Hebrews 5:8
Obedience Through Suffering
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; (Hebrews 5:8)
God’s Divine Will
HOW can the Creator of all things learn obedience through suffering? This path of suffering started at the very birth of the Lord Jesus Christ; for He was manifested into a world that knew Him not, and that would not receive Him. He had come down from heaven out of the Father’s bosom to be manifest among Adam’s race; He was in a world of sin, and sin dwelt in every man. He was the only one, even at birth, that sin had not tainted. This fact alone caused His Spirit to groan within Him and caused Him to suffer in the world of man. Even though His suffering was written in the determinate counsels of God, and through prophecy the thoughts of the divine mind were revealed, it was written in the volume of the book that we see Him. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (Hebrews 10:7) This expression of the Spirit of God is dear to every born-again believer; yet to the world this verse is insignificant, but in the reality of the Spirit of prophecy (which is the Spirit of Christ) is a thunderclap of God’s divine will determined by His own determinate counsels. The Son of God would have to submit Himself to all the prophetic writings concerning Himself, and most of all to the determinate counsels of God. The Son of God had to submit Himself to His own divine power for He upholds all things by the word of His power. (Hebrews 1:3) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; God the Son must submit Himself to His own divine power and to His own determinate counsels with God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. Every word of prophecy that was given concerning His life, His death, and His resurrection must be fulfilled without blemish, without wavering in His perfect power and omniscient thought. He must submit Himself to all that was predicted by the words of His own Spirit within the prophetic writings. All that was declared by the Spirit of Christ to His servants and prophets must be fulfilled.
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: (Luke 24:25)
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?(Luke 24:26)
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27)
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. (Luke 24:44)
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: (Luke 24:46)
All that had been disclosed by Christ (who is the Spirit of prophecy) must be completely fulfilled in that same Spirit of prophecy. These prophetic writings were fulfilled in the day of Christ, and we should have no doubt that the same Spirit of Christ will fulfill the rest of the prophetic writings that He, Himself, has given to us and upholds them with the word of His power. All future prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled, will be fulfilled line upon line, word upon word; all will be fulfilled without error according to the determinate counsels of God. The Spirit of prophecy is within the very Man who is in heaven for us today, the Lord Jesus Christ. All prophecy is fulfilled by His Spirit. He moves in the kingdoms of men to bring the power of His will over the children of men. He raises up kingdoms and sets them down according to His will and purpose in the determinate counsels of God. Christ is the Spirit of prophecy.
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10)
Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (1 Peter 10:10)
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (1 Peter 10:11)
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 10:12)
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)
At first Romans 8:9 might appear not to be connected with both 1 Peter and Revelation 19, however, to understand any of the divine work of Christ today one must have that same Spirit within to understand all the glories of Christ that we read in the prophets, and that we see fulfilled in His life, and will see fulfilled as we travel the road of faith with Him. Christ through the word of His power is also the Fulfiller of all prophecy. He works behind the curtain of time in history to bring about the fulfillment of the divine will of God according to the determinate counsels of God. The lack of understanding of the determinate counsels of God in the professing church is truly at an all-time low. I have found the perverters of God’s word do not want to be around the Spirit of Christ, and those who possess the Spirit of Christ and the knowledge of God’s word. For they have not the Spirit of Christ in them, and the conflict is so dramatic it is like the sharp pain when a piece of ice hits a bad tooth. It is not the volume with the loudness of the word, it is the truth behind the words, it is the still small voice of the Spirit that brings the words to the heart and spirit of man. Just a few words can shake the very foundation of the soul. Words like, What does thou here Elijah, or What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? (Matthew 22:42)
And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (1 Kings 19:12)
And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? (1 Kings 19:13)
Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. (Matthew 22:42)
The New Thing: New Manifestation, and New Generation
The question of Matthew 22:42 is only asked one time in the entire Bible. It is asked one time to the Jews, one time to the Greeks, and only one time to the whole world throughout all time. Matthew is the first book of the New Testament (or new covenant) it is the grand beginning of the new thing: the new manifestation of God, and it begins with the generation of Jesus Christ in Matthew, Chapter 1, verse 1. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. This statement stands alone and is a preparation for the catalogue of names that follows in verses 2-16, through a single line of ancestry from David through Abraham. This verse of Matthew 1:1 is not about an earthly generation; it is about a heavenly generation. It is not the earthly descendants from the Old Testament, but a grand new vision of a heavenly people called out of the world to dwell with the Man in heaven, Christ Jesus.
The New Thing Revealed: The Generation of Faith in Both Covenants
They are the continual generation through the entire history of the Church, and even before the Church they were of the generation of faith as shown in David and Abraham. They are Spirit filled and Spirit led, their union with Christ is by the very Spirit of Christ. It is a generation of faith that brings forth grace in the heart, in the soul of every believer both in heaven and on earth. In Matthew’s gospel the first declaration is of a heavenly people in Christ Jesus under the promises of Abraham. Abraham saw Christ’s day and rejoiced in it, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw [it], and was glad. (John 8:56); secondly, we have the future glory of Israel in Israel’s divine King, the Son of David, Jesus Christ. Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. (Matthew 22:42) The list of the generation of His earthly ancestry was to confirm His kingship, and His authority over the nation of Israel and over the world. The heavenly people were always a people of heaven above, even in the prophecy and promise of the Lord Jesus Christ to Abraham. That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (Genesis 22:17) The heavenly people were to be as the stars of the heavens, and the earthly people (Israel) were to be as the sands of the sea. Both innumerable, and both separated by God’s determinate counsel and will.
The New Thing: The New Generation: A New People United in Christ
In Matthew’s gospel this beginning of the new generation is the beginning of a new people born specifically of the Spirit of God to be a united people in the body of Christ, a historical generation to show forth the glory of Christ both in heaven and on earth. This is the generation of heaven and earth in the souls of men who have been saved for heaven by the Lord Jesus Christ (who is the Man in heaven, their Savior). This generation is just as unique as the process and way of their salvation; for in a unique way God sent His Son into the world to display Himself in the likeness of man so that He might redeem a generation out of the world for Himself. This generation is uniquely bought with the priceless blood of Christ.
Side Note: In Matthew 22:42 we have the number of witness, the number 2 is given to us three times when placed on a line (2 – 2 – 4 – 2) concerning Christ in prophecy; we have the witness of the Father, the witness of the Son, and the witness of the Holy Spirit. When we add all three of the 2’s we get the total of 6 (the number of man). We also get the revelation that the question that was asked in Matthew 22:42, is to all men, and to conclude the Spirit’s voice we have the number 4. This is the Spirit’s witness to the world from north to south, from east to west, to the past history of man, to the very present when Christ asked that question, and to the future of all mankind. What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? This question only has nine words, nine is the last single digit, it is the finality of the single digits of our number system. The number is final, like the question. The question is only asked once and given once to all mankind. ♦ End of Side Note.
The Journey and Lessons in Trials, Tears and Joy
Years ago, we had a radio program. When the Lord moved us, He gave us the very title and name of the radio program: God’s Final Call. This, of course, was before the internet, and long before our first website titled GodsFinalCall.com. It is remarkable how far we have come since the conception and the development of this first website without any assistance from the world or man. When you now travel through the internet you will find all sorts of variations and additions to these words that we began with: God’s Final Call.
This brings me back to our verse (Matthew 22:42); in light of these words, this could be your final call. There comes a time in the counsels of God when God speaks the last words to the unrepentant soul. Since I never know who I am writing for, or who I am writing to, I repeat the divine question that was spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?
The radio was a good platform, and God blessed us and kept us in the work that He gave us to do. We broadcasted in many areas; however, one particular event that has been stamped in my memory came through a short-wave station in New Orleans, Louisiana, as we broadcasted into South America. Those of you who have delved into short wave will truly understand what I have to say. One night (through a skip) a young boy in Ghana, West Africa by the name of Yaw Kosi Peters heard the radio broadcast skip and acknowledged his salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. From this one boy through mail outs, tapes, postal M. bags, and through tracts (that we printed ourselves) the Lord reached all over Ghana, but He was not through. The Spirit of God reached into Angola, into Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Uganda, and until the west coast of Africa and South Africa had received our literature and tapes. Letters came flowing in till it was impossible for two people to respond to all the requests for more literature and tapes. Then, the Lord performed another miracle, we began receiving letters from Kenya in East Africa, and this outreach continued on for about 5 years. Then one by one the radio stations closed, some became secular, and others just shut down completely. This did not come as a surprise to us, and we saw God’s hand in this, for when God has completed a phase in one’s life He begins anew in another direction.
The internet was born, and the initial cost was great. We could only afford one website, and the world made sure that it would take every nickel we had to use their facilities, however, God is not slack. He provided, and then, we found a new hosting service, and decided to take the internet head on. We knew the problems, and we knew that we did not have the skills. We prayed and the Lord told us to launch out into the deep; consequently, with the liberty of the Spirit of God, and complete humility in our lack of knowledge and understanding we registered 8 web sites not knowing the first thing of web design or maintenance, we didn’t even know what a post was. And yet, with the total staff of 2 (guess who?) the Lord has developed six of those eight sites. More to come, I hope.
When we began our radio programs our recording studio was in our bedroom; our bedroom was also our library, our living room, our office, our prayer room, and yes, we did sleep there. The room was 10 x 12, and you had to step over the bed to get to the other side of the room, yet, week after week, we continued; and God through His divine providence and will provided the messages. I would begin each message with these exact words, “Time is against us, God is for us, each second is someone’s final call.” As I mentioned, the name of the program was God’s Final Call. Our theme music was John W. Peterson’s God’s Final Call. Even today when I have some spare time, I listen to tapes from the radio broadcasts. They help me to understand the tremendous path that God has set us on. We are separated from man and his religions. Even the house that we live in has been built for His use and belongs to the Lord in every way. He gave us the lumber and the materials in a divine way without the help of a single person. He put a carpenter’s hammer in my hand, and nails in my pouch, and a divine plan in my mind that I was going to build Him a house of cedar and stone. Yes, in His divine way, He rained manna from heaven. And at times, He even rained water on me to cool me off in the hot Florida sun as I labored to complete the roof. He gave strength out of death and brought honey forth from the lion.
Our home is named Brook Cherith and it is a place of seclusion. In this house of cedar and stone, there are only three who reside here: my wife, me, and of course, the Lord of glory. In our sojourn with the Lord, we have not run from the rejection of the world, nor have we run from the rejection of the religious man, nor from the rejection of family and friends, we have not run from the lack of finances, nor from abundance when He supplies. We have not run from suffering, (through the trials of sickness, pain or accidents, and even remembering when all we had to eat for a week were fresh radishes, and two tea bags for our refreshment, thank God He supplied the water for the tea for the week). To this day the sight of a radish, or my morning bag of tea brings a smile. We try our best through prayer to see God’s purpose and plan every day. We seem to be as bright red flowers in a field of weeds, yet God provides, protects and keeps us in His divine care. Being on the earth we are subject to its whims, and of course, to the reasoning of the world and its own conviction, and unfortunately for its criticism. This does get in the way at times. Men work behind the scenes trying to overthrow the work of God. Our web sites are constantly under attack by the false religionists of this world. The eastern nations continually try to disrupt and distract us from our divine purpose, but He who is over all things has managed to keep us, preserve us, and encourage us. Every once in a while, because of who we are, and being in the world, a perverted thought passes through our mind when we think that the world has anything to offer a child of God. We try to examine everything by prayer, and we look critically at everything that comes our way even what is placed in our mailbox. The devil can be a divisive foe. He likes to come from behind and trip, and push, and even sometimes maim the Spirit that is within, but we learned a great lesson years ago: not to take a thread or a shoe latchet from the king of Sodom, lest he (the world) say that they have made Michael and Mary rich. This lesson was so profound, and so painful that we decided with much prayer to get in the boat with the Lord of glory, and let Him direct and calm the storm, and hush the winds around us.
Many decades ago, after preaching one night in a church in New England, I was ridiculed (after speaking) by a preacher of some renown of the world. I was speaking of God’s care, and the reality and the need of His children to believe in divine manna from heaven. With all his disgust, and a negative tone of voice, he threw this question at me, ‘What do you expect, manna from heaven?’ I replied, ‘You must have missed the message because that’s exactly what I expect. I am not a servant of man, nor of men, I am a servant of God, and my Master will provide according to His will and purpose for my life. I will serve Him, not because of the manna, but because of who He is, and what He has done for me.’ Consequently, God has held me to my very own statement, I have lived this statement, and I have eaten this statement, and I still deeply believe the truth of this statement. This was a great lesson, and many times, my mind goes back and reflects on that very night on that very image, on that very voice, and on that very question, ‘What do you expect, manna from heaven?’ And every time the Spirit of Christ gives me the answer ‘without me you can do nothing.’ (John 15:5) I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. This should help you build in your spirit a picture of the man and his wife who brings you these messages. We have no earthly ambitions. We desire no earthly gain. We only want what Christ has for us in a fervent desire to fulfill His will in the world of the children of men, that they may answer this question, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?
Revelation: Manna from Heaven
The Spirit of God is not slack when we approach a problem because the solution is always in the Bible. We have divine counsel within the written pages of the word of God. Those of us who have spent time in the Bible, hours upon hours, days upon days, and yet, sometimes while we are reading a familiar verse, God gives us a starburst. Something that we have never seen before opens to us as a beautiful rose to our spiritual understanding. Is not this manna from heaven? The divine Spirit of God speaks to the body of Christ, He does not give us examples from the world, He gives us examples from holy writ. He tells us that the only safe place a servant of God has in this world is under His wings in the bosom of Christ surrounded by His grace.
Revelation: Suffering Suffering is part of the divine process to purify and to strengthen the soul of the believer.
In our study of Hebrews 5 we have seen some of the sufferings of Christ who is the great Apostle of our profession. (Hebrews 3:1) In the life of the apostle Paul we have received many revelations from him by the divine Spirit of Christ. We have been truly blessed by Paul’s epistles and his devotion and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have received through this apostle divine revelations from the Spirit of Christ. There is one revelation, however, that seems to be misunderstood by the Christian community. Everyone understands the word ‘blessing,’ but few understand the word ‘suffering.’ Suffering is part of the divine process to purify and to strengthen the soul of the believer. The fires of suffering are like the furnace that purified gold. Job said, But he knoweth the way that I take: [when] he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. (Job 23:10) Paul said of himself that he must and would fill up the sufferings of Christ. In Paul’s proclamation of his authority of his apostleship, he did not bring out or speak about the glory that he enjoyed, but to give him authority before the Corinthians he spoke about the calamity and suffering that he endured in his service for the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul gives us a list of his trials in 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 11, verse 18-31.
Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. (2 Corinthians 11:18)
For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. (2 Corinthians 11:19)
For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. (2 Corinthians 11:20)
I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. (2 Corinthians 11:21)
Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. (2 Corinthians 11:22)
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. (2 Corinthians 11:23)
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. (2 Corinthians 11:24)
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; (2 Corinthians 11:25)
In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; (2 Corinthians 11:26)
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. (2 Corinthians 11:27)
Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:28)
Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? (2 Corinthians 11:29)
If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. (2 Corinthians 11:30)
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. (2 Corinthians 11:31)
This entire list would bring fear to almost every heart. Does Paul boast how he accomplished all these things? no! He gives glory to God and rejoices that he had the opportunity to walk that path. At times, even through the valley of the shadow of death with the Lord Jesus Christ, His trials, and our trials, are as a sweet incense ascending up to God. It is the fragrance of heaven, and if we beseech the Spirit of God to use our life in His divine will that sweet smell of heaven will be all around us in a world of putrefying flesh. The sting of death is the law, which no man can surmount. The law of sin and death has overtaken all men. The law of the Jews (as we learn in the book of Hebrews) was the determinate reason for the book of Hebrews in the mind of the Spirit. The Jews continually fell back on their perverted law. Their national system was a system of death. They were under bondage, and under the heel and rule of the Roman Empire. Their religion was dead and corrupt through and through because of the perversion of the existing priesthood. Their priesthood was controlled by the most corrupt of men, for when life and light came by Jesus Christ they cried out against heaven from the depths of their wicked hearts with shouts of, Crucify him, crucify him. By their very words motivated by their envy, jealousy and hatred for God they cast out the Prince of life out of this world.
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. (Acts 3:13)
But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; (Acts 3:14)
And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. (Acts 3:15)
And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. (Acts 3:16)
And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. (Acts 3:17)
But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. (Acts 3:18)
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19)
And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: (Acts 3:20)
Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:21)
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. (Acts 3:22)
And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. (Acts 3:23)
Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. (Acts 3:24)
Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. (Acts 3:25)
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. (Acts 3:26)
Revelation: He Suffered: We Suffer
Through the things that Jesus Christ suffered, through the things that He overcame, He has ascended above all the throngs of man into heaven itself where He has been made higher than the heavens. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; (Hebrews 7:26) This is His present station and place. He has taken this place because of His suffering. At this present time, He is the Man for us in heaven to make intercession for us, to give us the divine mind and heart of His will for us. He has taken us out of the world for His purpose, not ours. He stated this in the gospel of John, Chapter 15, verse 19: If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. In this verse I want you to notice the character of the world against the children of God. There is no maybe, this is their character, and this has, and will come to pass as you journey through your Christian experience. We, as the body of Christ, as the children of God, and as the sons of God are not of this world. And when we come face to face with the opposition of this world, they do not want us here. We are to seek those things which are above, and not the things of the world of men.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1)
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)
Revelation: Our New Realm: Our New Position
The Spirit’s conclusion is that we have been taken out of this world, and therefore, if this is our position in Christ, we should seek the things which are above. Our affections should be in the Man in heaven for us, our desires should be to please Him. We are to seek those things which are above. This opens a whole new realm for the child of God. If I am to seek those things which are above, the Spirit of God is telling me that those things are readily available for me. This is a wonder! I am not in a position to imagine things, but to possess things. My hope is affirmed, it is guaranteed in the Man in heaven, Jesus Christ the Son of God. May I remind you that all power has been given unto Him both in heaven and in the earth; therefore, we seek those things which Christ will freely give us; not the things of earth, but the things of heaven. This puts a whole new light to the mind set of many Christians that I can actually now obtain things from above; not only in a future life, but right now because the Spirit of Christ liveth in me. Do you want to know the Bible backwards, and forward, forwards and backwards then ask the Man in heaven. Do you think that He is going to deny the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of His word? The false church might teach such an idea, and it is quite evident by the ignorance of Scripture in the pews. How many times man has said, I desire this or that, yet does not beseech the divine mind on those particular things. Faith is not a mystery; faith is a substance. Why is it a substance? Because it is the faith of the Son of God that has been given from heaven. It is a divine substance that causes the heart, soul and spirit to seek the grace of God; and is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Let me reverse this thought, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Taking the last part of this verse, we see the evidence of our faith by the grace that we have received and that we feel in our spirit, soul, and heart by the ministry of the Spirit of Christ to us. For Christ witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God. We have been called out of the world to enjoy the things of heaven not the things of the earth. One by one, two by two, we have been chosen out of the world, and because of our position in Christ, the Lord Jesus has told us that the world will hate us as it hated Him. We are not in an earthly relationship; we are in a divine relationship with God the Father through God the Son by God the Holy Spirit. We have taken on the divine nature, the world’s nature that we received from Adam is gone, it left when Christ died, and put Adam out of the way. God replaced the nature of Adam with the nature of His Son.
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:4)
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. (John 17:6)
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. (John 17:7)
Can we comprehend this? Can we see the fullness of it? We have been taken out of the world, and bonded to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. Today, all I hear about is ‘full disclosure’, well, the Bible is the book of full disclosure. It gives us every detail of man and his sin. It gives every detail of the eternal righteous God, and His decree of salvation to all who will believe in Jesus Christ. How many are going to write of this full disclosure? not many, in fact, by my life’s experience there are many preachers who don’t want you to know the full disclosure of God’s holy word. I remind you again, why do we have the numbness and deadness in the pews of modern Christianity? It is the lack of the Spirit of Christ in the preaching of the word, in the teaching of the word, and yes, in the writing of the word. The true Christian does not receive his food from the trough of the world, but he refreshes his soul, his spirit and his heart in the heavenly manna, and the heavenly springs of life. In this position nothing can separate us from the love of God. No lie of the devil, nor of his servants, nor all the world power, nor any cult or religion can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:37)
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, (Romans 8:38)
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39)
In Hebrews Chapter 5, and in verse 8, we see the Son of God learning obedience. If the divine Son of God would learn obedience would not those who He has chosen out of the world learn the same. This is one of the things from above, learning obedience in our walk below in this world. With every son, there is a learning process; some learn one lesson, another learns another lesson, we not only learn obedience, but when we are not obedient God the Father corrects us as a father to a son. What a position to be in, God surrounds us with sonship and teaches us through trials, through suffering, and through correction that we might learn about obedience.
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (Hebrews 12:3)
Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. (Hebrews 12:4)
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: (Hebrews 12:5)
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (Hebrews 12:6)
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? (Hebrews 12:7)
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. (Hebrews 12:8)
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? (Hebrews 12:9) A spiritual thorn in a child of God can be just as painful, and just as infectious as a physical thorn.
How many speak about the chastening of the Lord? Very few will ever admit being chastened by the Lord, and some will even say, The Lord has no right to chasten me. Yet, this is one of those things from heaven. The only begotten of the Father looked into eternity with eyes of affection for His Father. He delighted to do the will of God in everything, even unto death. He even learned obedience in the things He suffered. He had been obedient at all times, but He had learned obedience in death, and in His sacrifice. Was He going to be disobedient to these things? No, this was an experience of obedience that He had never experienced before, and by this experience He learned the depth of His own sufferings. If we (as sons of God) learn to understand this wonderful proof of the divine sonship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we will feel the Spirit’s growth within us, especially understanding the world around us, understanding the world within us, and in brief moments understanding the world to come. The chastening of the Lord is a part of our grand salvation, even in chastening, the Lord wants to see the love and the affection we have for him in the depth of our spirit. Even the apostle Paul was given a thorn in the flesh. In my experience with thorns, they are hard to remove. In Florida we have a small briar or thorn vine that when pricked it stings, and if left alone it will fester like a boil. As long as this tiny thorn is in the flesh it telegraphs a message of pain to the brain. The message is, Take me out! Since these thorns are so small you must be careful to remove the entire thorn, if not, the tiny part that remains continues to cause pain and sorrow; so much so, that in the end you might have to lance the spot. A spiritual thorn in a child of God can be just as painful, and just as infectious as a physical thorn. If left untreated, whether by prayer or supplication, or crying out to God, that tiny thorn can rob you of your joy of the Lord. Paul besought the Lord three times, does this not remind you of the three separate times that the Lord Jesus asked the Father to remove the cup from Him. And in the end, it is not my will, the Lord Jesus declared, but Thy will be done. It seems the Spirit of Christ was working in the heart of the apostle Paul as well; therefore, God simply replied to Paul, My grace is sufficient for thee.
Grace is the balm of Gilead for the believer. Grace covers all wounds. Grace covers all scars. Grace covers all infirmities, and that same wonderful grace covers all sin. Paul’s desire was that little thorn might be removed, however, God thought otherwise, and God nurtured and led His servant with that very thorn through Paul’s suffering, even in his service in the gospel. We have seen in the devotion of Paul that his devotion brought suffering, and we have been allowed to seethe many ways in which Paul suffered as recorded in 2 Corinthians. In all these things the remedy for Paul’s thorn and our thorn is immeasurable grace. For the grace of God is sufficient for all suffering, for all thorns, for all injustices, for all tribulations, and most of all it is sufficient for all the cares of the world. All these are no match for God’s grace. As Christ learned obedience by His suffering, we enter into those sufferings because of what He learned. The depth of His wounds, the wonder of grace can all be displayed in our sufferings now.
Revelation: He Was Made Perfect Through Suffering
In verse 9 of Hebrews Chapter 5, And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; we have in the Son of God perfection through suffering. We are reminded for this cause came He into the world. Christ was always perfect, the Son of God had no blemishes, He had no fault line, no scars, no imperfections. He was perfect in all ways in eternity, He was perfect in all ways in the birth of creation, He was perfect in all ways through the history of the world. He was perfect in all ways in His manifested life. Then how can perfection be made perfect? God the Son had never suffered as a man, God the Son had never been taunted and mocked in a position of humiliation. God the Son had never been tried for inequities, even though, they were fabricated by the Jews. God the Son had never been beaten or bound or punished by His own creation. God had never been here before. God the Son had never experienced alienation from God the Father. God the Son had never experienced the dark veil of death, and God the Son had never experienced sin — until — it was poured out upon Him like a mighty raging torrent. Through His divine power He took sin out of the way and nailed it to His cross. In this alone, He learned obedience by the things He suffered, and because of all of this, the glorified Man of twain, He made one new man, the glorified Man could breach the pains and darkness of death to bring forth life and liberty in this new Man, who had learned obedience and that was made perfect in all the power of His resurrection. Man is always looking for the diamond of perfection. He is looking for the brightness of the day star, and because Christ is made perfect, He is the harbinger of life to all those who believe in Him. He became the Author, He signed the document, He authenticated His very work on the cross, and became the Author of eternal salvation for us. Concerning His perfection: He was perfect, He was always perfect, yet, even His perfection brought forth His sufferings in the denial of His sonship, and His position as God. His suffering brought in perfection for us, for after His death, burial and resurrection because of these wonderful wonders, we shall be made like Him. Everyone who obeys Him sees Him in their hearts as their Lord of lords, and King of kings. The Prince of Peace has brought peace out of heaven for me, the root out of dry ground, although there was always heavenly beauty in Him, but they of the world saw no beauty, and they had no desire for Him. They spent their times despising and rejecting Him as the Son of God.
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? (Isaiah 53:1)
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53:2)
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)
The glory that man could not see was the glory that He revealed of Himself and of His heavenly beauty to Peter, James and John on that holy mount when He was transfigured there before them, as the brightness greater than the sun. In seeking those things which are above one must see how He has shared that glory with His redeemed. He has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son; the Son of His love reigns over us in His marvelous and wonderful kingdom. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13) We are delivered from the power of darkness, we are snatched out of this world, and we are translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, or Son of His love. This is the present reality in the inheritance of the sons of God.
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1 John 3:1)
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:3)
Revelation: Sonship
If you will accept the Spirit’s voice in this wonderful truth, and allow yourself to see yourself in Christ Jesus our Lord, you will see Him in all the beauty of His holiness, as the sons of God come together to worship Him. Sonship is given to us because of the greatness and the power of the Man in glory, Jesus Christ. Why shouldn’t the world deny our sonship, we are a continual witness of the world’s wickedness, and the ugly sin that reigns over them. Would a slave who is held in captivity really rejoice in another slave’s freedom? The world will deny our sonship in Christ as He was denied as the Son of God, therefore, we will be denied of our sonship in the world today, but it has never been denied by the Spirit of Christ and the heavenlies.
They who claim to hold the truth, and every religion of the world claims a particular truth; the evidence of their lies, however, are in their very religion for it holds man in bondage to their own religion, and to man and to the world. They are blinded to the things of Christ, their Colossians reads this way, Seek those things which are in the world, grab everything you can and leave nothing for others. Set your affections on the wickedness of the world and deny the Almighty God for He has no power over you.
God, Himself, has taken us out of the world to be a peculiar people of the heavenly realm; to show forth our translation while we are yet here on earth by our love, and our devotion to the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth. We live in a supernatural realm, we are recognized in heaven, and for some extent put up with on earth. In the heavenly realm we have full heirship with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. On earth, we are in servitude to that heirship for we must bring out of this world guests for the great marriage of the Lamb. In sharing His inheritance, we proclaim and recognize the fullness of the work of the cross as documented in both Romans 8 and in Hebrews Chapter 1; consequently, we see the results of the true divine covenant of the New Testament.
In Romans, Chapter 8, we are no more under condemnation, we have been freed by the Spirit of Christ. The blood that was shed for us covers us as sons. We are part of His body, and we are being conformed to His very image, the image of Christ. He, the Creator of all things, is doing a new work in building a body in total perfection. He has taken up personal residence in each believer. He has given to each one of us His own Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. He has linked us together with the Father in Christ’s own blood: inseparable love whereby heaven acknowledges that we are His sons. We will sit down with Him together in His Father’s throne, once again displaying the heirship of the children of God. It may not yet appear to the world what we are, but through the Scriptures we see what we shall be. And by the same determinate counsels of God that led the Lord Jesus to the cross, the seal of redemption in His blood cannot be broken. This redemption will lead us to what we will be, and how the divine Creator sees the beauty of holiness in the Son of His love. We live in the present day, I am on earth, but in my spirit, I feel and hear these words, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. The reality of these words is the spiritual equivalent to the thief on the cross. We have been removed from this scene, we have been translated into His presence, this does not remove the flesh from the world, for the flesh died at the cross.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 6:14)
For years my spirit has hovered over these two sections of Scripture, one of the first realities that I understood when the Lord saved me out of darkness was my death with Him. Without death there is no glory, without death there is no translation, without death there is no sonship, without His death there are no things above. Without His death there is no Man in heaven for us. False professors are the seeds that fell on stony ground for they linger in the death of the cross, however, they only see the rejection of the world, and the lifeless body of Jesus Christ, the man. He remains (for them) always on the cross as an image of suffering, and with no power of life. They let death linger over them and have no life in Jesus Christ.
If we make our death a spiritual reality, then we will also make His resurrection a reality of life and peace with God. To this world Christ is dead. To the world above He is alive and has full power. To the saints in this world, He has given them life, and they have reckoned themselves dead to this present evil world. And if the world is crucified unto me, I reckon the world dead, if I am crucified to the world then they reckon me dead. This is the voice of the Spirit of Christ, for now I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. Christ has imparted faith within me, He has imparted His Spirit within me, He has imparted His eternal life within me, He has imparted the love of God within me. And He has declared because of these things, Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. In the spiritual realm of the Son of God, and in the eternal beauties of heaven all the truths of God are known, and because they are known in that realm all the saints of God rejoice, and exclaim, All glory and majesty to the Son of God. This might be a wonder to man, if he ever gives it a thought, for since the fall of mankind, he has only had the spirit of man. This is the spirit that man relies on, and this is the spirit of the fall, and the spirit of man has fallen on his own sword. If you examine all men under Adam they have the same spirit, and only a divine miracle from a supernatural Man can take them out of this world into the glories of God’s grace. Only Christ could, and has, separated us (the sons of God) from the spirit of Adam (man). Once again, we are reminded that we have the divine nature within our being as the controller of our redeemed being. This is the being like David who thirsted after God, this is a being like Paul who thirsted after the love of God.
He is the Clarifier and the Conformer to those who delight in Him. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2) He clarifies each and every believer in His blood. He is and will conform each and every believer to His image, and this is to those through the history of man who walk by faith and diligently seek Him. The Spirit of understanding brings divine light to every believer, this divine light assures and directs their faith. With divine faith the scales from the eyes fall off, and the eyes are bathed in the divine light of Christ, and these new spiritual eyes receive divine grace. In divine grace we receive our divine inheritance, we are made partakers of the divine nature in Christ. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)
The New Thing: A New Work: The Perfection of His Son in Suffering
In the New Testament God began a new work, it was a work of wonder, it was a work of perfection in His Son, Jesus Christ. He revealed to us the perfect Word, and embodied that Word in the perfect Man, Jesus Christ. It is from here that all the work of redemption sprang forth in the world of mankind. As we call it the fullness of time, when God sent forth His Son, it was also the fullness of time for the world. For all the covenants, and the law that God had given to man had been betrayed and disannulled by the hearts of man. Everything was corrupt in the religion of the Jews; they had cast off God for the traditions of man. They would acknowledge Moses, they would acknowledge the law and the prophets, but they would not heed or believe what the law demanded. In the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the midst of all this corruption He told us that false prophets would come, that men would say, Christ is here, then they will say, No not in that building, go to this building over there. Then they will say that Christ can only be known at this particular pulpit, or that He can only be found by the walk down this particular aisle. They (the false ministers of righteousness) declare from the throne of man that the only road to heaven must come only through the presbytery: through man.
The Wheat and The Tares
Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. (Matthew 13:18)
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. (Matthew 13:19)
But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; (Matthew 13:20)
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. (Matthew 13:21)
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. (Matthew 13:22)
But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. (Matthew 13:23)
Christ was speaking of the seed on stony ground, and the seed among the thorns, He never called this seed good. It was only in the following parable in Matthew that He called the seed good seed, and this seed brought forth fruit unto redemption because the sower was Christ. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man. (Matthew 13:37)
The parable in Matthew13:14-30 teaches us that tares do not bear any fruit, they are fruitless, barren, and empty. Only the seed that produced fruit was called good.
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: (Matthew 13:24)
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. (Matthew 13:25)
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.(Matthew 13:26)
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? (Matthew 13:27)
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? (Matthew 13:28)
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. (Matthew 13:29)
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:30)
In the verses above He said Let both grow together. Notice, the wheat never became tares, and the tares never became wheat. Even in this evil environment (for it was the devil who sowed the tares) the wheat still remained wheat. Then at the end of the world they will both be gathered up and separated by the angels of God. The children of God will be separated from the children of Cain (whose father is the devil) in the judgment to come. The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; (Matthew 13:38)
It was the children of the Father who will be gathered into the kingdom to be joint heirs with Jesus Christ, and who will sit down with Christ in His Father’s throne. On earth, the Lord Jesus declared, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:23)
But the tares are the children of the wicked [one] and they will stand in judgment at the great white throne, they will stand there without oil, they will hear their names read out and their judgment will be set, and the lake of fire will open its arms to receive them: they will receive their torment throughout all eternity.
Those of the Lord say, For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)
In closing, I ask the final question,
What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?
Amen and Amen.
© Copyright 2017, Michael Haigh
This article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)