The Deathly Spark of Speculation

Dear Father,

  Thank You for Your glorious Gospel. We believe that You will rescue us from every evil attack and bring us safely to Your heavenly Kingdom. Yet at the present time we are persecuted and tried, day after day, by our enemy. Your enemy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy us and we need help, Father. There is no one like You to protect the powerless against the mighty. We rely on You because You are our Lord. Do not let the evil forces prevail over us. It would be better for me to be locked up in a manhole with You like many of Your other servants have been than to succumb to evil. He who is in us us greater than he who is in the world. We proclaim ∞ times with weeping "Lord, come to our aid"
In Jesus Christ's Name,
Amen

Theme Song: Spoken For

     Dear beloved, you must be feeling like me to some degree. Not a week has gone by for so long during which my soul has not been sifted like wheat, and tried to the utmost in new and unexpected ways. Every noble purpose and desire has been opposed and threatened by the devil and demonic forces. During the worst times, doubt and confusion cloud the heart. And yet it has been almost a year since a week has passed during which He has not displayed His glory in a life changing, soul purging, and joy-bringing way. This letter is deeply personal and I pray that God uses it to minister to my own soul and yours. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? I John 5 This letter is about the deathly spark of speculation that results in sin and eventually destruction. In the moment that we question the Character of God's goodness to His people and we speculate that perhaps good may be found outside of His Command, the deathly spark of speculation arises. If we continue in unrepentance and let the spark run its course, we would surely fall away. But His will for us is that we would repent and continue in perfect faith. We will be taking a broad look at the events of the fall of man and the restoration that the Trinity displays until the time when we are again able to eat from the Tree of Life. 

I. The First Fall of Man

 ⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.Gen 2

     The state of the mind, spirit, and body of Adam and Eve prior to their fall was unlike that of any other human. In the middle of the Garden were placed the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Hebrew word for knowledge, da'ath, means knowledge or awareness. Prior to the fall, Adam and Eve's minds were not aware of the presence of sin. All of the disobediences and breakages of the Laws of God known to us were hidden from them. In their largest pondering, they could not contemplate or mentally innovate such acts of rebellion. Because there was no sin in them, their spirits were not separated from God, but rather they were able to stand in His Presence and fellowship freely with Him. And in their body, they felt no shame. God had instituted one Law to them: they were not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil for in the day that they ate of it they would (and did) surely die. 

   
16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”Gen 2

     In Light of God's character of loving-kindness towards all those whom He has made which renders every command and act regarding the elect mankind as having a good purpose for them, there are two aspects of this command. Firstly God knew something about the effect of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that caused Him to forbid them to eat from it because it would be harmful to them in some way. And secondly God in His foreknowledge knew that they would not remain sinless through obedience to His command and that He would intervene at the Cross. In the first case let us consider how the awareness of evil may have been harmful to them. God Himself is aware that sin exists and it has not harmed Him. The knowledge of the existence of sin has not harmed Him because He is God.  21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor 5 These Words indicate that Jesus did not know sin in His inner parts. Certainly He was aware that sin existed, but He did not contain an inkling of a sinful thought or attitude within Himself even as God in flesh Form. Whereas, in the case of Adam and Eve, God knew that if they were aware of the evil that existed, they would not have chosen the way of righteousness. Why? Because they are not God. How can we know that they would not have chosen good over evil if they had known of the choice of evil? We know because they have disobeyed God's Command to not eat from this tree. For in their act of disobedience in eating from the tree they proved to the world that they [and all humanity with them] were not not able of handling the awareness of evil for they would have certainly chosen the way of evil and been destroyed in it. 

     Let us take a look at the manner in which the serpent tempted Eve. His first statement was that "You surely will not die". This was a lie, for death refers to a separation from God and in the moment that Adam and Eve sinned they were separated from God (until they were restored) due to the presence of sin within them. The second statement of the serpent was "God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened". Yes, their eyes would be opened to become aware of sin and their own shame... His final statement was "you will be like God, knowing good and evil". They certainly became aware of evil, but they did not become like God in doing so. For in their awareness of sin, their hearts fell far from the righteous glory of His perfect character.

4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Gen 3

     Now let us look at the response of Eve. We will see in her response that a deathly spark of speculation originated within her. Eve saw that the tree was good for food. God had given them free access to the other trees of the garden for food. The fruit of these trees were good for food. In believing that the forbidden fruit of this tree was good for food, Eve believed the lie that God would withhold from her something that was good. Secondly Eve saw that the tree was delightful, or pleasant, to the eye. Because Adam and Eve were not separated from the Lord, they were able to gaze on the beauty of the Lord. Eve's heart's worship of the forbidden tree's beauty showed that she, at that moment, did not exalt the beauty of the Lord over that of His creation. Finally Eve saw that the tree was desirable for making one wise. Though in God's Command, it was clear that God intended to withhold the knowledge of evil from them, Eve supposed that perhaps she would be better off with this wisdom. Furthermore, rather than worshiping and exalting the mysterious wisdom of her Creator, she sought to acquire knowledge for her selfish purposes. The heart of the fall of Adam and Eve was doubt and speculation. They speculated that perhaps God's Command was not in their best interest. They considered that perhaps there was some greater pleasure or wisdom outside of what God intended for them. Their act of disobedience showed that in their hearts they exalted themselves above the throne of God. They desired to be on the throne rather than to have God on His throne in their hearts. They committed the act of great blaspheme. And in our conception into wickedness, we have failed to acknowledge God. We have all been borne into the great blaspheme: the belief that God's Commands are not given in love...that God is not the righteous God who He truly is. In the smallest inclination of an evil desire, we sought to exalt ourselves and we blasphemed our Creator. 

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Gen 3

     As God's children, we look back and we understand in part the love in God's Command to Adam and Eve. We understand that they would have been in the Presence of God, delighting in His loving-kindness and perfect creation even now, if they had not disobeyed. God knew the devastating effect that their knowledge of evil would have on them. He knew that their eyes would be opened and they would feel their shame. Though they were united as husband and wife, and no other humans existed, still they felt shame in their flesh. And the other devastating outcome was the absence of love, grace, and forgiveness within themselves, the fallen sinners, to cover over the offences and shame of one another. For apart from the knowledge of His grace, we all would have been like Ham, who would have rather exposed the shame of his father than to cover it. Not only were we filled with shame apart from His intervention, but we were not helpful to one another to cover over it in any way. 

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.Gen 3

     Following the first fall of man, God immediately revealed the Gospel to Adam and Eve. 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Gen 3 God sacrificed an animal to indicate that without the shedding of blood there could be no forgiveness of sin and covered them with the skin to show them that the righteousness of the future Messiah covers them. Furthermore, He stationed a cherubim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard the way to the Tree of Life. For in their human form, if they had lived forever, though God has forgiven their sins in Christ, the day when they saw Him Face to Face and became perfect like Him may have been eternally prolonged. They would have existed as we are today, free from the penalty of sin, but still in the presence of sin...the troubling presence of the consequence of sin forever. 

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.Gen 3

II. The Deathly Spark of Speculation

     The deathly spark of speculation, the doubting of God's character and exaltation, is described in James. We are tempted when we are carried away and enticed by our own lust. When lust conceives, it gives birth to sin. And we know that the wages of sin is death. Lusts, or desires and longings, originate from the affections of the heart. When our hearts have desires and longings that are contrary to the Commands of God, the acts of outward sin are sure to follow. Now that we are in Christ, we are given new hearts that fear God and are filled with righteous and holy affections. Remember the way Your heart longs for Him and seeks to obey Him when you are instructed in Godliness. Remember the look in the eyes of the beloved around you who are moved by the Spirit in conviction and awe at the righteous love of the heavenly Father shown through Christ. All of these acts of the Spirit are saturated with righteousness, purity, love, reference, worship, and peace. For when we live by the Spirit we do not gratify the desires, that is, the lusts, and longings of the sinful nature. It is of great importance that we set our hearts and minds on what the Spirit desires. In the letter "Royal Rectification" I described that when God's children momentarily sin, He still delights in them because Christ's righteousness covers them and He knows that He is bringing them to perfection. But in another sense, when our minds and hearts are set on the sinful nature, the Spirit is grieved. "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (Eph 4:30). In this manner, Jesus wept at the unbelief and sorrow of His chosen people when they grieved over the death of Lazarus though He knew that His purpose was to reveal His glory by raising Lazarus from the dead and that many would believe in Him on account of Christ's resurrection power displayed in Lazarus's life.  

¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.  James 1

     We ought to guard our affections with utmost zeal and earnestness. For it is a certainty that the domains of our hearts and minds will become the domains of our outward behaviors, life styles, and words. The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death. But the mind controlled by the Spirit is Life and peace. As Paul wrote to the Philippians "8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Phil 4 As we set our minds and hearts on the desires of the sinful nature, we are living in the lusts of the flesh. And taking into account the mentioned James model of temptation, we understand that the lusts of the flesh drag us away into temptation, sin, and eventually death if we refuse to repent. As we doubt the promises of eternal Life in knowing Christ and walking with Him, we start to long for survival or pleasure from worldly things. Without the Spirit's circumcision of our hearts, we will certainly commit whatever act of immorality that we had set our hearts and minds upon. 

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “ Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”Gen 4

     Oh dear saint, may we guard our affections and thoughts with utmost zeal. The moment our heart are given to the desires of the flesh, we have already stepped onto horribly unstable territory. Sin is crouching at our door and our enemy is fiercely seeking to destroy the people of God with immorality of all kinds. This enemy is crouching and we often do not see his presence or know when and how he will strike. There are many who had not consciously pursued the way of evil, but the moment they had ceased to walk with the Spirit, they had opened the door and the sin that was already crouching behind rushed to corrupt, pollute, and destroy. Do not open the door, dear saint! Guard your self in your heart and do not break faith with Him. Unless we continue to love the Truth of His glory, we would surely fall away to the wiles of the enemy. For as we walk by the Spirit, our hearts are secure, and though we face earthly trials, we are able to praise and thank Him, we are able to forgive, we are able to fellowship with one another. But the moment we have gone out of step with the Spirit, regardless of how closely we had walked with the Spirit in the past, we are powerless. Regardless of the extent of His glory and the manner of holiness and purity that He had allowed us to remain in for perhaps even prolonged periods of time, if we were to fall out of step with the Spirit, the enemy's war will be far too fierce for us. For when we walk in the Spirit, we often do not realize the safety and peace that is protecting us from all sorts of wiles. I know I have taken for granted the purity and freedom from temptation that He has granted me when I walk with the Spirit. But the moment any of us fall out of step with Him, even for a moment, we are fair game for the attack of the enemy. And if we are truly God's children, even if we fall, He will restore us to repentance, but the consequences are devastating for us and for the Body of Christ around us. When we walk with Christ, His power prevails infinitely more than the powers of the evil temptations thrown at us. It is our faith in Christ that overcomes the world. Our conscious faith in what Christ has done to save us from our sins keeps us in step with the Spirit and free from the lusts of the flesh that result in sin and death. But when we are momentary letting our minds and hearts dwell on the sinful nature, and forfeiting the power of His grace, the battle is far too strong for us to win. There is no way we can destroy the desires of the flesh unless we replace them with the greater desires of the Father implanted by the Spirit through the blood of Christ. 

     For Christ did not come only to remove our passionate evil desires, but to replace them with far stronger desires for His glory and His Agape. Would we believe the devil's lie that passion is only to be found in the domain of the satisfaction of the desires of the flesh? Certainly not! If the desires of the sinful nature are strong, how much greater and more intense are the desires for the glory and love of God that are implanted by the Spirit! We are not like the demon-possessed man who is emptied of one demon and filled with 7 additional even more wicked spirits which make the final state of the man worse than the original (Matt 12:44-45). 

¹⁸ that they were saying to you, “ In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” ¹⁹ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on some, who are doubting; ²³ save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Jude

     In the end, Christ will give to the one who overcomes the right to eat from the Tree of Life that is in the Paradise of God (Rev 2:7). Yes, the door had been guarded by the cherubim with the flaming sword but we know that "He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens" (Rev 3:7). God had guarded Adam and Eve from eating from the Tree of Life and living forever in their human state. But when we are purified when we see Jesus Face to face, He will open the door and we will eat from the Tree of Life and we will live forever with Him. May we never doubt the Character of our God! He is faithful and His love is so very great. In the midst of the Spiritual warfare of temptations that we face, let us remember the first fall of man and the effect of the deathly spark of speculation within the hearts of our ancestors. May we also remember that if we overcome, we will be able to eat from the Tree of Life. His commands are given in love, dear saints. There is a greater zeal, a greater love, a great desire, a greater promise, and a greater exalted One than the evil deceitful promises of earthly passion and devil-worship. 

¹⁴ For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.
¹⁵ I will go away and return to My place
Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.

6 “ Come, let us return to the Lord.

For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
² “He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
³ “So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.” Hos 5-6

III. Two Outcomes of the Deathly Spark of Speculation

     When mankind denies the Character of God and exalts themselves in their hearts above the throne of God, disaster results. Now we will briefly describe two examples of the outcome of the deathly spark of speculation.

1. The Unified Purpose of Sinful Mankind

     In the Tower of Babel incident, God described that the people were one and they had the same language. God saw that they had begun to build a tower to reach heaven and to make a name for themselves. Thus, God saw that the people were unified in a godless purpose and He saw that nothing which they purposed to do would be impossible for them. God's destruction of the tower, confusing of their languages, and scattering them over the earth was an act of grace. For if He had let them continue in their unified sin, they would have together been destroyed under the wrath of God. But in their isolation and scatterings, I believe that some would have cried out to God for forgiveness and salvation as the Spirit revealed to their hearts that one day a Deliverer would come who would save their people from their sins. 

5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 TheLord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.Gen 11

     In a sense we see, at least in part, the manifestation of the unified evil purpose of mankind in the present time. We are apt to feel in our sinful nature that if there is a general consensus pertaining to some belief or some general way of living, that the average of the populus constitutes sufficient goodness and reasonableness. But God confirms here and elsewhere in His Word, that often times the consensus of the people is exactly contrary to His good purposes. In fact, it was precisely the unity of sinful mankind that God worked against in His destruction of the tower of Babel. Even among the churches within modern day America, we must seek out His good Truth and not assume that the consensus is true. As believers, we are promised the unity and fellowship of the people of God, but the Words of Christ convey to us that there will be times when we sense hatred from the world, times when we are alone in our standing for Truth, and times when we will have no resort but Him. But He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work in us and nothing is impossible for God. No temptation has overtaken us except what is common to man and God is faithful: He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able. With the temptation He will always offer the way of escape so that we may be able to stand under it. (I Cor 10:13)

2. The Fleeing from God-given Authority or Responsibility

      In our sinful nature we are so willing to leave behind yokes of either authority or responsibility. As the Angel of the Lord told Hagar when she sought to flee from Sarah, her mistress who had been ill-treating her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority" (Gen 16:9). I have seen myself and so many of my fellow family of Christ seek "freedom" from these God-given yokes. Little did we realize that these yokes were put in place to test and refine our character, to show us that we are dust apart from Him, and ultimately to conform us to the Image of Christ. Sometimes these yokes are an environment where we feel hated or disrespected. Often the yoke is the relationship with family or other people. In many cases the affairs of the heart that exist within marriages originate from a broken relationship between the individual and God and result in a fear of authority or responsibility. The power to overcome in all of these circumstances results from a conforming of our souls to the Image of Christ. Our circumstances, our surroundings, and people around us are truly not our problem at all. Our problem is our own self. For as we submit to God's will in the place or position which God is calling us to remain in, and receive our lot from His Hand, we will find contentment and peace. The yokes may appear to be bleak, hopeless, and meaningless, yet God has a history of revealing His brilliance during such times to His dear children. Remember dear saints, true justice for the people of God is a state in which their knowledge of Jesus Christ is so great that no earthly disaster, trial, or temptation can touch them.

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “ I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.
9 Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the Lord, loving kindness shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart. Ps 32

The Heart of Divinity

I am writing Sunday's letter today because I may not have time to write it this weekend. 

Dear Father,

I praise You that Your gift and Your call are irrevocable and as certain as the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Please forgive me for for all of my hidden sins and lead us in the way everlasting. Help me to clearly describe the Truths that you have taught me about the Heart of Divinity: Your Heart. Show us the means by which Your Law reveals Your Heart, how Your Word executes the contents of Your heart, and the part of Your Heart reflected by the mystery of Your choosing of the nation of Israel as Your people.

In Jesus Christ's Name,
Amen

Theme Song: Let Your Glory Fall

²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.Rom 1 

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! ³⁴ For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? ³⁵ Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? ³⁶ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.Rom 11 

     God has taught me new Truths this week about the Heart of Divinity. I pray that He will help me to explain these Truths clearly and briefly. May the Holy Spirit work in your heart and mind to help you understand His heart. As we understand His heart, confusion will be swept away and His peace and Life will reside in our midst. The purpose of this letter is to show us how the Law and Word of God and God's choosing of the nation of Israel reveal the Heart of Divinity. 

      There are two aspects of the Divine Nature that will not be expounded on in the three sections of this letter, but I will mention them. The first is that Divinity is characterized by life. As Jesus claimed "I am the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE", He conveyed to the world that He was Divinity. Furthermore, He was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness (Rom 1:4). His resurrection from the dead occurred because His is Divinity and ascertains to us that He is Divnity. The second aspect is Divine forbearance (Greek word: anoche), or the tolerance and self-restraint of God with regard to His execution of justice against wickedness. For those who will believe in the Gospel, His forbearance allows them to survive up until the time of repentance. For those who will never believe in Him, His forbearance reveals the riches of His glory to those who receive His mercy. It is a mystery to me how His forbearance reveals His glory to us. I believe that He allows us to observe the grace of God shown to the wicked as well as to experience persecution from them so that on the Day when they are judged, we will acknowledge the extent of His good justice. 

 ²² What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?²³ And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory Rom 10

I. The Law and the Heart of Divinity

     The Heart of Divinity is characterized by righteousness. In His perfect righteousness, He is holy, that is, He is separated from the rest of us. He is far above us and remains unapproachable by those who are not holy. Because we separated from God because of our unholiness and our falling short of the glory of God, there would be no way for them to acknowledge the righteousness of God. There would be no way for us to know the Heart of God. We would be unaware of both the righteousness of God and the separation of ourselves from God (because of His holiness).

     But God did not intend to keep us unaware of His righteousness nor our separation from Himself. His intention was to reveal the contents of His heart to mankind. The revelation of the Divine heart to mankind reveals His glory to them. And His purpose from beginning to end was to uphold the glory of His Name among us.

     The means by which God would reveal His righteousness to mankind was to establish His Law among them. His Law was given to Moses in written form and written on the hearts of all mankind. In this manner, no human could escape the knowledge of the Law of God. The Law of God revealed the righteousness of God by imputing, or to put on account/attribute, our sin to us. The fact had been established at the time of our conception that we were separated from God because of our sin. The Law of God was put in place to hold us accountable to our sin and to let us acknowledge that sin is attributed to our own hearts. Through the Law we see our hearts and we behold the vast attribution of sin to them.

¹³ for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Rom 5

      It was not as if we were sinless until the Law came, but rather, because of the Law, the sin that dwelt in us would be regarded by us as utterly sinful (Rom 7:13). The Law is good and when the Law is upheld, the righteousness of God is revealed. For where the Law is fulfilled, the perfect love and justice of God are reflected. The Law is holy, righteous, and good and Its execution shows that the Divine heart is holy, righteous, and good (Rom 7:11). But we are not good. And the sin in us took its opportunity through the law to deceive and destroy us. It is a strange concept that in the presence of the Law of God, the sinful passions of our hearts are aroused and exemplified.

⁵ For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. Rom 7 

     The Law of God reveals the extent of our wickedness because there is another law in addition to the Law of God: the law of sin. The law of sin is the law that exists as a result of our innate wicked state in which we are incapable of doing anything good. In our original state, we can only sin. The law of sin is the command of our evil heart that we must sin. We were a slave to this law of sin because day and night our hearts cried out "We must sin!". This law of sin reigned supreme in our midst and revealed our slavery. We were slaves and prisoners to the law of sin that dwelt within our body (Rom 7:2). We worshiped the law that commanded us to sin. We could not do anything but fall prostrate to this law of sin in wholehearted devotion. Our entire hearts were enslaved to the worship of the law of sin, the law that "we must sin!". 

¹⁶ Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?Rom 6

     But the Law of God came to reveal to us our transgressions and the more we knew and understood the Law of God, the greater our transgression were seen in our own minds. "The Law came in so that transgression would increase" (Rom 5:20). The purpose of God in sending us His Law was not because we were able to obey It or because He thought that we would obey It. The reason He sent us His Law was to reflect His hidden righteousness to the hearts of wicked mankind. For only in the presence of the righteous glory of God could sinners behold their wickedness. Where there is no righteousness displayed, there could be no definition of our unrighteousness set up in our understanding. His Law was given to those who remained under the Law because they were enslaved to the law of sin and required this Law to acknowledge their slavery. 

     His intent in giving us His Law was to show us the need for grace. For the Law would reveal the righteousness of God. When we contemplated His commands to love, to forgive, to worship Him, to be selfless, to lay down our lives, we would understand that God loves, God forgives, Christ humbled Himself to death on a cross...And when we understood this good character of God, we would understand that we were not good. We would understand that we had only hated, held charges against one another, worshiped ourselves, and hated God. Furthermore, when we could understand the goodness of God, it would be easier for our minds to fathom why He cannot stand to have us in His Presence and why His good wrath and judgments are carried out among mankind now and at the time of final judgement. The more we knew the righteousness of God, the more we would understand how good and right it is for God to be burning with wrath and anger against the wicked...against our own selves. 

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; ²⁰ because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for  through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.Rom 3

     In acknowledging the doom of our souls with the maintenance of His good justice, we would come to know grace. He would move us to the foot of the cross where we beheld His greatest sacrifice and love. As we died to our old selves, we died to the law of sin that commanded that "we must sin!". Furthermore, the righteousness of Christ was imputed onto us and we were treated as righteous in the Father's eyes. It was not as if the Father sees us now as wicked because of the sins we commit as Christians, but forgives us because we trust in Christ. Rather, He sees us as righteous because we truly are righteous. Our new hearts are pleasing in His sight for they have been sanctified and made holy through the blood of Christ. The Spirit has circumcised our hearts so that His Law is upheld within our being (Rom 2:29). We are no longer bound by the Law but rather establish the Law through our faith (Rom 3:31). For the manner in which the Law bound us is that It aroused the sinful passions of our wicked hearts. We were bound by the Law precisely because we were utterly incapable of keeping It. But now that our hearts are righteous through our faith in Christ, the Law can no longer reveal wickedness that does not remain in us. Our hearts have become holy just as God's heart is holy. 

 ⁶ But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.Rom 7

     So now that our hearts are holy and righteous, TRULY, then what does the Law do to us? God is holy and righteous and what do the Law do to God? The Law of God reveals the righteousness of the Divine heart. In the same way, for us who believe, the Law reveals the righteousness of our new hearts. When we read the Law of God we are reading descriptions of WHO WE TRULY ARE. And as we walk in the Spirit, we walk and speak from the overflow of the righteous hearts. We are set free from the law of sin and death. We no longer "must sin" but rather are able to uphold the law because of the righteousness that comes by faith. 

²¹ But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,²² even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;Rom 3

     Now we are able to behold the righteousness of God by faith. Through the Spirit we can see the glorious love, grace, mercy, and justice of our God with clean and pure eyes. We no longer are filled with the fear of doom as we see the righteousness of God through the Law, but now the Law only exemplifies the new person through Its revelation of who we are in Christ. For when we truly believe that Christ's righteousness has been imputed to us, then when we read the Laws to love, to forgive, to be selfless...we believe that we are loving, we are forgiving, we are selfless...why?...because Christ is loving, Christ is forgiving, Christ is selfless and His righteousness is bestowed to us. By the Spirit, our faith in the imputing of Christ's righteousness to our souls allows us to walk in goodness and to not satisfy the desires of the sinful nature. 

⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk innewness of life. Rom 6

     Such great power to walk in righteousness will be ours when we remember that the Divine Heart resides in us by the Spirit. Our prayers for the Spirit to move in our hearts are answered so powerfully by our loving Father through our Advocate, Jesus Christ. Great power will control us when we are consciously aware that our mortal bodies are host to the Holy Spirit. May we ever be conscious of His inhabiting of our inmost being. He has sanctified each part of our mortal bodies and His dwelling is never removed from us. How willing we should be to put to death the misdeeds of the body and to not let sin remain in our bodies. May we keep our homes clean as we contemplate this great power that dwells within us. Trust in the Spirit and pray for His outpouring. He is a Person and He will awaken your being as you acknowledge Him and please Him by your faith.

⁹ However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. ¹⁰  If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.Rom 8

II. The Word and the Heart of Divinity

⁴⁵  The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the eviltreasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.Luke 6

     There is something very important about the words uttered from the mouth. For words are spoken out of the overflow of the heart. Before we had died to the law of sin and death, our hearts were wicked and our words were the overflow of our hearts. As the apostles James writes "But no one can tame the tongue, it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison" (James 3:8). Our tongues were a restless evil and were full of deadly poison. Why? Was there something wrong with our tongues? Our tongues were deadly and evil because our hearts were deadly and evil. Our tongues were the objects that delivered the overflow of our horrendous and wicked hearts. 

   

     Now that we are raised to walk in newness of Life in Christ, when we walk by the Spirit our words will be the overflow of our new hearts filled with the perfect imputed righteousness of Christ. 

      What I will say next is very important and may God help us understand: the Word of God is the overflow of the Divine heart. Just as our words are the overflow of our hearts, the Word of God is the overflow of His heart. This is why the Word of God brings Life to those who remain in Christ and death to those who are apart from Him. For the Divine Heart is overflowing with loving-kindness, tender compassion, and passionate pure Agape for His children, but in His good justice, His heart is BURNING with the fire of His anger and wrath against all that stands against His righteous purpose for His glory to be revealed. The love of God for Himself and those who are righteous in Christ and His hatred against wickedness and the wicked is the essence of the Divine Heart. The Word of God is the overflow of that love and hatred. 

     The contents of the Divine Heart bring Life or Death to mankind. His love brings Life and His hatred brings death. His Word is the Vehicle by which the life-bringing or life-destroying power of His heart is unleashed. When the Spirit and Word work, the power of the Divine heart is displayed. The contents of the Divine Heart are executed by the Word of God. If we desire Life, may we plead with God for His Spirit and Word to unleash the power of the love of the Divine Heart.

     How does the Word of God execute the final judgement described in Revelations 19?

¹³ He is clothed with arobe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.¹⁴ And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen,white and clean, were following Him on white horses. ¹⁵  From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶ And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “ KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”Rev 19

     In this passage, the final judgement of God is described where God will destroy His enemies with the Word of God. The Word of God will carry out the final judgement of God. How does the Word kill? We must understand the aspect of the hatred and wrath of the Divine Heart. The burning fire of the hatred and anger of God comprise the "cup of God's wrath" which Jesus has drunk for the sake of the elect and which will be finally poured out on and drunk by the wicked. The wrath and anger of God dispel or cast one out from the Presence of God. The cup of wrath separates the one on whom it is poured from the presence of God. What is death? Death is separation from the Presence of God in the Lake of Fire. Thus, the anger and wrath of God shown to someone will cast them as far away from His Presence as He deems necessary at the time of final judgement. 

²⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast and on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched.”Jer 7

     Again we ask, "How does the Word bring this death to the wicked?" We know that the Words of God are the overflow of His heart. Thus, the Word is the means by which His cup of wrath is POURED out or OVERFLOWN. His Word will execute the pouring out of the wrath and hatred of the Divine Heart. 

III. The Choosing of the Nation of Israel and the Heart of Divinity
     May God forgive me for never understanding the purpose of His heart in the choosing of the nation of Israel as His own people. Even now I still cannot understand it entirely, but I pray that He will help us all to understand this in the days to come. We have often neglected pondering on the purpose of God in choosing the nation of Israel for Himself. Some have even supposed that the ordinance no longer exists since now, in Christ, all who believe are part of the nation of Israel in a Spiritual sense. Yes, it is true that all who believe comprise the final people of God, the true Israel, but God's choosing of the nation of Israel in an earthly sense is still eternally upheld. There is a very important aspect of God's heart revealed in this working of God. I will write here what I have understood in the past week about the Divine Nature of God revealed in His choosing of the Israelite nation.

     God created Adam and Eve in His Image and they disobeyed Him in His perfect Garden of Eden. He provided animal skins as clothing to hide their shame as a way of showing them that one day a Deliver would come who would offer His blood to atone for their wickedness and His righteousness as their covering. The next generations of humans were increasingly wicked until the time of Noah. Noah and His family pleased God because of their faith in Him in the midst of their wicked generation. God choose Noah and destroyed the rest of mankind to show His mercy and love towards those who trusted in Him and His good wrath against wickedness. Then several generations later, God choose Abraham and Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. God rewarded him for his faith and promised that his offspring would give rise to a great nation and that all other nations would be blessed through him. After a long period of patience and faith, Issac was born and God's promises were shown though Issac. Though Issac was chosen to carry forth the promises of God towards Abraham, only one of Issac's two twin sons was chosen to carry the promise further yet. In the mysterious purposes of God's mercy and justice, He hated and hardened the heart of Esau but loved and purified the heart of Jacob. Jacob gave rise to 12 tribes. God revealed His glory to His people through His 10 plagues of judgment against Egypt and Pharoah. Israel turned away from God and asked for a kingship. Most of these kings turned away from God, nevertheless, some good kings reigned in righteousness and faith: David, Solomon, Josiah, Asa, Azariah, Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, Jotham, Uzziah... Throughout the tumultous times of wicked kings, idolatry, and eventually captivity in the lands of their enemies, God carried His Seed through the generations and the line of Christ's ancestors was never wiped out.

     Now the Deliverer has come and salvation has come to all of the people of God. Yet, Jesus came to His own people and His own people did not receive Him. Most of the Jews, especially the religious leaders, rejected the Seed of God through Whom salvation was to come into the world. All day long God held out His Hands to a disobedient  and obstinate people (Rom 10:21). They still did not receive Him. Yet God must uphold the glory of His Name in the sight of the nations. And even during the Old Testament times, God allowed foreigners and aliens to join His people. Foreigners who bound themselves to God to love Him in His eternal Covenant, Law, and Promises were taken into His house (Is 56:6). To capture the hearts of His people He choose to make them jealous by nations that He had not chosen and which had no understanding of the Nature of God (Rom 10:19).

²⁰ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹ The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I will also go.” ²² So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of theLord.’ ²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”Zech 8

     He allowed Himself to be found by those who did not seek Him and He manifested Himself to those who did not ask for Him (Rom 10:20). He called the Gentiles who were not His people as His people and sons of the Living God (Rom 9:25-26). He revealed His glory to His people through calling the Gentiles, who had not known His Commandments or been called as His chosen people. He was revealing that He truly is the King of the world and that His Laws are filled with His splendor and righteousness. The fact that people from other nations would leave behind their lives and cultural religions to serve this God shows that He is the True and Living God and He is worthy of all worship and praise. He is so worthy that people who know nothing about Him and who had no former connection to Him would leave behind everything to follow Him. 

¹² Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!Rom 11

     God choose to harden the hearts of the Israelite people until the full number of chosen Gentiles come to faith (Rom 11:25). And it is, in fact, because of the sin of His people, that riches are brought to the other nations through Christ. His intent in giving us salvation was not only for our sakes, but to draw the hearts of His own disobedient people back to Himself through our obedience. We are shown mercy because of their disobedience and because of the mercy shown to us, mercy will be shown to them. For when they see our obedience through faith, their hearts will be turned to God at the time of the end and it is only the mercy of God that allows their hearts to turn back. God will pour on them a Spirit of grace and supplication and they will look on the One whom they have pierced and mourn (Zech 12:10).

³⁰ For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. ³² For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.Rom 11

     Romans 11 describes that branches were cut off of the natural tree which represents the nation of Israel so that we, the Gentiles, may be grafted in. We ought to tremble in fear and reverence because God has grafted us in if we continue in His kindness. He is able and He will graft in His chosen people. Not all of the physical nation of Israel will be saved, but God, in His Divine Nature, always preserves a remnant within His people who believe. 

²² Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³ And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?Rom 11

     The true adoption as sons, glory, covenants, giving of the Law and the temples services and promises belongs to the nation of Israel. They are and always will be the nation of Israel, God's chosen people. God has desired so greatly to be honored and glorified among His people that if we truly understood the depth of this desire in the Divine Heart, as His children, we would be like Paul who wished that he were accursed and separated from Christ for the sake of these chosen people (Rom 9:3-5). God's Foundation is in the holy mountains and He loves the gates of Zion. Glorious things are said the City of God. God will mention the Gentiles among those who know Him and He will treat them as though they were born in Israel and they will sing "All my springs of joy are in you" (Ps 87).

     The fact that He choose us to be His own though we were not part of the chosen nation of Israel reveals His mercy and His grace which draw the souls of all mankind to Himself. It reveals His impartiality, for all people, Jews and Gentiles, will be judged according to their eternal standing. Jesus longed to gather the people of Jerusualem in His arms but they were unwilling (Luke 13:34). The Divine Heart overflows with love for His people. May our hearts dwell with His in our desire for His chosen people to turn to Him in repentance and faith. He loves them so very much. In His grace, has loved us, the Gentiles, along with them. 

²² Thus says the Lord God,“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nationsAnd set up My standard to the peoples;And they will bring your sons in their bosom,And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.“ Kings will be your guardians,And their princesses your nurses.They will bow down to you with their faces to the earthAnd lick the dust of your feet;And you will know that I am the Lord;Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame. Is 49

There is much more in this mystery of God's choosing of the Nation of Israel, especially with regard to God's reconciling of them to the Gentiles in Christ by putting to death their hostility. Please talk to me if you have insight into anything about Israel because my heart longs to understand this more.

Excellent Sermon: Anand sent this to me when I told him that my soul was exhausted this week. This sermon was given by Spurgeon and is read by a meek elderly woman. Spurgeon explains the Person of the Holy Spirit in a very simple way. If you listen to it with faith, the Spirit will move in your heart so powerfully. I feel that it has restored some of my first love for God by reminding me that the Spirit is so near to me and as I acknowledge His Presence and pray for Him to move, He will always answer and grant me my request.

My Letter To James Holmes: I was not sure how to get my letter to James. Yesterday I emailed a host of sheriffs, officers, and prison ministry coordinators to see if they could give it to him. After a series of email re-routings a lieutenant gave me an address and instructions to mail the original copy to him. So now it is in the mail and I pray that it gets into his hands and that the Spirit will work in him.