 

1Co 11:18  For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 

1Co 11:19  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 

1Co 11:20  When ye come together therefore into one place, is it not to eat the Lord’s supper? 

Seduction is not overt; it is indeed subtle, hence we have the unique word for seduction.  Those being seduced do not even know they are being seduced until the deed happens.  It is true in the natural seductions, and it is also true in the spiritual as well.  John writes as we now write to warn of this subtle seduction that takes us away from the living commandments that are received into our hearts when we believe the Gospel.

1Jn 2:26  These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 

1Jn 2:27  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

We are to always abide in Him, meaning the commandments.  It is perfectly okay, as the sum of the word tells us to eat meat sacrificed to idols.  But we can never mix the two tables, which is the mistake of the Nicolaitans.  They are not holding fast to the commandment.  Knowledge and information on virtually anything can become an idol.  Idols puff us up, but charity, the keeping of the commandments, edifies.  Those in the faith know an idol is nothing, as we know there is only one true God.

1Co 8:4  As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. 

1Co 8:5  For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) 

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. 

We are free in Christ to eat meat sacrificed to idols, but we need to be careful not to lay a stumbling block for others who see us doing such things.

1Co 8:7  Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. 

1Co 8:8  But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. 

1Co 8:9  But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. 

If the strong partake at an idol’s temple, say watching YouTube videos or being in a meeting where politics is the subject, we are none the worse for it.  We should just eat or listen and ask no questions, not engaging in the back-and-forth carnal dialogue.  But if a brother weak in the faith sees us doing this, it could cause them to stumble.  It is far better to abstain where possible.

1Co 8:10  For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;

But we cannot openly bring this into our partaking of the Lord’s supper with one another.  That is a Nicolaitan spirit that causes the whole house of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and commit spiritual fornication.  It brings the idolatry into the house of God and serves it with the Lord’s supper.  This is a deal breaker with the Lord, who is jealous over His people.

1Co 10:20  But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. 

1Co 10:21  Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. 

1Co 10:22  Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? 

When we come together to eat the Lord’s supper, we are to preach and talk about the commandments.  That is the simplicity of Christ.  This is the Gospel, the daily bread we are to eat that brings eternal life by the death of the old man and the sacrifice of the new man.  Any other way of eating when we are gathered together is not good and is the true Nicolaitan spirit.  Paul warns of eating and drinking unworthily at the Lord’s table.

1Co 11:23  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

1Co 11:24  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 

1Co 11:25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 

1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 

1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 

This topic is so important to being faithful and holy before the Lord.  We are to set our affections on the things above and not of this world.  We all need to change when the Gospel comes.  It is our coveting [which is idolatry] more than just the commandments that leads us into this error.

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

To cement the understanding, we need to bring Balaam into the picture.  Balaam was a prophet for hire who loved the wages of unrighteousness.  A recent study on Phinehas dealt with the aftereffects of Balaam’s sin that caused Israel to mingle with the Moabites.  This brought the plague upon the congregation in which many died.  Balaam brought this spirit and temptation into the house of Israel, which caused them to sin.

Num 31:16  Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. 

Corrupting the Lord’s commandments, “did God really say”, or “a little bit of this or of that is okay”, is what the carnal mind and tempter do in leading us off the narrow road of holiness.   Dying to self on the cross of suffering and giving up our old way of life is indeed hard, but it is the only way to be holy in all of our behavior.  Not one stone is left when the Lord tears down the old temple to build the new temple, which Temple we are now having received the Gospel.

Mat 24:2  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

The Lord is jealous over His people and thus hates the Nicolaitan spirit that strays from His Holy things, which are the commandments.  Here ye the Lord.  Balaam mingled with Balak King of Moab, and thus corrupted himself and all who later took his counsel.  This is the true Nicolaitan.

Num 22:41  And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people. 

Balaam was seen entering into feasts with Balac, eating meat sacrificed unto idols.   The children of Israel saw him do this, and it led them to be seduced into their fornication with the Moabites.   This is what Paul wrote about to warn is in 1Cor 8.  Indirectly, Balaam did bring a curse upon Israel by leading them into idolatry and spiritual fornication, which breaks the commandments of the Lord.  As we saw in the Phinehas study, the result of Balaam’s counsel was the women of Moab seducing the men [their doctrine of being holy] of Israel by coming to their feast with Baal, the sun god.

Num 25:1  And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 

Num 25:2  And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 

Num 25:3  And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 

This is what stirred Phinehas into action, who thrust a spear, the Word of Commandments, through the belly of the fornicating Israelite prince and the Moabite daughter of a prince.  We are to be vigilant watchmen to ensure the children of Israel are not seduced into committing this idolatry or spiritual fornication in eating at the Lord’s table.  Seduction is subtle; it seems innocent enough, but the Lord’s standard is indeed high.  If we do not repent and turn back from doing this when it is exposed, the Lord brings a sword against our house.

Rev 2:16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Eating things sacrificed to idols and committing fornication is what we do when we bring in worldly conversations [stuff] to our fellowships.  If we are not diligent, our carnal lusts and interests become the topic, and Israel is enticed to eat things sacrificed unto idols.  This can be things like politics or worldly interests, even too much worldly sorrow, giving too many details of our problems, versus just speaking of the commandments and promises of God.  A lust for more knowledge and more information is idolatry.

All learn these lessons in the appointed time, as all things are ours to fulfil. Lord willing, our hearts are being made to consent to this doctrine of godliness in all our behavior.  Many argue and strive against it, but those being saved from their sins are learning to be content with the commandments because that is where the gain is found.

1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain. 

1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 

1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 

1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 

We have many warnings about false teachers, and we have certainly been under their spell in prior times.  Those who hold to the doctrine of Balaam, having the Nicolaitan spirit, are those who accuse the Lord’s ministers sent to preach the Gospel.   The Lord gives out all the gifts, and He is the one who appoints those into the offices in the church that He has chosen.  Only SOME are made to be the ministers that teach, so says the Lord.

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 

Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 

Feeding the flock of God is to feed them the living commandments, the Gospel.  This is all we are to feed the flock, and this food, the meat of the Gospel, is what judges every man in the last day.  This is what the lost sheep eat to be recovered and made well again.  It is salvation.

Eze 34:16  I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. [thru His ministers]

The Gospel does not please men, and those given the ministry to preach do it in obedience to God and not to please men, as indeed it is not popular.

Gal 1:10  For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Those with the Nicolaitan spirit have no problem speaking against those the Lord has set in His church.  These are the dignities holding the higher offices whom the Lord chooses and establishes.    Both Peter and Jude speak of this.

2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 

2Pe 2:11  Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. 

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption [of the commandments]

One cannot corrupt the commandments of Jesus Christ, the holy things, and expect to make meaningful progress towards overcoming and salvation.  Such a spirit keeps one ever learning, having a form of godliness but denying the very knowledge and power of the commandments that save them.  In time, the Lord brings all of this to the light, but since He comes in different watches, the result is fiery trials and divisions within the house.

The Nicolaitans are said to have gone astray, turning away from the Gospel that saves every man in the appointed time.  Nicolaitans love the “extra pay” they receive in the way of the esteem of men when they soften the commandments and thereby corrupt them.  Do not let any man steal your crown with such subtle deceit.

2Pe 2:15  Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 

Jude also spoke of this and says woe unto those who have this Spirit and think that godliness has any sort of gain for the flesh.  They speak against the preachers of the Gospel, just as in the days of Korah, and are swallowed up by their carnal lusts if they do not repent.

Jud 1:11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 

Core [Korah] is a lesson about those who speak against those whom the Lord has set in His church. Korah and his followers falsely accuse Moses and Aaron of exalting themselves and that the whole of the congregation was just as holy.  [See Numbers 16].  Cain fails to give the Lord His very best [being holy in all his behavior], which is why the Lord rejected his offering.  [See Genesis 4].  The Lord wants it ALL, and nothing is to be left out.  Jesus Christ, the truth, the living commandments have never changed.

Luk 14:33  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. 

Carnal minds much prefer the old wine rather than the new wine of the Gospel of the living commandments.  Nobody wants to die, nobody wants to forsake all, and give up everything they have to follow God. That is why the Lord is the one who makes us, causes us to obey, by His indwelling power, as flesh cannot obey and does not want to hear about commandments all the time.   A softer sermon is what flesh wants to hear.

Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 

Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: 

The ministers of this Gospel are to preach this Word boldly so that nobody falls for the deception of the easy way.  The way is narrow and few find it.

2Ti 4:2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 

Why do we preach and exhort with boldness?  Here is why.

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 

2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 

The truth is this Gospel is not popular, it is the essence of Jesus Christ that all flesh reviles and hates.  They esteemed Him not and so it is today.  We must earnestly contend for this one true Gospel against the corruption of the Nicolaitan spirit.

Jud 1:3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 

We pray everyone is on watch for the Nicolaitan spirit in our walk and assemblies.  We need to act upon it when we see it, as the plagues of Israel when they committed fornication with the Moabite and Midianite nations are written for our admonition, so we understand the consequences of not acting.  The commandment is to be holy and to utterly slay every doctrine or thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of the commandments.  The Gospel, the words of fire, the living commandments are the army of Israel in the mouths of those who speak it.  The land is cleaned in due time, and vengeance is the Lord’s.  Only the useful things that edify are to remain, as everything in our thought and speech is to be brought through the fire and purified by the water of the Word that washes.

Num 31:21  And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses; 

Num 31:22  Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 

Num 31:23  Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water. 

God is a holy God, far holier than we can comprehend.  Everything in God’s presence or His name is said to be Holy.  The Scriptures have many nouns preceded by the Word HOLY.  The list of what is Holy includes these forty: Holy anointing, Holy commandments, Holy calling, Holy day, Holy nation, Holy flock, Holy people, Holy covenant, Holy Scriptures, Holy Spirit, Holy water, Holy brethren, Holy bread, Holy meat, Holy food, Holy prophets, Holy angels, Holy feasts, Holy men, Holy convocations, Holy name, Holy oil, Holy perfume, Holy gifts, Holy ark, Holy vessels, Holy crown, Holy arm, Holy temple, Holy heaven, Holy sabbath, Holy hill, Holy mountain, Holy sanctuary, Holy habitation, Holy linen, Holy tithe, Holy garments, Holy saints, Holy ground, Holy kiss, Holy God, and Holy One who is Christ and the Most Holy which is where the Ark or the commandments live in our hearts.

The Scriptures speak of the “holy things” and refer to the commandments that now live in those who receive the Gospel.  We are to hold these holy things [commandments] dear and abide continually in the knowledge we have been given of the Holy.  This is the Father and is understanding. 

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

Salvation has come to those who hear and keep these holy commandments.  All things are made new in a new heaven and a new earth.  Only those with the mark of Holiness on their forehead can enter into the holy of holies and abide with the Father and with the Son.

Exo 28:36  And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

We have been called to a holy calling, not by our works but by the power of the living Gospel if we have received it.  This comes with the sufferings and afflictions of the carnal world, and all without the Spirit hate us.

2Ti 1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 

When we receive the Gospel into our hearts, the end has come.   Salvation has come and this is the result.

Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

 Greet one another with a Holy Kiss.

Letters

The Jerusalem Council and the Four Instructions

Peter

Acts 15 – The Apostles’ Letter  

As the Gospel spread in the early church [and we are early in the spread of the Gospel in our generation], there arose much disputing regarding the topic of circumcision and specifically whether or not the Gentiles were required to be circumcised.  This council of the Apostles and the resulting letter are important parables that contain instructions for all of us, both Jew and Gentile, who have Christ.  Understanding these instructions, which are commandments, confirms the Scriptures and guides our walk in the truth.

Joh 4:24  God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. 

The snare of seeking knowledge that is covetousness is far greater than we first understood.  This Gospel of the commandments is despised by the carnally minded who rather seek to make a name for themselves and bring glory to themselves, having many possessions.  Seeking riches apart from the true gold of the Lord is one of our most frequent warnings, as the snare is so alluring to all flesh.  We are admonished not to seek those riches in the parable of the rich young ruler and have a score of warnings about false teachers, antichrists, and even in the pronouncement of woes to the Pharisees and lawyers.  Knowledge gives power to and exalts the flesh.

Mat 23:5  But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments

Arguing over circumcision and uncircumcision [not the foreskin cutting but the need for the knowledge] is a hotly debated topic among the Apostles of Jesus Christ in every generation.  These debates shown to us in the Scriptures are words we also live by in our appointed time.    Paul preached the Gospel, meaning the commandments, and put the focus on being a new creation in everything he did.  Yet those who had come to Christ after searching the Scriptures for many years, symbolizing the Jews, disputed with him about the importance and need for the circumcision of knowledge.

Act 15:1  And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

Act 15:2  When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

These Scriptures here in the Acts of the Apostles are here to remind us that we experience the same as a time comes when we are confronted for preaching the Gospel by those teaching the circumcision of knowledge.  It is written in our book to fulfill this, so we best be prepared.

Paul and Barnabas work their way back to Jerusalem to confer with the other Apostles.  The sway of the circumcision done by man’s knowledge is so strong that even some Pharisees who believed confronted the Apostles on this falsehood.  Thus, the council of Acts 15 was initiated with much dissension.

Act 15:5  But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

Act 15:6  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

There are benefits to possessing the knowledge of the circumcision done by the hands of men, as was discussed in the last letter.  It can be useful for the ministry of the Gospel, especially in reaching other Jews with a similar background in the Old Testament Scriptures.  Yet as we have learned, all that we studied over many years did nothing to change our hearts; we were still beasts at heart without overcoming.  Just the outside of the cup was a little cleaner than the heathens in this world.

Why would a Gentile convert who now believes in the living commandments and the real power unto salvation be put under the same yoke we once laboured?  Why not just teach them to obey the commandments that now live in their hearts?  The answer is clear, and there is no room for debate.

Gal 5:1  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Rom 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

After much disputing, Peter rose and spoke the truth.

Act 15:7  And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

Act 15:8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;

Act 15:9  And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. [the indwelling commandments]

Nothing is to be added to or taken away from the commandments. Just doing them is how one is saved from their sins, and this is not works; this is the power of God working inside us unto salvation. A works-based salvation is doing it the Moses way, and getting circumcised with all the knowledge and thinking that makes us holy. Christ, the living Word of commandments, is the only way, the truth, and the life.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father [the holy commandments], but by me.

Entering into the commandments is entering into Christ, which is the rest that remains to be found for the people of God.  There is no yoke or anything else required.

Act 15:10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

Act 15:11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Salvation comes as our hearts are being made new by the grace of God that is correcting us by the indwelling Spirit of the living commandments.  Our days of eating and drinking and getting drunk on knowledge served their purposes for those of us who are spiritual Jews.  Yet this work to try to circumcise ourselves by our own hands is not necessary for the Gentiles to be saved.  All that matters is a new creation.

Gal 6:15  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

New hearts are being established not with the meat of knowledge but by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, working mightily in the Temple of God.  We now eat Christ’s body and drink of His blood by the daily communion and intimacy of the indwelling commandments.

1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

Many “Jews” remain outside the true faith, doing many sacrifices, serving the tabernacle, but they cannot enter and eat at the altar where those in the Spirit of Christ dwell and eat.  Those outside the living commandments chase more knowledge and are ever learning but are not able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

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

After Peter spoke, the Apostle James spoke, showing how the Scriptures foretell this new understanding that the circumcision of knowledge by learning Moses and the law was not required.  James was the first to suggest the four instructions that should be given to the Gentiles.

Act 15:14  Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

Act 15:15  And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

Act 15:16  After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

Act 15:17  That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

Act 15:18  Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

Act 15:19  Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:

Act 15:20  But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

This pleased the Apostles, and all agreed to send men to preach the Gospel and provide a letter proving that the issue of this circumcision was now settled.  The letter gives instructions regarding abstaining from four necessary actions which defile our walk and leaven our spiritual food [the commands] in Christ.  These four abstentions are the whole of our instructions on how we walk out the Gospel and eat the Lord’s Supper.  Here is the letter released to the church, and the instructions for believers today.

Act 15:23  The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

Act 15:24  Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:

Act 15:25  It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

Act 15:26  Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Act 15:27  We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.

Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

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.

This council and the resulting letter are a parable of instructions on righteousness in a hidden tongue.  None of them are literal actions, and none of them are new commandments that we do not already know.  Yet seeing them again in the light of these simple instructions should solidify one’s faith to know they are the blessed of God.

These four instructions are the whole of our instructions.  What they say in a parable is that we are to obey ALL of the Commandments.  Our instructions on walking by faith are not complicated.  How we walk and how we eat in the Kingdom of God is to DO the Commandments.

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. 

The Apostle’s instructions say nothing about physically eating or drinking, as these phrases and the instructions are parables of what and how we are to think and act.   We need to keep ourselves set apart and clean from the ways of the world and examine our ways to ensure we do not stray off the highway of holiness.  Many stumble, not taking heed of these instructions, and as a result, bring damnation to themselves, becoming spiritually sick, and some even die.

1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

1Co 11:30  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

Abstaining from meats offered to idols: There is only one true God, the Lord, and His Father.  Meat is our spiritual sustenance, our thought life, said another way.  We are commanded to abstain from eating meat offered to idols.   Pursuing the lust of riches, be it physical or spiritual knowledge, we pollute ourselves and create idols that compete for our affection, which is to be solely on the Lord’s commandments.  This covetousness is idolatry.

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

Engaging in worldly conversation and activities is vanity and can easily tempt us to sin, speak evil of others, and judge according to the flesh.  What we say and how we say it are very important, as we do not want to fall into temptation or tempt others with our speech.  We are to take our eating of the Lord’s supper and the Holy Commandments very seriously.  Being slothful and undisciplined turns us into idolaters and makes light of the serious things of God.

1Co 10:7  Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Partaking of this “meat” is engaging in carnal dialogue and is eating meat offered to idols. A great example in play in the world today is the snare and pollution of political conversation.  We cannot avoid this altogether lest we be taken out of this world [1Co 5:10], yet if we find ourselves in such a “meat market”, we are to ask no questions and just listen.

1Co 10:25  Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:

1Co 10:26  For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.

1Co 10:27  If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 

Doing this is very hard, but it is possible with God.  Our calling is very high, and the Lord is truly separating a remnant unto himself, being holy and without blame.  The carnally minded world is always going to seek to engage us and thereby tempt us by asking us to eat their sacrifices unto their idols.  Christ showed us the way and answered not when the Pharisees tempted Him.

Mat 27:12  And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.

Joh 8:6  This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

Abstaining from blood:  We do not eat the Word of God where there is still life in it.  Blood sustains life in a flesh body, and we are only to eat what is dead.  We sin when we take into our hearts [eat] anything that is not dead, meaning it still has blood, the life force in it.  This has always been the Lord’s command, as we see in the first covenant made with Noah after the great flood.  If we eat blood, we are abiding in spiritual death [carnal mindedness] and are cut off from the living.

Gen 9:3  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Gen 9:4  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

Gen 9:5  And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 

Spiritually speaking this is engaging in carnal reasoning, judging in the flesh and not resting solely on the commandments.  This keeps the old man alive who is dead while he lives. That life must be lost, poured out on the earth to become acceptable to God.

Lev 17:14  For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.

The accusing and excusing mindset of the carnal mind [serpent’s mind] is how we kill ourselves and our brothers in Spirit and eat blood.  This is the merchandising of Babylon, trading in the souls of men [Eze 28:16] as the corrupt cherub.

We are to give our brethren the commandments to eat and just do them, which is the love of God.  We are to do no violence. Violence in the Spirit is engaging under the accusing and excusing law for the lawless, which is the carnal mind and the bread of the devil.  Abstaining from blood is how we partake of the Lord’s supper and walk being led by the living bread of life, the holy commandments.

Deu 12:16  Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

Deu 12:27  And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.

We are the soldiers in Christ’s army, and are commanded to do no violence, nor falsely accuse, both of which are eating blood.  Carnal thoughts, accuse/excuse, up and down, running to and fro on the earth is doing violence to the Word of God we eat.  We are to take all such thoughts captive to the obedience of the commandments and rest from these carnal labours.  Standing on the simplicity of the commands is doing no violence.

Luk 3:14  And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages [the living commandments in our heart].

Christ showed us the way we are to follow.  He made His grave with the wicked, meaning He laid his life down and did not contend with them in carnal arguments and reasonings.  He did NO violence, and NO deceit was found in His mouth.

Isa 53:9  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

We can judge the fruit but not the man, or else we are false accusers, which is eating blood.  Christ and His Christ come to save the world, not to judge the world.  The world judges in the flesh, we are to be judging righteous judgment, which is abstaining from eating blood.

Joh 8:15  Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.

Mat 7:1  Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Before Christ comes to us and the living commandments take root in our heart, all try to enter the kingdom of heaven by engaging in this violence [accuse/excuse] that is eating of blood in Spirit.

Mat 11:12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

This is incredibly difficult to do and we can only do it with the power of God, the Gospel leading us into all righteousness.  When we pervert the Gospel to take away the suffering required to abstain from all of the world’s carnality and foolish talking, we are eating with blood and not judging righteously.  As living sacrifices unto the Lord, we are to reckon ourselves already dead as we ONLY eat the body of Christ, which is the commandments dwelling in our heart.  Anything still alive is eating blood.

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

When Christ the living commandments take root in our hearts by the power of His Spirit, then violence is no more heard in our land but only salvation.  Christ the power of the Gospel is come!.

Isa 60:18  Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

Abstaining from strangled meat: The meat of the Word is Jesus Christ and Him within us crucified.  This is the only meat we are to eat.  The meat of Jesus Christ is to do the commandments.  That is what having the faith of Christ means.  We know not of this meat until the Spirit comes to us and makes its abode with us.

Joh 4:32  But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

Joh 4:34  Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Strangled meat is suffocated meat, meaning there was no shedding of blood in the killing of the sacrifice.  Such spiritual meat is defiled as it means there is no cross, no suffering, representing another false Gospel.  Eating this kind of meat does not take away our sins, and there is no overcoming.

Lev 17:11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement [forgiveness] for the soul.

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Strangled meat is killed by choking the air out of the animal.  In the spiritual realm, this is choking out the Spirit of Christ from the meat.  The result is that we are turned over to the lust of the flesh without the power of the living Spirit of commandments to keep us on the straight path.  This meat turns the grace of God into lasciviousness.  Many meat peddlers sell this meat to those who fail to examine the food they eat in their heaven.   We are to beware and abstain from partaking with them.

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.

Without the shedding of blood and by choking out the Spirit from our sacrifice, there is no nutritional value from eating this meat, and it defiles us before the Lord.  It is not an acceptable sacrifice; it is the way of the world.

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.

The meat that those in the Gospel eat requires that the blood be poured out on the altar of God in our hearts.  This is the suffering, the loss, the laying down of our lives.  We eat Christ’s body and not strangled meat.

1Jn 3:16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Abstain from fornication:  Spiritual fornication is where we meditate on carnal thoughts and are led astray by such reasonings and justifications of the serpent’s carnal mind.  We are to take all thoughts captive to the obedience of the living commandments to avoid fornication.   We saw in our study of Phinehas that the fornication of Israel with the Midianite women resulted in a plague on Israel, and many died.  The Lord is a jealous God.

1Co 10:8  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

We live in a carnal world, full of spiritual fornication. We have to fight the fight of faith and immediately shut down the fornicating speech that comes out of our mouth or into our minds.

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

We need to be careful about how we eat the Lord’s supper.  It is necessary, as the Apostle’s letter establishes, that we abstain from fornication.  It is a grievous sin for us to keep out of the Lord’s temple and in our communion with one another.  We cannot be joined to a harlot and claim to be one with the Lord.  We sin against our own Body [within and without] when we commit fornication.

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.

We are to separate from fornicators that sleep with the wife of the devil [father’s wife], as we see in 1 Corinthians 5.  Godly love is withdrawing from all that fail to abstain from these four necessary things until and unless the Lord grants them repentance.  Living in the world, we cannot completely avoid keeping company with those who practice these things.  However, we are commanded not to share our spiritual food with them.

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.

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.

A little leaven does leaven the whole lump.  We cannot be intimate with our Lord, His Word, His commandments, or with His Christ while we are fornicating or eating with those who do.  If we belong to Christ, He owns us as we have been redeemed for a price.  We are to glorify Him in all our thoughts and behavior.

1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1Co 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

The Apostle’s letter agrees with all the instructions given throughout their epistles.  The focus of one’s thoughts and speech is always on the commandments, that is, the doctrine of Christ.  The Lord’s will is our sanctification by His Body and Blood.  This is only done by way of the living commandments dwelling in us as we become a living sacrifice, He in us and we in Him.  Nothing else is to be added or taken away.  Our meat and drink is the pure and undefiled holy commandments of the Father now given to us in power.

We are to take heed to these instructions.  Those in the Spirit are being taught of God to abstain from these fleshly and worldly lusts.  Obeying the commandments is to abstain from 1) idols, 2) fornication, 3) blood, and 4) strangled meat, and it is by our obedience that we are making our calling and election sure.

1Th 4:2  For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.

1Th 4:3  For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

1Th 4:4  That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

Let us obey the Lord and only eat and partake of those things which are clean.  What we put into our hearts and minds comes back out and defiles a man.  May His will be done in our lives.

A subsequent article was written that spoke in more depth to the Commandments regarding eating meat that is sacrificed or offered unto idols.  That post is here: Eating Meat Sacrificed Unto Idols

Articles

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Rohnel

The Commands of Christ, the power of an endless Life

Ronel and my beloved husband, Pete, to the strangers scattered throughout the world, Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Speaking to the Church to comfort, edify and exhort [1 Co 14:3]. Who will believe our report?

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

The Two Trees Part 1 – Knowledge 

Christ first takes us out of the world [Egypt] and starts drawing us [whose names are written in His book] to Himself. He makes a Covenant with us coming out of the world and tells us He will bring us into the Promised Land, which is Christ in us, the Hope of Glory, to be a partaker of His Divine nature [2 Pe 1:4]. Here is the Covenant in type and shadow:

Exo 6:6  Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:

Exo 6:7  And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Exo 6:8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

We do not continue in the first Covenant, we forget the Lord and He regards us not. We increase in knowledge and Christ is forgotten, His Commandments do not come to heart.

Jer 3:16  And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

The Ark of the Covenant, which symbolizes Christ, the Commandments, is forgotten, and the Lord casts us out of His Presence.

2Ch 15:2  … The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Jer 23:39  Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:

We see by the mercy of the Lord, He makes a new Covenant with us after these days, finding fault with the first Covenant.

Heb 8:8  For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Through God’s design working all things after the counsel of His own will [Eph 1:11], we have the Gospel preached to us, but are drawn away through our carnal minds, that is to say, our fleshly lusts, which are our carnal thoughts in our quest for knowledge. The parable of the sower explains what happens to us:

Mat 13:18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Mat 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

We spiritually go back to Egypt in our attempt to establish our own righteousness. It was ordained from the beginning of the world that we would eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil. This tree is the tree of knowledge, and is pleasant to look at and a tree to be desired to make us wise [Gen 3:6]. We do eat of this tree, because we live by every Word coming out of the mouth of God [Matt 4:4]. All things are ours [1 Co 3:22] as we keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book [Rev 1:3]. This tree leads to spiritual death:

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Knowing good and evil is making us wise, our carnal thoughts going to and fro, up and down, round and round we go, and it is the accusing and excusing thoughts we have within ourselves leading to knowledge. This law is called the law of the Gentiles, a law unto ourselves [Rom 2:15]. It is a deceiving wisdom which have many doctrines:

Job 1:7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Going to and fro is how we increase knowledge. We are hasty, wanting more and get our treasures by a lying tongue, vanities tossed to and fro [Prov 21:5-6]. We run to and fro seeking the Lord, and do not find Him because He is hidden from us [Amos 8:12].

Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Ecc 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

It is a fleshly wisdom driven by the spirit of disobedience, through the prince of this world, Satan, the prince of the power of the air. Satan appears to us as an angel of light [2 Co11:14]. We are children of wrath and do not know it. Our knowledge, which is perfect in our own eyes, makes us blind and deaf, having eyes and ears that do not see and do not hear [Isa 42:19].

Jas 3:15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

Jas 3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

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:

Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

We are commanded to abstain from fleshly lusts [carnal thoughts] that war against the soul. The sin in our members is our carnal minds, having carnal wisdom, dreaming dreams, listening to the false prophets within and without [Jer 23:9] who lie to us and give us false visions and divinations, for example, idols of our hearts, thinking our knowledge will save us in the day of trouble [Jer 14;14]. Let us drink and eat and be merry. Drinking and eating without the Lord is sin [Rom 14:17].

1Pe 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

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 love and reap the wages of unrighteousness, not building and founding our houses upon the Rock [Christ] but going astray and falling into a deep sleep [Acts 20:9-11].

Jer 22:13  Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

2Pe 2:14  Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

2Pe 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

Our accusing and excusing mindsets are of our Father, the devil, which is the mark of the beast. The Lord’s Words are spiritual [John 6:63]. We do not have the mind of Christ, nor have we the Father, and the Promise of the Father is not yet given to us [Luk 24:49]:

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Satan, the spirit of the carnal mind, is a murderer and a thief.

1Pe 4:15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 

Eating of the tree of good and evil is likened unto money, the god, mammon, which is the pride of life. The fear of the Lord is to hate pride [Pro 8:13], but pride and violence cover us in spirit [Ps 73:6]. We cannot serve two masters, two tables at the same time [Luk 16:13]:

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

This worldly wisdom is the corruptible silver and gold, the corruptible treasures that we heap up during this time of our walk, working out our own salvation without fear and trembling. Our idols are our own doings. Our idols are the work of our own hands [Ps 115:4]:

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Jas 5:2  Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

Jas 5:3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Our treasures are not saving us, nor do it save any man. Our wisdom is cankered silver and gold. We are sinning angels reserved unto judgement [2 Pet 2:4].

Eze 28:2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

Eze 28:4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Col 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Our foolish wisdom is found on our lips, being fools, which swallow us up, babbling all day long in our vanity and vain deceptions, lying to ourselves and to others, promising them and us liberty whilst we are servants of corruption [2 Pe 2:19]. We sit as God in the temples of our hearts [2 Th 2:3-4]:

1Co 1:20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

This worldly knowledge is not from above, but it is the wisdom that is reveling in our cunningly devised fables, genealogies, imaginings, and wishful thinking, dreaming to establish our own salvation. We are modern-day fortune tellers, saying we see and we do not know that our sin remains [John 9:41].

2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

1Ti 1:4  Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

1Ti 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

The heaping up of great treasures to ourselves gives us itching ears that turn us away from the Truth of the Gospel. We warm ourselves by the fire and the resurrection of Christ, that is to say, to bring Christ up from the grave, bringing Him into remembrance to know and obey Him is past or future tense for us. We are typical Sadducees and Pharisees. We do not desire Christ at all [Isa 53:2-3]:

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

2Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

The spirit of whoredom is in our midst. We look everywhere else for the Kingdom of God. This is all by God’s design, becoming like gods, before we are allowed access to the tree of Life, Christ, through great judgment and mercy.

Joh 5:38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

Joh 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Joh 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Psa 82:6  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

Psa 82:7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

We have eyes full of adultery rioting in the daytime after our idols increasing in riches, forgetting Christ drawing men after us and hindering them from entering into the Kingdom of God themselves. Our high places are where we burn incense to other gods, for example, via the traditions of men naturally and spiritually [2 Ch 28:4]. We love the high places in the congregation, and our spiritual wickedness at this time is found in high places [Eph 6:12].

2Pe 2:13  And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

2Pe 2:14  Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

2Pe 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

We go back to the days of our youth, we go back to Egypt, the place of bondage and slavery. We make Christ’s House a den of robbers [Matt 21:13] and are the merchants trading with the souls of men spiritually [Rev 18:11-13].

Eze 23:19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

Jer 7:8  Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

Jer 7:9  Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

Jer 7:10  And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

Jer 7:11  Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.

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.

As Christ’s Bride, we commit adultery with strange flesh. We do not keep to our first estate, hearing and obeying the Commands of Christ, but rather treasure up wrath for the Day of Judgement. We commit adultery with a strange woman who flatters with her lips and are that evil man that delights in the forwardness of the wicked [Prov 2:14]. Asking amiss, we do not receive because we ask to spend it on our pleasures, which are our treasures of worldly knowledge [Jas 4:3-4]:

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.

Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Pro 2:16  To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

Pro 2:17  Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

Eze 16:32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

We have many lovers and provoke the Lord to anger and jealousy [Zec 8:2-3]. We are in deep deception, the devil/our carnal minds have overtaken us [Rev 20:3]. Christ has given us over for the destruction of our flesh, that is to say, He is marring our carnal minds.

Deu 32:16  They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

Son 8:6  Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

1Co 10:22  Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

1Co 10:23  All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

We forget the Lord and say His table is contemptible. We are thieves that steal from the Lord because we do not worship or honour Him. His Commandments are a light thing to us :

Mal 1:6  A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

Mal 1:7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

We have the spirit of divination, which is rebellion against the Lord and His Christ. We have neither godly wisdom nor understanding. Our necks are stiff, and we are cruel/hardened as ostriches:

Job 39:13  Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?

Job 39:14  Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,

Job 39:15  And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.

Job 39:16  She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;

Job 39:17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Rom 10:21  But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

We rebel/gainsay against the Lord and His Christ. We eat and drink in the kingdom of darkness and wax fat, and are the drunkards of Ephraim who do not inherit the Kingdom of God [1 Co 6:10]. The Lord has no pleasure in us and accepts nothing from our hand, yet He loves us but hates the Esau in us [Mal 1:1-4].

Jud 1:11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Jud 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Our Rock, Christ, has sold us out, and we do not consider our latter end [Deut 32:29-30]. We are spiritually dead, twice plucked up by the roots. Not knowing that we are in a deep sleep whilst we live, we keep on feasting.

Deu 32:15  But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Deu 32:17  They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

Deu 32:18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

Walking to and fro, up and down, round and round in circles, accusing and excusing thoughts lead us to have many idols, fables, and imaginings, which are the work of our own hands. We do not hear and do not obey the Commandments of Christ, but spiritually commit sacrilege with our idols of knowledge, but there is no life in them.

Hab 2:18  What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

Hab 2:19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.

Rom 2:22  Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?

Rom 2:23  Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?

Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

We fornicate with our father, the devil’s wife, and uncover the devil’s nakedness, which are the kingdoms of this world. We have great knowledge, and there is no end to our treasures, yet without Christ. We are the man.

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,

We reap the reward of this action, and are imprisoned by our carnal reasonings, delivered up to Satan for the destruction of our flesh that our spirits may be saved in our Day of Judgement. We are the Corinthian fornicators, sinning against our own body within and without:

1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

1Co 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

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.

We commit spiritual idolatry, which is the spirit of covetousness, never having enough, having a strong desire for knowledge and more knowledge, and are never satisfied with what we have. We are always hungry and cold, and our wages are put into bags with holes in them. We are not content, and our riches are rotten [Joel 1:17].

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

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.

Rev 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

Hag 1:6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

We are merry, never thinking that our bags wax old and our treasures fail. We are rich but we are not rich towards God. Read the parable of the rich man [Luk 12:16-19]. Our flowers, which are beautiful in their time, fade away quickly as James notes.

Luk 12:20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

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

Jas 1:11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

Christ finds us lacking [Matt 19:16-22, Rev 3:2] and does not find us perfect. He has something against us; we are the sons of Belshazzar and are weighed in the balances:

Puffed up with knowledge, not entering into Christ’s true Sabbath [Heb 4] because of disbelief, we do not seek the Kingdom of God and the righteousness found only in the holy commandments.

Mat 19:23  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 19:24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Dan 5:27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

We are the covering cherub that sits in the seat of God, being full of pride [Eze 28:14]. We are the man of lawlessness, we appear beautiful on the outside but are full of dead men’s bones [Matt 23:27]. The inside is full of excess [Matt 23:25]. Perfect in our own beauty, not holding to our Head, Jesus Christ, and not having the faith of Christ, the Lord, rejects us at this time [Co 2:18-19]. We do not see Him anymore [John 16:16, Luke 22:18], until He comes again.

Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Eze 28:4  With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

Eze 28:5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

Here in Deuteronomy, in type and shadow, the Lord warns us about this state of affairs. He warns us not to forget Him. Who has eyes to see and ears to hear?

Deu 8:11  Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

Deu 8:12  Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

Deu 8:13  And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

Deu 8:14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

Sitting like the eagles, secured in our knowledge, making our nests up high with our fenced cities [Jer 49:16], we do not see evil coming, we say peace, peace when there is no peace [Isa 59:8, Rom 3:17]. We sin more and more, adding sin to sin, and do not know that destruction is on its way. We are haughty, jingling as we go, and puffed up one against the other. At this point, we have no reward in Christ, as we put our trust in the pride of life [1Jn 2:16-17], the love of money, and loving not God. We have strayed from the faith of Christ.

1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Hos 13:2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

Isa 3:16  Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

This is the way of an adulterous woman, Spiritual Babylon within us, that all go through in our appointed time. Here we have great wealth, forgetting the One who begat us.  Our table becomes a snare to us to this day.

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Rom 11:9  And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:

Rom 11:10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

We worship the hosts of heaven [symbolic of the tree of good and evil], never ending, coming to the Truth of the Gospel. Observing traditions of men, birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, and many more. This is worshipping the hosts of heaven, even in the natural, partaking in all of these heathen practices. The Lord gives us over to our fleshly desires and lusts and deceives us [Ez 14]:

Jer 8:2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

Eating of this tree is the sin of hypocrisy. We make our brothers stumble who follow after us [Matt 15:19]. Our meat [knowledge] becomes a stumbling block to the weak [Rom 14:15].

Isa 32:6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

Luk 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Defrauding our brethren,  we make merchandise of them as we do not teach them the Gospel, the Commandments of Christ, instead enticing them to be like us, sitting in an idol’s temple, being covetous for more and more knowledge. We are not holy at this stage, but unclean.

1Th 4:2  For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.

1Th 4:3  For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

1Th 4:4  That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

1Th 4:5  Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:

1Th 4:6  That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

1Th 4:7  For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

1Th 4:8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.

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

We labour in vain and can never get enough. We are always hungry because it is not the true manna from heaven [John 6]. There is no fruit on the fig tree [Matt 21:19]. Our herds groan, there is no pasture [Joel 1:18].

Hos 4:10  For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.

Hos 4:11  Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

Hos 4:12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

1Ti 6:5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

The Lord, Christ, gives us over to a reprobate mind, unnaturally lusting after each other, knowing the Truth, but worshipping ourselves, the creation, and not the Creator, which is Christ. His Words are spiritual [John 6:63], and we are shown the state of these things in the natural:

Rom 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Rom 1:29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

Rom 1:30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Rom 1:31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

Rom 1:32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

This is our state, eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We are spiritually dead, twice plucked up by the roots:

Eze 17:9  Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.

Jud 1:12  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Eph 5:14  Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

What then is the purpose of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Why do we have to eat of this tree first? If this tree makes us to sin, why do we have to go through this?

Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Eating of this tree, we learn to discern between good and evil. We accuse and excuse thoughts to come to knowledge, and this knowledge we acquire has many truths and many lies. We learn discernment, for example, we know there is no free will and that the trinity doctrine is false. We have to know these things to speak with the enemy at the gate. The Lord first spoils us and then He is making us over, as we are like clay in the Potter’s Hand.

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Mar 2:22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

Eating of the tree of good and evil brings us to the tree of Life, which is Christ in us, the Hope of Glory. We are brought out with great mercy and judgment in the Day of the Lord. Who has believed our report? The Lord is near us, who can know it, TODAY WHEN YOU HEAR HIS VOICE:

Rom 10:6  But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

Rom 10:7  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Heb 10:6  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

Heb 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Some of the commands we covered in this study include these commandments, which we strive to do in all our behavior.

Love God with all your heart, soul and mind …, love your neighbour as yourselves …, love each other as I loved you …, do not commit adultery …, flee fornication …, do not defraud your brethren …, do not let your meat be a stumblingblock …, keep away from idols …, do not covet …, be free of the love of money …, abstain from fleshly lusts …, preach and obey the Gospel of Christ …, do not be puffed up one against another …, be set apart …, keep My Commandments…, and many more.

Receive ye the Gospel. Amen.

 

Part 2 of this study on the Tree of Life can be accessed by clicking here.