The Knowledge of Salvation by the Forgiveness of Sin

Dear Father,

     I praise You for bringing us the knowledge of Your salvation through the forgiveness of our sins. Thank You that as we receive Your forgiveness, there is no possibility for us to continue not loving others. Last week when You told me that You would teach me about forgiveness, I thought that I already understood as I remembered that the power for righteous living came from receiving Your forgiveness. Thank You for showing me so much more in the past week. Please help me to write the Truth about the heart that receives forgiveness and the effect that this receiving (or lack thereof) has on our Spiritual vision, freedom, and love for others. Also help us to understand the unforgivable sin. 

In Jesus Christ's Name,

Amen

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
⁷⁷ To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
⁷⁹ To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”Luke 1

     God's purpose in this letter is to show us that forgiveness is of primary importance in our walk of faith in Him. Our ability to receive His forgiveness reflects the extent to which our hearts have acknowledged the fullness of our sin and the largeness of our debt as well as the extent of His grace and the fullness of His salvation and love. Our ability to forgive directly reflects our knowledge of His "salvation by the forgiveness of our sins". The inability to forgive reveals the presence of a false sense of justice in the soul and keeps one behind prison doors where the Truth is blurred and darkness pervades. God portrays forgiveness to us, not as a work of self-righteousness, but as a soul purging required element that tests our hearts and refines our character. Finally the unforgivable sin represents tasting the Spiritual gift of the effect of God's righteousness and the glory of God as though the "veil is removed" and rejecting the Truth eternally. 

I. The Model of Forgiveness

     There are several instances in the Word of God where forgiveness is described as having an integral and necessary role in the salvation and status of the souls of mankind. We know that "to the who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, His faith is credited as righteousness" (Rom 4:5). Thus the righteousness of Christ is credited to us as a gift when we believe in the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. That is, when we truly receive the forgiveness of God, we are not longer condemned according to our works, but are found covered in the righteousness of Christ. However, Jesus said ²⁵ Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. ²⁶ But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.” Mark 11 It appears from these words and also the words in the Lord prayer "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us" that we would be forgiven by God based on our ability to forgive others. God will only forgive us if we forgive other people. And then as we consider our lack of perfect love towards many, our hearts again feel the sentence of death...that we have returned to the original state of falling short of the glory of God and falling under condemnation. Our hearts may cry, "Father, if You will only forgive me if I perfectly forgive everyone, then how can I possibly ever receive Your forgiveness? There is no hope for me!" There would not be any hope for anyone. For who can forgive sins but God alone? Who is worthy to forgive sin but God alone? Who is righteously capable of forgiving sin but God alone? Who can understand the depth of the sin that needs to be forgiven?

     There is a great hope for those chosen sheep who have known the forgiveness of God and yet resorted temporarily to anger or bitterness. For their God will surely discipline them so that they will forgive and not harbor these evils in their hearts. The extent to which we receive the forgiveness of God is the extent to which we are able to forgive others. When we forgive others in the Name of Christ, it is revealed that we have received the eternal forgiveness of God. God does not leave any room for doubt: If we have truly received His forgiveness we must forgive. And if we have not forgiven others, we are forced to return to Him and call out to Him in repentance until He showers His grace and power to our unbelieving hearts to receive His forgiveness, know His salvation, and to be filled with the return of love for our Savior that extends to all of His people. So as believers, what is the role of unforgiveness? The role of our unforgiveness is to convey to our souls that we are not receiving His forgiveness. Our ability to forgive is a gauge that tests our claim to live in His grace. Our unforgiveness proves to us that we have [hopefully temporarily] fallen away from the knowledge of His grace and need to return. Our unforgiveness reminds us of our need to return to Him and continue in Him. In the midst of unforgiveness may our hearts pray "Lord, there is no way that I can forgive without Your power. I need You to show me my own sin and to give me grace to receive Your forgiveness. I need Your freedom from the prison that I am in. If I continue in this sin, I would fall away from grace. HELP ME TO CONTINUE IN YOUR GRACE in JESUS CHRIST, my Lord and Savior".

WHEN WE DO NOT FORGIVE, UNLESS WE REPENT, WE HAVE FALLEN AWAY FROM THE GRACE OF GOD SHOWN IN CHRIST.

     Thus, when God tells us that He will not forgive us unless we forgive others, He is warning us so that we will not be damned and is lovingly reminding His sheep to continue in His grace. Thank God that we become aware of our unforgiveness! Thank God for the prison and blindness that comes over our soul as the judgment for our unforgiveness. For this judgment results in our salvation and freedom so that we will not be condemned with the world.

³¹ But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. I Cor 11

     The divine mystery of forgiveness is revealed in these verses from I Cor 11. In verse 31 we read that if we judged ourselves rightly we would not be judged. If we have truly received His forgiveness for our salvation we are certain that we would escape His judgment. As Jesus said,  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24). In verse 32, we read that WHEN WE ARE JUDGED, this judgment is a form of discipline by our heavenly Father so that we will not be condemned. This judgement refers to the prison of the soul that we find ourselves in when we do not forgive. This judgment also refers to the conviction of all kinds of sin by the Holy Spirit until we have received forgiveness. They are in fact the very same states: the prison of unforgiveness and the prison of guilt. THE PRISON OF GUILT IS THE PRISON OF UNFORGIVENESS. When we refuse to receive forgiveness, that is, when we hold onto guilt, we will surely refuse to forgive. For we cannot give forgiveness that we have never received. For surely we have no forgiveness of our own to give.

     When we find that we have not forgiven each and every wrong committed by others, we are rightly convicted or "judged" and our sin of not forgiving only adds to the guilt that we had been harboring under the state of the soul that had failed to receive His forgiveness. Thus, if we are His true sheep, our unforgiveness will bring us back to repentance and grace. And this is where we belong: in the place of the forgiveness and grace of Jesus Christ. 

     We are now going to discuss one of Christ's key teachings on forgiveness: the parable of the unmerciful servant. God has taught me several aspects of this parable that I had not considered before. 

²¹ Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”²² Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
²³ “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.²⁴ When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵ But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.²⁸ But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred  denarii; and he seized him andbegan to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ ³⁰ But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. ³¹ So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. ³² Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. ³⁵  My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from^[ab]your heart.” Matt 18


The following truths are to be learned from the unmerciful servant:


1. The slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before his master as he considered that he could not pay his debt. He was not completely blind to his plight and was aware that he had a debt to be paid and a punishment that awaited him if he could not pay it. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON MAY BE AWARE THAT A PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR HIS SIN. 


2. He begged the master to be patient with him. He considered that perhaps with more time, he would be able to pay back his debt. We know that this slave's debt was so large that he had no hope of paying back even a significant portion of this debt if he worked hard for the rest of his life. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON UNDERESTIMATES THE SIZE OF HIS DEBT OF SIN.


3. He told the master that he would would repay everything. He considered himself capable of paying back his enormous debt with the extra time that he may be given. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON OVERESTIMATES HIS OWN ABILITY TO PAY FOR HIS SIN. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON DESIRES TO PAY FOR HIS OWN SIN rather than to ask God to pay for him.


4. He did not acknowledge or believe in the love and grace of his master. If he did, he would have asked the master to forgive him and cancel his debt. He did not know the righteous character of his master. Or perhaps he considered that his master is righteous but did not want his master to cancel his debt and wanted to pay himself. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON MISJUDGES OR REJECTS THE GRACIOUS CHARACTER OF HIS MASTER. 


5. The slave was forgiven and his debt was cancelled. But from the perspective of the slave (in points 1-4) it is clear that the slave did not have the heart of repentance to receive the forgiveness and see the perfect goodness of the master. Thus, when the fellow slave who owed him a small debt came to his attention, HE COULD NOT FORGIVE. He could only be angry and attempt to acquire this small payment from the fellow slave. He put this fellow slave in prison.


6. Though the master had offered the slave freedom and the cancellation of his debt, the slave did not take to heart what his master had done.  This resulted in his mistreatment of his fellow slave. THUS, HIS MASTER PUT HIM INTO PRISON, NOT BECAUSE OF HIS ORIGINAL LARGE DEBT, BUT BECAUSE HE NEVER RECEIVED THE MASTER's GRACE IN CANCELLING HIS DEBT.  This refusal to receive the master's gift resulted in his lack of forgiveness towards his fellow slave. The slave's rejection of the grace of the master was evidenced by his lack of forgiveness for the fellow slave.

6. The slave overestimated the size of the debt of his fellow slave and threatened him violently. Though this fellow slave only owed him a small amount of money, the slave exacerbated the small debt of the other in his own mind and gave him the punishment due to those who are have much larger debts and who have committed much larger offenses. (Note that the fellow slave had the same response as the slave had in saying "Be patient with me and I will repay you", which was perhaps a reasonable response since a small debt may be paid off with time and there was no grace in the character of the slave that would make it reasonable for the fellow slave to ask him to cancel his debt.) THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON OVERESTIMATES THE SIZE OF OTHER PEOPLE'S DEBT AND DEMANDS PAYMENTS THAT ARE OUT OF PROPORTION TO THE SIZE OF THE DEBT.

     The unmerciful servant had a false sense of justice. He understood neither the size of his debt nor the size of the punishment that was due him. He did not understand how futile and worthless his attempt to pay for his sin would be even if he had unlimited time. He did not understand the character of his master, the loving and forgiving master that he had who was willing to forgive him, cancel his debt, and love him forever if only he received the master. It is likely that the unmerciful servant had a deep pride that wanted to pay for his sin to satisfy his own false sense of justice rather than to receive the gift of his master. His false sense of justice and pride worked together to cause him to demand payment from his fellow slave. His heart resounded with the words "I must pay for my sin.  I am able to pay for my sin. You must pay for your sin, fellow slave, just as I must pay for my sin. There is no grace in my master and if there is I will refuse it. I will not show grace to my fellow slave, for just as I have rejected the grace of my master, I have none to give to you..."

     So in this parable we become aware of the divine mystery of forgiveness. In order to receive the grace and mercy of our heavenly Master, we must realize the magnitude of our offense and the magnitude of the punishment for our sin. How often have we tried to continue to bear the guilt for our sin in an attempt to satisfy our false sense of justice. We underestimate our sin and the size of the debt that must be paid to clear it. We fail to acknowledge that even if we were angry at ourselves, maimed our bodies and hearts with guilt and self-destruction for the rest of eternity, we would not close to scratching the surface or making the full payment for our sin. And when we hold onto our guilt, without receiving the gift of our Father in Jesus Christ, we expect others to hold onto their guilt. We wrongly believe that just as we cannot give up our guilt at the foot of the cross, we cannot give up the guilt of the other person at the foot of the cross. For we were meant to receive God's forgiveness for our own sin and to believe in the forgiveness of God for the one who wronged us so that we may love them as Christ loves them. Refusal to receive God's forgiveness and to acknowledge His love, mercy, and grace always translates into anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness towards others. The refusal to receive God's forgiveness shows that we have believed the devil's lie that our sin is small enough for us to pay for or that the grace of God is not large enough to cover it...this is the false sense of justice. And a false sense of justice in a person can never allow them to deliver true justice to another.

²¹ So Jesus said to them again, “ Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” ²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³  If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”John 20

     MAY WE COME BACK TO THE ONE WHO FORGIVES AND RECEIVE HIS GRACE TO BE FORGIVEN AND TO FORGIVE. May we acknowledge the truth of the perfect justice of the Father which states that our sin is infinitely large and that the debt to be paid is infinite and only the "precious blood of a Lamb without blemish and without spot" (I Peter 1:19) can serve as the complete payment for our sin and can remove our guilt. May we acknowledge that the love, mercy, and grace of our Master is infinitely high, wide, and deep...


“ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,
And whose sins have been covered.
⁸ “ Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”Rom 4

     

II. The Forgiveness Trial

     God's command to forgive one another is His command to love one another as He has loved us. As we have discussed in a previous writing, "Love only Travels the Forgiveness-paved Road". It is a great miracle and testimony of His glorious grace to consider all of our past and present [and future] weaknesses and His holding of our souls for eternity throughout all time in spite of these weaknesses. Each year we look back to the previous year and tell ourselves something like "Last year there were so many Spiritual Truths that I did not understand and so many weaknesses that God has removed from my life. I am so thankful that God has shown me His goodness and taught me His Word" and yet we know that there is much to be refined in our souls in the time ahead and next year we will see how we have been refined from where we are now though now we feel that we have already received His grace to have grown further in the knowledge of Christ compared to last year. In this way, God's covenant cannot be revoked. Christ as our Head and Husband forgives and forgives His Bride. He lives to intercede for her. No matter where she turns and where her heart drifts, He will continue to draw her to Himself, to speak tenderly to her, to allure her in the dessert, to lovingly rebuke her, to discipline her so that she will share in His holiness. And the Father will always look at her as clothed not in her own works, but in the righteousness of His Son. 

Thus says the Lord,

“ If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,” declares the Lord. Jer 31:37

     In the same way, God calls us to forgive all those around us and to show them the unconditional love of Christ. I have seen Him training the souls of many true believers through their marriages in this area. We know that the only hope for a joyous and satisfying marriage comes from sacrifice and self-denial. As an observer of Christian marriages, I realize that no earthly asset in either the man or woman will predispose a marriage for excellency nor flip the hand of the outcome of the flesh-nature in either of them. Only the individual sacrifice, death to self, and conforming of the souls of both parties into the image of Christ will give hope for a blessed marriage. And I see that it is a continuing process, never complete, never anything but a delicate handiwork that is completely dependent of the daily grace of the heavenly Father revealed in Christ.

³ Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.⁴ And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”Luke 17

     We are called to show this same commitment of forgiveness and love towards all of the people of God. ³⁰  Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³²  Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.Eph 4 This command to love is for the benefit of the entire body of Christ. For as we attempt to love, we find that we are unable to love others unless we have forgiven them. And in our unforgiveness we are convicted that we have temporarily lost sight of the grace of God and we are brought back to repentance. The Spirit brings us back to the place of repentance at the cross and we find that the items of contention for which we struggle to forgive others are items of guilt in our own hearts and require for our own receiving of forgiveness for the very same sins that we are offended at when expressed from others. As we have discussed in a previous letter, we are offended when an action or word from another feeds into the guilt that we harbor in our own soul. And our taking offense shows that we are not forgiving because we have not received the Father's forgiveness and instead hold onto guilt. It is as though our hearts say "I do not feel forgiven for this sin so you, my fellow person, cannot be forgiven either". May the Spirit and Word dispel such a falsehood from our hearts and restore us to His abundant grace.

¹⁸  Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. ¹⁹ We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him ²⁰ in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.  I John 3

III. The Prison of Unforgiveness

     We must acknowledge that when we do not forgive, as a result of the fact that we are not receiving God's forgiveness, we are contained inside of a prison. Inside this prison we are both enslaved and blinded. 

Enslaved 

     We are enslaved because it is absolutely impossible for us to see the glory of God and to know the love and joy of the Lord as long as we have not forgiven. We are slaves to our humanity and to the devil and reject the freedom that the Son has given us to live a righteous life of peace and union with the people of God. We are slaves to our desire for revenge, anger, and bitterness. We are slaves to our fear of confrontation and to our fleshly displeasure of the company of another. We are slaves to our fear of judgment in the midst of our feelings of condemnation. 

Blinded

     We are also blinded in this prison. In the midst of our prison of unforgiveness, along with our false sense of justice, we cannot see the world clearly with the Truth of the Word and the Mind of Christ that has been given to us. We tend to see even more faults in the one whom we have not forgiven than actually exist and to attribute false motives to the deeds and words of others which were not intended from their side to convey malice or hatred (similar to how the unmerciful servant put the fellow slave in prison for owing him a small debt). Our blindness extends to other areas of our life and hinders our perspective towards everything that we do, hindering even our work that seems unrelated to the enemy of interest. For our unforgiveness towards even one person shows that our entire soul has fallen [hopefully temporarily] from the knowledge of His grace and this will surely affect the entirety of our attitude and way of life. 

⁹ The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. ¹⁰  The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness hasblinded his eyes. I John 2

IV. The Unforgivable Sin

     Last week one night I was thinking about the items above that God was teaching me about forgiveness through hearing the struggles of a few fellow believers and the Spirit's revelations from the Word. I was also thinking about last week's letter about how seeing God's glory transforms us into His likeness. The question in my mind regarded Satan, who had originally been in the Presence of God in heaven. 

“You were in Eden, the garden of God;

Every precious stone was your covering:

The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;

The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;

The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;

And the gold, the workmanship of your  settings and sockets,

Was in you.

On the day that you were created

They were prepared.

¹⁴ “You were the anointed cherub who covers,

And I placed you there.

You were on the holy mountain of God;

You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.

¹⁵ “You were blameless in your ways

From the day you were created

Until unrighteousness was found in you. Ez 28:13-15

     I wondered how a root of wickedness grew in Lucifer even when he was in heaven beholding the glory of God. Should not God's glory have humbled him and caused him to call out "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty" as the other heavenly creatures do? How could Satan conceive the sin of desiring his own glory in the presence of God's glory? We wrongly desire our own glory because the veil of disbelief and the resulting ignorance of the glory of God remains over our eyes until we come to Christ and learn to continue in Him. As Paul stated "Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. I Tim 1" And then God brought to memory the verses from 1 Peter 2:20-22 which convey that if we have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ [the veil is removed and we have the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God] and are entangled in the world and are overcome, the last state is is even worse than the original. Similary in 1 John 5, sin is categorized as "sin leading to death" and "sin not leading to death". It became very clear to me that the unforgivable sin was to have had the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God and to eternally reject the Truth of God. Satan had seen the glory of God because he dwelt with God on God's holy mountain. For those among men who have tasted the Spiritual gift and deliberately reject God, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins because they have rejected not just the offer of the gift of salvation, but the Gift itself. They have scorned the essence of holiness. They have detested the gift of love and grace. They have trampled underfoot the very Son of God, God Himself after seeing His glory...


³¹ “ Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ³²  Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Matt 12 


     If someone speaks against Jesus, then the veil of unbelief and ignorance still remains over them. Opportunity still remains for the Holy Spirit to remove the veil as they come to Christ. But someone who speaks against the Holy Spirit has tasted the gifts of comfort, grace, love, and forgiveness, THE GLORY OF GOD, and has blasphemed the very essence of the Godhead manifested by the Spirit's gift. 


²⁶ For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. ²⁸  Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹  How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know Him who said, “ Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “ The Lord will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.Heb 10



⁷⁶ 
Summary of the Chinese Christian Conference (6/8-6/10):


    This past weekend God blessed us with the opportunity to spend time with the children (4 yrs-5th graders; ~ 70 children) attending the Chinese Christian conference with their parents. Dad and Mom met a Chinese lady, Faith Wong, a few months ago and she asked us recently to teach the children during the conference...a strange, unexpected blessing and gift for us. Rachel, Laurie, Jonathan, and David Edwards joined our team and God blessed me greatly this past weekend to see the Spirit work in our hearts and the hearts of the children. Here are some blessings:
* Dad led the weekend of 4 sections with an emphasis on the character of God: El Elyon (God Most High), Jehovah Tsidkenau (The Lord our Righteousness), The Great Commission, and Jehovah Rohi (The Lord our Shepherd). God really filled him with the Spirit to deliver the Word of God and inspire us to fear God. Mom also walked by the Spirit and was quite necessary in our mini-body of Christ.
* Several of the children showed change in their hearts within the weekend and evidence of receiving the Word with faith. You can ask Jonathan about this as he was able to spend quality time with several boys and teach them the Word of God personally. David was also a magnet and showed the love of Christ to the children. Rachel reflected the comfort, tenderness, love, and security of God and was like a mother in our midst. Laurie is blessed with a gift of grace: administration for the cause of the Kingdom and love for God's people. As dad said yesterday on our way home "Laurie is one of the most efficient people I know". 
* We had small group prayer times with the children and many of them learned to pray out loud in the Name of Christ for the first time. Some children expressed that they feel convicted of their sin and want to be certain that God has forgiven them (they are surely on the right path...)
* On a personal note, I was not surprised that God ministered to my soul through these children. I could feel God's love from them as they tell me stories of people that they want to witness to, came and give me hugs, and pray according to what they learned from God's Word that day. I learned many things from them. One young fellow told me "a heart of stone cannot pump blood, but a heart of flesh can" and when I asked them if they knew what an ambassador was, a young girl answered "Someone from one country who brings a message to another country" to which we could discuss that "our citizenship is in heaven and we bring God's heavenly message to all of these countries here on earth...". 
* On Sunday the other Edwards came to the conference at the end and Joshua told me about the NLC sermon that we missed.
* The Spirit was reminding me this weekend how fragile our lives are and some Truths about discipleship (the message for next week). To summarize, just as Peter said "You alone have the Words of Eternal Life", when we are doing what we are doing and saying what we are saying because Jesus alone is the Way and Word of Eternal Life and we have no other motive or purpose than the desire for Christ, that is when we are following Him as His true disciples. 

⁴



LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? YOU HAVE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE. WE HAVE BELIEVED AND HAVE COME TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE HOLY ONE OF GOD.John 6:67-68







⁷ 

Transformation of the Unveiled Faces

Dear Father,

     I praise You that You are always acting on our behalf to prevent our hearts from being hardened. You refuse to let us delight in wickedness or to let us be drawn to what is evil. Thank You for removing the veil from over our eyes so that we may be transformed into Your Likeness with ever-increasing glory. Please show us that the process of this transformation involves Godly sorrow that leads to repentance, sharing in Your comfort, receiving Your power, confidence in our Inheritance, Your commissioning us as Christ's ambassadors, and ultimately the reflection of Your glory in us.

In Jesus Christ's Name,

Amen

18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.2 Cor 3

      God's purpose in this letter is to show us that when anyone comes to Christ, the veil is removed. This veil had closed our eyes from beholding the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God. This Light that the believer now beholds in Christ transforms the new man such that he is continually filled with the Godly sorrow that results in repentance from the deeds of the flesh. The beholding of God's glory transforms him in an ever-increasing manner into the Image of God with all His comfort, power, assurance, purpose, holiness, and GLORY. It is precisely the unveiling of our face that occurs through the belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the beholding of the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God that transforms us so that we bear His likeness.

I. The Veil

     As we were born into the world, our hearts were filled with disbelief. This disbelief constituted the veil that perpetually remained over our eyes. Our disbelief was manifested in all of the sinful attitudes and inclinations of our hearts. We worshiped the gods of the world and the greed for the pleasures and materials of the world corrupted our being. Our hearts had delighted in wickedness for we were "foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another" (Titus 3:3). Our refusal to believe in the Gospel was the veil that remained over our eyes. The effect of this veil was that when we read the Law of God presented to Moses, our minds were dull and though we often tried, we were unable to conceive or contrive any way of obeying the Law. The veil prevented us from seeing the noble outcome of His righteousness. The veil prevented us from finding joy in His Words or from delighting in sacrificing broken and contrite hearts to Him. We did not know the eternal worth of walking according to His commands. In our blindness we simply could not understand the benefit of obeying Him. We could not understand the benefit of obedience because in our disbelief we had never beheld Him. We had never beheld the splendor of His glory and the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God with all Its perfect Agape, joy, peace, and soul satisfaction. 

13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.2 Cor 3

     Furthermore, our faces became downcast as Cain's face was downcast in his deep anger over God refusing to look on his offering with favor. He had not done what was right and "sin was crouching at his door" desiring to have him and he could never master it unless the veil could some how be removed (Gen 4:5-7). We were like the rich man whose face fell in his sadness that he was unwilling to give up his great wealth for the sake of the Kingdom (Mark 10:22). We were filled with dread in the blindness of our hearts for deep in our souls we knew only guilt and shame. Without His intervention we would have been like those who 'called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the Face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Rev 6 ' 

     Though the Gospel has been presented to many, the same veil remains over the eyes of those who do not believe for the god of this age has blinded their minds so that they cannot see the Light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ who is the Image of God. For us who have believed, we have experienced the glory of Christ, the Image of God, at the foot of the cross and the overcome grave, and we have seen His glory in His love poured out. His love has drawn our hearts to Him and we have desired His glory and Presence, yes, the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ, far more than anything else. And yet, for those who are blinded in their minds, the Gospel is not regarded as glorious. They are unable to behold theTruth and grace revealed at the cross. They are unable to comprehend the love of the Father. They are unable to repent of their wickedness for they had never seen Him. Nothing had been revealed to them of the glory of God as long as disbelief, the veil, remained over their hearts. They could find no reason to leave everything behind and follow Christ. They considered it foolishness to walk in the humble footsteps of Christ. They cannot discern the Voice of the Lord. They did not love Truth. In their blindness, their minds could not comprehend the worth of the Pearl of greatest price. 

3 And even if our Gospel is veiled, It is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the Light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the Image of God.2 Cor 4

II. The Removal of the Veil in Christ

15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.2 Cor 3 

      In His preordained time, He removes the veil from the hearts of His children. He removes their unbelief through the faith that the Spirit instills in our hearts as we hear the Word of Christ. He enables us to come to Him for "No one can come to Me [Christ] unless the Father has enabled Him" (John 6:65). The same Father had called out to us "Turn to Me all you ends of the earth; for I am God and there is no other" (Is 45:22). The Spirit open our eyes to behold our great need for forgiveness and redemption in view of our astounding unworthiness and falling short of His glory. His movement of our hearts causes us to seek the Lord our God with tears, to turn our faces towards His way, to come and bind ourselves to the Lord through His everlasting Covenant that will never be forgotten. 

4 “In those days, at that time,”
declares the Lord,
“the people of Israel and the people of Judah together 
will go in tears to seek the Lord their God.
5 They will ask the way to Zion
and turn their faces toward it.
They will come and bind themselves to the Lord
in an everlasting Covenant 
that will not be forgotten.Jer 50

     In order to come to the Lord, that is, to believe in the Gospel, we had to see our sin, we had to acknowledge the Truth of His justice. We had to believe that His death and resurrection was our only hope of salvation. And by His power alone, He has moved us to believe in Him, and to acknowledge the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We had to acknowledge the Sovereignty of God and the reverence that was due Him for His great glory and worth. We had to fear Him in order to come to Him. As we believed the Truth in our hearts, the veil was removed. Just as the veil in the temple was torn in two so that men could enter the Presence of God forgiven and justified, the veil that had stood immovable over our hearts was removed with His righteous right Hand and mighty power. He spoke His Words of comfort and love that we are not to be afraid for He is the Living One who is raised to Life forever and ever. He has defeated the separation of our souls from God. When we came to Him and cast ourselves onto Him for our salvation, He has removed the veil and we could finally see Him Whom we had never beheld before!

16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.Rev 1 

III. The Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His Light shine in our hearts to give us the Light of the Knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Cor 4

     God has lovingly removed the veil so that we could see His glory. Now that we have seen His glory, we have the Knowledge of the Glory of God. We know what it is to gaze at His beauty. We know the beautiful effect of walking in forgiveness and love. We know the peace that we experience as we walk humbly with Christ and deny the flesh. We know the contentment of knowing Christ and sharing in the fellowship of the Spirit. All of these gifts and blessings given to us by the Spirit fill us with the Knowledge of the Glory of God. An academic pursuit does not constitute the Knowledge of the Glory of God. For the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer is known to the hearts of these believers in a way that brings life and power to live in righteousness and holiness. The true Knowledge of the glory of God always results in holiness. And any claim of knowledge of the glory of God must be accompanied by the bearing of good fruit and the likeness of Christ in the one who possesses this knowledge. For the Knowledge of this Divine glory is filled with Light that reveals the Truth of God in a way that those who lack the Knowledge of God's glory can never understand. Before we came to Christ, we did not have this Light and thus our hearts remained veiled and darkened to the understanding of Him. But the Knowledge of the Glory of God "reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and Light dwells with Him" (Dan 2:22). Your Knowledge of His Glory is to you, dear saint, as a Lamp by which you view the world. For in the City of God, "the glory of God gives It Light, and the Lamb is Its Lamp" (Rev 21:23) and Jesus Himself is the Light of the world. 4 They will see His face, and His Name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them Light. And they will reign for ever and ever. Rev 22 The work of His Spirit and Word in our hearts to make us new creations has given us knowledge of the nature of the Holy One and this knowledge reveals the Truth about everything we encounter. The greatest discernment is given to us as we use our "Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God"

¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the Truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”John 3

     There is a Divine Truth that the sight of the Glory of God transforms the faith-filled beholder into the likeness of God. This is why John says "2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself, just as He is pure. 1 John 3" Even as we have the hope in our complete perfection when we behold Him, we are coming to the Lord and our veil is taken away so that we may see His glory in part now. We cannot see Him and fail to reflect Him as we become like Him in His righteous and holy nature. As Stephen was stoned and beheld the Son of Man "His face was like the face of an angel" (Acts 6:15). The goodness of our Father fills our eyes with His good Light 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matt 6 The wisdom of Christ explains to us the ways of righteousness and the folly of the sin of the world. As we possess His wisdom, our faces are brightened and the hard appearances that they formerly had are changed. For in our blindness, fear, hypocrisy, greed, and hatred our faces had a hard appearance. But the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God had removed this appearance and granted to us the reflection of the heavenly Light in our faces. 

Who is like the wise man?

Who knows the explanation of things?
Wisdom brightens a man’s face
and changes its hard appearance.Ecc 8:1

     The God of love has eternally bestowed His blessing on us and He has made His face shine upon us and been gracious to us. He has turned His face towards us and the result is that we are given peace. 

24 “‘“The Lord bless you 
and keep you; 
25 the Lord make His face shine upon you 
and be gracious to you; 
26 the Lord turn His face toward you
and give you peace. ”’Num 6

     The result of this Light is that we are given a great assurance and confidence in our Inheritance in Christ and our standing in Him. The firm Foundation that we stand on makes our faces like flint and we no longer cower in shame or hide in fear from the men and events of the world. We have the knowledge of His vindication and the knowledge that there was only One who had power to condemn us and this One has received and loved us. Our fear of man is removed with the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God. 

7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint, 
and I know I will not be put to shame. 
8 He who vindicates me is near. 
Who then will bring charges against me? 
Let us face each other! 
Who is my accuser?
Let him confront me!
9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.
Who is he that will condemn me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
the moths will eat them up. Is 50

     Our eternal standing in Christ is guaranteed by the Presence of His Spirit in our hearts. The ongoing work of the Spirit in our hearts to cause us to see His glory again and again confirm to us that we are in Him and that His Covenant with us cannot be revoked. Our deeper understanding of the immutability of His Covenant removes our fear of the future or the outcome of earthly events. The stronger is our belief in His Covenant, the weaker is our fear and worry over our earthly affairs. Our confidence is placed in His Promise of Eternal Life and the Home of righteousness that is to come. We no longer regard the concept of safety and security in an earthly sense. We lose these notions as we comprehend that our bodies were made for the Spirit and we are to be willing to go through whatever He has intended for us to fulfill the work of the Kingdom on earth. Pleasing, knowing, and obeying Him become our safety and security. 

18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.2 Cor 1

     Another aspect of the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God is the comfort that we receive from God in the midst of all our troubles. His glory conveys to our souls the deepest comfort that frees us from the troubling of the soul. In this way we "do not let our hearts be troubled" but we "trust in God" and we "trust also in Me [Christ]" (John 14:1). As we behold His comfort, we reflect this comfort to the other saints. Do we reflect the Light of the Knowledge of God's glorious comfort to each other? Do we see this Light in each other?

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 2 Cor 1

     The Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God causes us to willingly renounce secret and shameful ways. When we have seen His majesty, there is a disdain and even illness that would come over us to harbor secret and shameful ways in our lives. We have seen the glory of righteousness and everything else is utterly and fearfully dark. This is the fear of God that prevents us from sinning. Our heart's desire after seeing Him is only to be near to Him and we cry out "As for me it is good to be near God" (Ps 73:28). In this sense we commend ourselves to every man's conscience as we set forth the Truth plainly. We have nothing to hide for we have renounced the secrets sins of the flesh and heart. Yes, often in faith we renounce them with pain, but He surely comes to us soon with His comfort and joy. He satisfies us with the "Bread of sincerity and Truth" (I Cor 5:8).

Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the Truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. .... 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 2 Cor 4

     As we see the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God we are transformed so that everywhere we are we spread the fragrance of the Knowledge of Him. What a great task He has given to us!: to spread the fragrance of the very Knowledge of God so that the chosen people may be brought to salvation. We speak before God with sincerity even as we speak of Him before men. We are sent by Him and are speaking for His pleasure and glory. This fragrance and aroma is unseen, but in faith we know that when we have known Him, we certainly carry this scent which is clearly and distinctly detected by everyone and which reminds them of their condemnation or draws them to their eternal salvation in Christ.

14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the Knowledge of Him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the Word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.2 Cor 2

     When we have seen Him, He commits to us His Message of reconciliation. Our sight of Him allows us to be Christ's ambassadors. God makes His appeal through us. We have seen His glory and He has captivated our hearts forever. We have bound ourselves to Him and He has chosen us to bear His Name. How can it be that the One whom we could not see and whom we had so greatly revolted against in our former life has allowed us to represent Him and He has chosen to make His very own appeal through us? He has loved us so dearly and He has shown us His glorious self though we are so undeserving!

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God,who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.2 Cor 5

    The Knowledge of His Glory enables us to use His divine weapons. Included in the Knowledge of His Glory is the vision of the Divine weapons. When we see His glory we are able to use the Light of this Knowledge to demolish both the strongholds in our personal lives as well as arguments and pretensions that set themselves up against this Knowledge. Without having the Light of this Knowledge, we were left with only useless earthly warfare which did not regard the glory of God. But with this Knowledge comes the discernment to see what stands in opposition to the Light and how we are to use the weapons of His own power which are able to break them down. 

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the Knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Cor 10 

IV. The Ongoing Transformation through the Father's Discipline

5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you —unless, of course, you fail the test? 6 And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. 7 Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the Truth, but only for the Truth. 2 Cor 13

     As we remember that we are "being transformed into His likeness with ever-INCREASING glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" we are trusting in the Father to bring about this transformation that comes with ever -increasing revelations of His glory. We are relying on Him to continue to deliver us from all sorts of temptations and attacks from the enemy. For if we faltered in even one sin and were given over to our flesh of disbelief, we could be hardened eternally. But for His children, He is constantly acting on our behalf to present us "as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph 5:27) and to "strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the Presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones" (I Thess 3:13). For if we had seen His glory once when we first came to the Lord and then never saw It again, we could fall away from grace and forget the Words of Life, turn our backs on the Gospel, and fall away into the deceitfulness of sin. But in His great mercy and love, He has chosen to transform us into His likeness with an ever-increasing glory. Not only does He cause us to maintain the work which He has already done inside of us, but the Spirit is working to give us a greater and greater knowledge of the glory of God. He reveals His glory again and again in ways that are newer and greater to us. In this way, a true believers life will not stay stagnant forever, but will certainly become filled with an increasing manifestation of the Spirit's work. The believers life will become more and more set-apart in holiness, purity, and love. The love of believers for their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for all of His people will grow as the eyes of the heart are opened by the Spirit and as "God pours His love into our hearts by the  Holy Spirit" (Rom 5:5). 

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.2 Cor 4

     The way in which God reveals His glory in an ever-increasing manner is His Fatherly discipline. He will allow great trials, tribulations, temptations, and persecution to come upon His people. But He uses these events as means to show His glory to His people. He will even allow them to bear the yoke of disgrace, shame, and grief for a time in order to reveal His glorious compassion and unfailing love. In this sense it is always better for us to bear any yoke that comes with seeking Him in order that we may behold the glory that awaits us in Him. When we feel the yokes of disgrace, shame, and grief coming our way, we are so apt to put up our feeble defenses and attempt to avoid the sorrow that looms. And yet, for those who know what it is to be broken and mended by Him, their humble and contrite spirits allow them to come under these yokes with the full knowledge that their heavenly Father will soon reveal His glory. Their hearts whisper "I will take on this yoke if only I may behold Your glory once more". Taking on the yoke often means denying the flesh and standing firm throughout the Spiritual battles that exist. It may mean speaking forth the Gospel though a shroud of earthly disgrace may envelope you because of your knowledge that "the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you" as you are insulted for the Name of Christ (I Peter 4:14). Taking the yoke may be willingly and joyfully receiving the Father's discipline for the sin of the flesh that had been the source of a fierce Spiritual struggle. The Father may cut off some earthly asset in order to purge the evil from within us. When this purging happens, we rejoice in it for the battle had weighed hard on our hearts and we had longed for the victory of righteousness and holiness in our lives. Do we take on the yoke so that we may be filled with the character of Christ?

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him; 
26 it is good to wait quietly 
for the salvation of the Lord. 
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence, 
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust —
there may yet be hope. 
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, 
and let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever. 
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love. 
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to the children of men.Lam 3 

     In order to make His glory known to us, He allows hardships and sufferings so that we are under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure. For this reason we despaired of life and felt the sentence of death in our hearts. But the children of God will always resort to their Father in times like these. The Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God causes them to resort to Him and nowhere else. They have no other Rock. They know not one. As they rely on God, God reveals His resurrection power to them. The Knowledge of the Glory of the resurrection power further transforms us into His Image and grants us power to walk in righteousness and in faith in numerous areas of our lives. It is a great mystery that when we receive His power to endure a certain trial in our life, we find that the same power overflows into other areas of our life. And when we receive the victory over a certain sin or temptation, we find that the gratefulness and purity in this area purges several other areas of our life. For the glory of God that is revealed in our weakness is never simply about healing our weakness, but more importantly about revealing His all-surpassing power and glory that is from God and not from us (2 Cor 4:7). God often takes hold of our souls through some specific earthly trial, temptation, or time, and yet His eternal purpose is to reveal His infinite glory to us which is able to transform every area of our life and grant us power over every weakness of the flesh and every tribulation that we face.  

8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 2 Cor 1 


     Though we are already purified and justified by accepting the Word that has been planted inside of us, when we have gone astray, He allows us to be filled with Godly sorrow. This Godly sorrow results in repentance and leads to salvation and leaves no regret. Many of us look back to the sins which we have committed after we have trusted in Christ and we regret that we had grieved our Savior and we desire to have walked in holiness if we could somehow relive those time periods. And yet, as we look back to how He allowed us to experience Godly sorrow that led to repentance, we see how He had used even our faults to reveal His grace and mercy. He has taught us innumerable Truths and has strengthened our souls in His grace even through these times when we had gone astray. In this sense the Godly sorrow that brought repentance has left no regret. For we have come out of these times cleansed and forgiven and with a deeper understanding of His glorious grace for which we praise Him. Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. 2 Cor 7 It is not as though we would desire now to have sinned or to continue in sin with the hope for such a revelation of His glory, for what we truly desire is to see Him and to fear Him so that we will never turn away from Him (Jer 32:40). Though He had chosen to reveal His glory through the grace shown in the midst of our sinfulness, once we had seen His glory, if we had truly seen It, we would be changed such that we would not want to repeat the same acts of wickedness. The Knowledge of His glory removes the blindness of heart that results in the thinking that we could "go on sinning so that grace may increase" (Rom 6:1).

⁹ yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 2 Cor 7

     There is a great responsibility and accountability of the soul that comes along with beholding the glory of God. For if we had seen first-hand the working of the Holy Spirit in our own soul and ultimately turned our backs in scorn against God, we would have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, and be eternally condemned. And when we have seen God's glory and then stop seeing It for a time, there is the temptation of the flesh to become conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations. For during the time when we are seeing His glory, the only response we may have is one of gratitude as we comprehend His infinite worth. Our view of ourselves becomes lesser and lesser as we behold His glory more and more. But once we had stopped to seek Him with all of our hearts and when we are hardened to the working of the Spirit by the Word, our souls are in great danger. For when humans continue to harbor conceit, they "fall under the same judgement as the devil" (I Tim 3:6). As we read these Words we realize that we ought to be very grateful that our Father disciplines us and humbles us. Though Paul pleaded with God to remove his thorn in the flesh, he acknowledges that the thorn was given to him to keep him from being conceited for he had been given surpassingly great revelations of heaven. 

7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.2 Cor 12 

       Dear saint, you have a testimony of His grace to you up until this day. But remember that you must continue to possess the Light that comes from your Knowledge of the Glory of God. A deep brokenness and reverence for God will accompany this Knowledge. This Knowledge will increase Your love for Him. This Knowledge will keep you from falling. This Knowledge will transform You into His Likeness causing you to become pure and holy, set-apart only for Him. You will tremble as You hear the Word of God because You will hear Them with the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in your hand. You will willingly die to self in order that Christ may be revealed in you. 4 For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you. You will "hunger and thirst for righteousness" and as He promises "You will be filled" (Matt 5:6). The Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God will accompany great tribulation and denial of self. But the power of His resurrection is about to be revealed in the midst of these storms.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

STAND UP AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NEAR (Luke 21:28)