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Fred R. Coulter—February 11, 2006
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It's very interesting when you read John 6 where Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life. He pointed out where even some of His disciples were not willing to follow Him because He said this:
John 6:54: "The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day." Let's just stop here and think a minute. This does not say the Last Great Day. What is 'the last day?' That's the day of the resurrection!
When you count to Pentecost—and Pentecost pictures the first resurrection—what is the last day of the count? The fiftieth day! So, when He says, "…I will raise him [you] up in the last day" it is another indirect verification that the resurrection is on Pentecost, because we're the firstfruits and we're going to be harvested as the firstfruits harvest.
Verse 55: "For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink." If you don't have The Christian Passover book, be sure and write in for it, because this explains what it means.
When we enter into covenant with God we enter into a spiritual covenant where we pledge our very lives in the same way that Jesus pledged His life. It's one of those things that there is no turning back. Who would want to turn back anyway?
Verse 56: "The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood is dwelling in Me, and I in him." Showing that the Passover is the renewal of the New Covenant. It is a spiritual covenant. It's all wrapped up in worshipping God in Spirit and Truth and developing the spiritual fruits. If you don't renew the Passover, how long will Christ remain living in you? We don't know! God has to make that judgment! That's something each one of us needs to evaluate.
Verse 57: "As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father; so also the one who eats Me shall live by Me." That's as clear as can be. What we do when we take the Passover, which is a spiritual covenant unto spiritual eternal life, we are saying that we are going to live by Christ, and He is going to grant us eternal life through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Truth is hard for people to accept.
Verse 58: "'This is the Bread, which came down from heaven; not as your fathers ate manna, and died. The one who eats this bread shall live forever.' These things He said in the synagogue as He was teaching in Capernaum. Therefore, after hearing these words, many of His disciples said…" (vs 58-60). I want you to think about what it says: 'For many are called, but few are chosen.'
"…many of His disciples said, 'This is a hard saying. Who is able to hear it?' But Jesus, knowing that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, 'Does this offend you? What if you shall see the Son of man ascending up where He was before?'" (vs 60-62).
Jesus was God! I suggest you read the book of John all the way through. It starts out: John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John 6:62: "What if you shall see the Son of man ascending up where He was before?" It tells you that He was God Who became human to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. This one verse refutes everything that all of the false doctrine about the 'one God' brings out. Not to say the dozens and scores of other Scriptures that also refute it.
John 17:4: "I have glorified You on the earth…. [He's praying to the Father] …I have finished the work that You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me with Your own self, with the glory that I had with You before the world existed" (vs 4-5). The King James says 'was,' but the Greek absolutely means existed.
What are you going to do with that if you say that Jesus did not exist until He became impregnated in the womb of Mary? In loving God and worshipping Him in Spirit and Truth also entails a lot of defending the Word of God and believing the Word of God.
John 6:63: "It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing…." Very important to realize! Another thing you need to understand is that all human beings—though they live in the flesh—unless they have the Spirit of God, are dead. Why? Because they have 'the law of sin and death' in them and they can die any instant they quit breathing! This is why human effort without the Spirit of God is incapable of producing true spiritual fruit.
"…The words that I speak to you, they are Spirit and they are Life" (v 63). Part of your worshipping God in Spirit and Truth is studying the Word of God.
When you study the Word of God, when you don't understand the true meaning of the Word of God and what it is, you know that these are the Words of God—God is talking to you—written down. That's important to understand. Something happens when you have the Spirit of God in your mind and you read and study the Bible. You are able to learn things from it because God's Spirit in you and God's Words—which are Spirit—are interacting in your mind to teach you. There's a very interesting verse right here in John 6, at the same time.
This one woman who received a New Testament from her daughter said, 'We have quit the Baptist Church, we are keeping the Sabbath and the Bible is opening up to us as we study every Sabbath.' What is that? That is the action of God's Spirit working with them to bring them to the knowledge of the Truth! Of course, the Spirit of God is called the Spirit of Truth, too. This is a spiritual thing.
This is why in Sabbath services when we get together, we learn from the Word of God. This is why many, many times we learn more on the Sabbath than any other day.
- Why is that? Because God created the Sabbath Day for that very purpose, to teach us!
- Who is doing the teaching?
Verse 44: "No one can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him…" God is very selective! Why is God very selective? Because He's got a plan for the other people that He doesn't call, which we know encompasses the Last Great Day!
"…and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'…." (vs 44-45).
Let's look at the words of Jesus. What did Jesus teach? What the Father commanded Him! All the words of Jesus came from the Father. Very important to understand that in studying.
"…Therefore, everyone who has heard from the Father, and has learned, comes to Me" (v 45). That's how God calls. Let's again look at the importance of the Word of God.
John 12:42: "But even so, many among the rulers believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, so that they wouldnot be put out of the synagogue." A little politics going on there, a little self-preservation. That's why we have the book Lord, What Should I Do? You're better off standing alone with God in Truth than standing in a congregation of sinners.
Verse 43: "For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. Then Jesus called out and said, 'The one who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him Who sent Me. And the one who sees Me sees Him Who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world so that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness'" (vs 43-46).
The opposite then, if you don't believe in Jesus, you remain in darkness. And 'what fellowship does light have with darkness?' None!
Verse 47: "But if anyone hears My words and does not believe…" There are a lot of people who call themselves Christians but don't believe. Add to this that He was the Lord God of the Old Testament and He spoke all the words that are recorded in the Old Testament.
"…I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world…. [He shows how judgment is coming] …The one who rejects Me and does not receive My words…" (vs 47-48). Very important, because too many ministers today teach their own ideas, their own ways and reject God. Let's reflect on something here; since:
- God is perfect, which He is
- His Word is perfect, which it is
- His Word is True, which it is
- "…not one lie comes from the Truth" (1-John 2:21)
Can man improve upon the Word of God? Think about it! He thinks that he can:
- we're going to improve upon it
- we're going to worship on Sunday, that's better
God never said it was!
- we don't have to keep the Holy Days because they're Jewish
God never said they were; they are His!
All of those kinds of statements are rejecting Jesus Christ and are rejecting His Words because you don't receive them.
John 12:48: "…has one who judges him; the word which I have spoken, that shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken from Myself…'" (vs 48-49). These words did not come from Jesus as a human being.
Jesus was not taught as a Jew, He was not taught by the rabbis; He was taught by God the Father! We have Appendix G, Jesus Christ Was Taught Directly by God the Father in The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version, which shows that.
"…but the Father, Who sent Me, gave Me commandment Himself, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life. Therefore, whatever I speak, I speak exactly as the Father has told Me" (vs 49-50).
Isn't that something? Here, you have recorded for you the very words of God! When you read and study, God is teaching you and it's God the Father the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. You cannot have any better relationship than that. It's directly between you and God the Father and that's a relationship. That's why you worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
This is great! Just think about this: How much of human nature do I want to retain? When you know the Truth and you know the evil of human nature—none! That won't occur until the resurrection, the last vestige of getting rid of human flesh.
We always go to Jer. 17:9, but there are some other things that are recorded there which are important to understand, that has to do with:
- human nature
- human mind
- trusting in God
- trusting in men
Here is a prime verse against church hierarchy, Jeremiah 17:5 "Thus says the LORD, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man…'" That's why the New Testament says, 'Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good.'
"…and makes flesh his arm… [his strength] …and whose heart departs from the LORD…. [quite an interesting statement] …For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes. But he shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land that is not inhabited" (vs 5-6).
You can also apply that spiritually. You get out into the spiritual wilderness of this world where there is no Truth, or where there are so many lies that the Truth is totally distorted.
Trusting in God:
Verse 7: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose hope is the LORD." Part of worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth in our relationship with Him is trusting in the Lord. Trusting in Him in everything.
Verse 8: "For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not worried in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit." That's the whole purpose, to yield the spiritual fruits of God that He wants us to have, by trusting in Him!
Part of worshipping God in Spirit and Truth is also to use the Truth, which is the sword of the Lord, to cut through all of the false teachings and doctrines that men bring along under the inspiration of Satan, which makes it sound 'blessedly' true.
Not only has Satan done this in the society, but what is it that he is doing to the 'so-called' Christian churches today? As I read from part the introduction to The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian, I want you to not only view the nation, but I also want you to view all those churches that profess Christianity. I want you to also keep in mind the Churches of God, as well. Satan is never going to be satisfied until he can get everyone he can get, and he will never do it by a frontal assault but by the marketing of evil.
Introduction from The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian:
As Americans, we've come to tolerate, embrace, even champion many things that would have horrified our parents' generation. Things like abortion-on-demand virtually up to the moment of birth, judges banning the Ten Commandments from public places…
There's a judge recently who said, 'You cannot pray in the name of Jesus.' I would tell him, 'I defy you! I will pray in the name of Jesus and if you want to haul me off to jail, send the sheriff! God gave me freedom of speech and if I pray in the name of Jesus, I shall do so!
…a national explosion of middle-school sex, slow starvation of the disabled, thousands of homosexuals openly flaunting the law and getting "married," and online porn creating late-night sex addicts in millions of middle-class homes.
At the same time, our courts have scrubbed America's classrooms surgically clean of every vestige of religion on which this nation was founded—Christianity.
The plain truth is, within the space of our lifetimes, much of what Americans almost always, once almost universally abhorred has been packaged, perfumed, gift wrapped, and sold to us as though it had great value. By skillfully playing on our deeply held nation's values of fairness, generosity and…
God said, through Christ, 'Judge righteous judgment'—didn't He? Yes!
…and tolerance, these marketers have persuaded us to embrace as enlightened and noble that which previous generations since America's founding regarded as grossly destructive—in a word, evil.
Then he talks about what happens when a person for the first time—like in abortion with a medical student—crosses the line and performs the abortion. Something happens!
Likewise, what the Apostle Paul is writing about is that God does not—though we have to overcome sin and overcome the pulls of the flesh—want us to cross the line into accepting lies in place of Truth! Very important to understand!
2-Timothy 3:13: "But wicked men and imposters shall become worse and worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves. But as for you, continue in the things that you did learn and were assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from a child you have known the Holy Writings" (vs 13-15). That's the Old Testament.
The biggest lie that has ever been perpetrated upon a people who want to find God is—and they go to a church anywhere they may go, be it Protestant, Catholic or otherwise—they are told that the Old Testament has been done away. They are told that the laws of God no longer count.
"…which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus" (v 15). This is why the words that Jesus spoke, which came from God the Father, are 'Spirit and are Life and are Truth!'
Verse 16: "All Scripture… [not some, not part, but all, even the historical and genealogies] …is God-breathedand is profitable for doctrine, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…"—so that you can worship God in Spirit and in Truth; you can be taught of God.
Verse 17: "So that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work." This talking directly to Timothy as an evangelist and teacher. In other words, Paul is telling Timothy to use the Scriptures of God. They're all "…God-breathed…" They are the words of God!
- When I'm speaking, what am I using? My breath!
- When you speak what do you use? You use your breath!
It's comes directly from God!
2-Tim. 4 becomes very important in what we're going to discuss about worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth.
2-Timothy 4:1: "I charge you, therefore, in the sight of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is ready to judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be urgent in season and out of season…" (vs 1-2). Always be zealous for God's Word and His way.
"…convict…" (v 2). That's an important thing that we learn when we come to understand the Truth. With the Spirit of God and the Word of God, when God opens our mind it convicts us. It convicts us of sin when we sin so that we may repent. It convicts us of Truth that we have conviction as a spiritual foundation that can't be shaken, not mealy-mouth, not wishy-washy, but convicted.
"…rebuke…" (v 2). The Word of God corrects you! If you want to have quite an example of how the Word of God can correct you, as well as seeing things in the world and nation, study the book of Jeremiah. That's some book!
"…encourage… [and inspiration] …with all patience and doctrine" (v 2).
Let me read you a doctrine just to give you a point, because there are a lot of people who say that we really shouldn't get into doctrine too much because doctrine divides. Doctrine does divide! That's a true part of the statement. That's why we should get into it. Let's just love one another. All that sounds good—doesn't it? Here is a doctrine, a teaching.
1-John 5:2: "By this standard… [you've got to have some standard of measurement] …we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments." You have to have both. You know what they say: 'Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage.' Loving God and keeping His commandments go hand-in-hand. How are we to keep them? In Spirit and in Truth, which then gets back to worshipping God in Spirit and Truth!
Verse 3: "For this is the love of God: that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome." That is a teaching! A doctrine!
Although all the Word of God is the inspired God-breathed Word of God, there are some things that are hard to be understood. Save those until after you understand the simple things. Then move up to the complicated things. For example:
You cannot understand Rev. unless you have a good grasp of the whole Bible. You cannot understand the book of Galatians unless you understand Judaism. Protestant theology concerning Galatians is completely wrong. You stick with the simple things and then move to the complicated. If you want to know about Galatians, note sermon series: Circumcision Wars, it will amaze you. Also note the book Code of Jewish Law by Solomon Ganzfried and Hyman E. Goldin.
You read all of this from 2-Tim. 3:13-4:3. Here's the conclusion of it and the reason why it is important.
2-Timothy 4:3: "For there shall come a time when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but according to their own lusts they shall accumulate to themselves a great number of teachers, having ears itching to hear what satisfies their cravings; and they shall turn away their own ears from the Truth; and they shall be turned aside unto myths" (vs 3-4).
We've seen that happen in our lifetime. If men teach lies, what is a lie? It is a myth! That's what false prophets do. Here's what false teachers will do to teach against the Word of God. Abortion, adultery, homosexuality and all of those things are against the Word of God.
{continuing with The Marketing of Evil}
He says here, quoting a man (unknown source):
Lose you inhibitions.
He's talking about the thing concerning teaching young people in church and teaching them the wrong way.
Young people usually have inhibitions against doing anything too embarrassing or shameful. These exercises…
He talks about it how one youth leader had them all brush their teeth, spit in a cup and then they would pass it around and drink it to lose your inhibitions. These reality shows on television where they do all kinds of evil things: eat worms and lie with corpses and all that sort of thing. By the way, that is part of Hinduism—the left hand way to God—being taught that way.
…are designed to free people from such hang-ups….
Give in to peer pressure. Defenders of these kinds of activities maintain that they help create group unity. They way they work, though, is to overcome a teenagers' inhibition with greater desire to go along with the group….
Then, they come along with this:
Christianity is stupid. Status conscious teenagers know that those who are so depraved, who are so desperate to be liked that they will do anything to curry favor are impossible to respect. Young people may come to off-the-wall youth group meetings, but when they grow up they will likely associate the church with immature, juvenile, phases of their lives and Christianity will be something they will grow out of.
Beth is right, but it's actually much worse. Degrading someone is a classic, preparatory step to brainwashing. I'm not saying church youth leaders are intentionally trying to brainwash anyone, but the fact is, someone who has been tempted to cross the ethical boundaries…
That's the whole thing, 'the ethical boundaries.' What Satan wants you to do is to cross the boundary of commandment-keeping to commandment-breaking and thinking that commandment-breaking is good.
…in response to peer pressure or out of fear of ridicule or other adverse consequences, is being open wide to being programmed by a strong personality. This dynamic makes it all the more powerful by the process of a group pulling in the same direction as the leader.
So then, he points out how it is when people begin to do things that are evil. This is what happens when people come to this point of crossing over the barrier of keeping the commandments of God to breaking the commandments of God, then here's what they do:
2-Timothy 4:4: "And they shall turn away their own ears from the Truth; and they shall be turned aside unto myths." That's what's happened in too many cases.
Let's get back to what we need to cover here concerning trusting in God. What do you do when you don't understand something right away? You trust God that you'll understand at a later time!
Psalm 31:1: "In You, O LORD, have I taken refuge…"—put my trust. We saw what it was there in Jer. 17 about those who trust in a man. You can just see it before the throne of judgment: A person is resurrected and God says, 'What was your life like? You had this sin, this sin, this sin.' It's all recorded on the spirit of man, so God knows it all. The man says, 'Well, I believed the pope!' Don't trust in a man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart!
"…let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness" (v 1). Here's a prayer where David was in trouble and having to trust in the Lord. Sometimes you come down to the point in your life that the only thing left for you to do is trust in God. That's a good thing! That's what God wants!
Verse 2: "Bow down Your ear to me; deliver me quickly; be my strong Rock, a fortress of defense to save me; for You are my Rock and my fortress…" (vs 2-3). Tie in there Matt. 7:
- you build on the Rock, which is Christ
- you build in Spirit and in Truth
- you build a relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ
"…therefore, for Your name's sake lead me and guide me. Pull me up out of the net that they have hidden for me, for You are my strength" (vs 3-4).
Verse 19: "Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who take refuge in You before the sons of men!"
Psa. 25 shows what is going to happen when you trust in God, how your life is going to be and what He will do.
(go to the next track)
Psalm 25:1: "To You, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; do not let me be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me" (vs 1-2).
Lots of times God is doing something in your life that at the time He's doing it you don't understand what is happening, but you have to trust in God. He's got something else in mind for you than what you have for yourself. That's when you have to trust in God. Then later you can look back in hindsight and understand that.
Verse 3: "Yea, let none who wait on You be ashamed; let them be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Show me Your ways…" (vs 3-4). That's how you worship God in Spirit and in Truth. When you worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, starting in prayer, then you have to get up off your knees and you have to go live it.
"…O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your Truth and teach me…" (vs 4-5). Notice how that ties in where we began in John 6. The Father Himself teaches you and the words that Jesus speaks are Spirit and Life, and they are recorded.
"…for You are the God of my salvation; on You do I wait all the day long. Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindness, for they have been of old" (vs 5-6).
If you feel like you've been going through things, you're down and depressed, you've been through a trial and difficulty, do just like he said here, "Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindness…" and your goodness and kindness to me. He will do so!
Verse 7: "Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions… [repentance] …according to Your loving kindness remember me for Your goodness sake, O LORD. Good and upright is the LORD; therefore, He will teach sinners in the way. The meek…" (vs 7-9). Those who are worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth and have a repentant attitude, etc.
"…He will guide in judgment; and the meek He will teach His way…. [that's what it's all about] …All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies" (vs 9-10). That's were we started in John 6 with the New Covenant.
Let's come down to v 14: "The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him…" This tells us that the only way we're going to understand God and His Word—because it's a secret being revealed and He reveals it to those that He has called—is to love God and fear Him.
"…and He will show them His covenant. My eyes are ever toward the LORD…" (vs 14-15). Quite a Psalm!
Let's come to Psa. 118, speaking of trust. This is why in your relationship with God and in your prayers and worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth that the Psalms are so important and so powerful. It helps give you the conviction and the understanding of what you need.
Psalm 118:1: "O, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good because His steadfast love endures forever." Psa. 132—every verse ends in 'His mercy endures forever.' That's not a vain repetition because if 'His mercy endures forever' there aren't enough words to write it down as to how long it endures. So, he says it three times here.
Verse 2: "Let Israel now say that His steadfast love [#1]endures forever…. [the congregation] …Let the house of Aaron now say that His steadfast love [#2]endures forever…. [the ministry of God] …Let those who fear the LORD now say that His steadfast love [#3]endures forever. I called upon the LORD in distress; the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. The LORD is on my side…" (vs 2-6). Let's make it clear. The Lord is only on our side IF we are on His side; then He fights for us.
"…I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is for me as my Helper; therefore, I will look in triumph upon those who hate me" (vs 6-7). What's the whole point of all this? In trouble trust in God!
Verse 8: "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to trust in princes" (vs 8-9). Always trusting in God!
Proverbs 29:25: "The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever puts his trust in the LORD shall be safe."
Proverbs 28:25: "He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife, but he who puts his trust in the LORD shall be enriched." That means made spiritually rich.
Let's look a little bit more concerning the Word of God. We're going to spend quite a bit of time here in Psa. 119, because all of this tells us how:
- to love God
- to serve God
- to keep His commandments
It's all about our relationship with God as we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
Psalm 119:42: "That I may have an answer for the one who reproaches me, for I trust in Your Word." It's all God-breathed. You trust in God! You trust in His Word!
Verse 43: "And take not the Word of Truth utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped in Your judgments." You see how trust and hope work together there.
Verse 89: "Forever, O LORD, Your Word is settled in the heavens." No changing it. It's settled in heaven, speaking of the Word of Truth—God's Truth.
When you study the Bible, it's like a huge sphere; there are many parts to it and you put it together and you get the whole of it. You get a little here, you get a little there, you get a little in another place, and spiritually with God's Word He begins to help you have understanding to put it together.
Verse 160: "Your Word is true from the beginning…" That's why when anyone comes along and says: 'God didn't mean this, God didn't mean that, God didn't mean the other thing,' what are they doing? They're calling God a liar! His 'Word is true from the beginning.'
The Commandments of God:
Let's look at some other things concerning the commandments of God. Everyone in the Protestant world really does not like the commandments of God.
Verse 47: "And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I have loved."
- you love God
- you love His Word
- you trust in His Word
- you delight in His commandments
Verse 48: "And I will lift up my hands unto Your commandments, which I have loved, and I will meditate on Your statutes." Let's see this in action.
I find it very interesting that when people don't understand the Sabbath, I say, 'You do this: you keep the Sabbath every week and on the Sabbath you study the Word of God and I'll guarantee you that at the end of a month you will know why you should keep the Sabbath.' Hardly ever fails.
Isaiah 58 compared with Psa. 119:47-48, this is an action; Isaiah 58:13: "If you turn your foot away from the Sabbath… [don't be trampling on it] …from doing your own desires on My Holy Day, and call the Sabbath a delight…"
Isn't that what it said, "…I will delight myself in Your commandments…"? If you think the Sabbath is burdensome, it will be burdensome to you because you are not profiting from it.
"…call the Sabbath a delight the Holy of the LORD, honorable; and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor pursuing your own desires, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the LORD…" (vs 13-14). Because:
- you will have understanding
- you will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth
- you will walk in the commandments of God in Spirit and in Truth
- you will have a relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ in Spirit and in Truth
All of that together.
"…and I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth…" (v 14). That is the inheritance in the Kingdom of God. All of those in the first resurrection are going to be kings and priests, and they're going to rule and reign with Christ a thousand years. That's just the beginning! After that there's the whole universe. The reason that the universe is so incomprehensible to man—so vast from what we're able to see of it—is because God has great and fantastic plans for the whole universe. He didn't make it in vain. Then we can really travel around space because we'll be spirit beings. That'll be something!
Psalm 119:60: "I made haste and did not delay to keep Your commandments."
Verse 73: "Your hands have made me and formed me; give me understanding so that I may learn Your commandments." We learn them continually, 'precept upon precept and line upon line.'
Here is the whole key to understanding the Word of God and God; v 127: "Therefore, I love Your commandments above gold—yea, above fine gold."
As I have mentioned before, if you had a room that was all closed off and in it you put a Bible and shined a spotlight on it. On a table next to that one, you had a pile of gold 18 inches high and you put a spotlight on that. Then you had a contest and you said, 'I want you to choose what is the most important thing here, the most valuable thing. You have two choices.' They open the door and they see the Bible here and the gold there. Which will most people take? Physical gold! You can't come to the understanding of how great:
- the ways of God
- the commandments of God
- the statutes of God
- the testimonies of God
- the precepts of God
are until you have God's Spirit and you have spiritual reality, rather than physical perception. You might even have on there: This gold weighs so much and is worth so many millions of dollars and this Bible cost $39.95. 'The one leads to death and the other one leads to life. Which do you want?'
Verse 128: "Therefore, I esteem all Your precepts…" Precepts goes beyond commandments and laws. That's the way of God's thinking. We'll look at precepts in just a bit because it has an awful lot to do about the precepts. This is why when you have the Spirit of God:
- you understand about the commandments of God
- you understand about the Word of God
- you have a relationship with God based on Spirit and Truth with God's Spirit
Then you're able to understand the precepts, or the thinking, of God! That's what it is, here.
Verse 128: "Therefore, I esteem all Your precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way" (v 128). When you come to that conviction of mind and that spirit of mind:
- then you can have a relationship with God
- then you can have spiritual strength in time of trouble
- then you can always know that your trust in God is going to be right every single time
By walking in faith, you're not looking to the physical things around you to decide what to do. You're trusting in God.
The Precepts of God:
Let's look a precepts because this has an awful lot to do with God's way. It's something you don't come by immediately:
- you grow in this
- you develop it
- by studying the Word of God
- by knowing the Word of God
- by living the Word of God
- by praying
- by drawing close to God
Verse 27: "Make me to understand the way of Your precepts… [everything about God's way] …and so shall I speak of Your wonderful works.
Verse 40: "Behold, I have longed after Your precepts; give me life in Your righteousness." When you understand:
- the ways of God
- the thoughts of God
- the Words of God
then you can be enlivened in God's righteousness.
Verse 69: "The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep Your precepts with all my heart. Their heart is gross like fat… [the bad kind of fat] …but I delight in Your Law. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, so that I might learn Your statutes." (vs 69-71). Job had to come to that!
Verse 92: "Unless Your Law had been my delight, then I should have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, for with them You have given me life. I am Yours; save me, for I have sought Your precepts" (vs 92-94).
When we come to God and we pray, we don't demand of God, we claim His promises. God said that whatever His promises are, whatever His Word is, it's a promise and God cannot lie; we claim the promise. God promised that He would help us; we claim the promise. God said He would intervene for us; we claim the promise.
We don't get down there and say, 'God I'm in this jam. You've got to intervene for me.' No! You get down there and you say, 'O God, this is a terrible situation and I don't know what to do. I need You to intervene for me. Give me wisdom; give me understanding. I don't know where to go, what to do, how to do it, or which way to turn.'
Sometimes you get in such a spiritual state you don't know which way is up, which is down, which way is sideways, and you just have to go to God and admit that that's just the way things are and claim His promises that He will intervene for you. God will! God is there! God cannot lie and He will not lie!
The Laws of God:
Let's look at the Word of God is true and right, how we need to handle it and how we need to use it. Let's look at the Laws of God.
Verse 96: "I have seen an end to every purpose… [He's looking to the end result of it.] …but Your commandment is exceedingly broad. O how love I Your law! It is my meditation all the day…. [just like Psa. 1] …Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they… [Your commandments] …are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation" (vs 96-99). This Psa. Is so absolutely fantastic.
Sidebar: You see at the top of each section in Psa. 119, that each section is an eight-verse section. The word at the top is the name of one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. When this Psalm was given at the temple, it was sung. Every verse in each of these sections starts out with that letter and they would sing this whole Psalm—Psalm. of Degrees—and the Levites would memorize it and sing it. It's quite interesting that it's divided that way.
It is so spiritually 'jam-packed'—the Word of God is like a sphere—with so much concerning the Word of God that it might be good if you could take a section or two every day, study through it, read through it and maybe even make it part of your prayer to help you in drawing close to God in Spirit and Truth and in worshipping Him and understanding His Word.
Verse 109: "My life is in my hand daily, yet, I do not forget Your Law."
Verse 113: "I hate those who are double-minded, but Your Law do I love." This also part of understanding how to get rid of carnal nature. You hate vanity and hate vain thoughts.
Have you ever had a thought come along and it looks right, it sounds right, but it's not of God? Sometimes it can lodge in there. Have you ever had a commercial lodge in your mind that you can't get rid of? The same way with human thinking! The same way with vain human reasoning! You've got to come to love God's way and hate vain thoughts!
Verse 114: "You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your Word." All of this ties together. This is so great! Let's understand this:
Verse 142: "Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your Law is the Truth." So, it's everlasting! What we are doing, brethren, is for eternity. Think on that!
Everything that you are doing in developing your relationship with God and worshipping Him in Spirit and in Truth is forever! You are learning how to become like God! That's why we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth!
All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter
Scriptural References:
- John 6:54-62
- John 1:1
- John 6:62
- John 17:4-5
- John 6:63, 44-45
- John 12:42-48
- 1-John 2:21
- John 12:48-50
- Jeremiah 17:5-8
- 2-Timothy 3:13-17
- 2-Timothy 4:1-2
- 1-John 5:2-3
- 2-Timothy 4:3-4
- Psalm 31:1-4, 19
- Psalm 25:1-10, 14-15
- Psalm 118:1-9
- Proverbs 29:25
- Proverbs 28:25
- Psalms 119:42-43, 89, 160, 47-48
- Isaiah 58:13-14
- Psalm 119:60, 73, 127-128, 27, 40, 69-71, 92-94, 96-99, 109, 113-114, 142
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Matthew 7
- Psalm 132; 1
Also referenced:
Books:
- The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
- Lord, What Should I Do? by Fred R. Coulter
- The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian
- Code of Jewish Law by Solomon Ganzfried and Hyman E. Goldin
Sermon Series: Circumcision Wars
Appendix:
- From The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version: Appendix G: Jesus Christ Was Taught Directly by God the Father
FRC: nfs
Transcribed: 01-03-16
Proofed: bo—1/7/16
