Table of Content
Title Page
For A Testament is of Force After Men are Dead 228
The Law Having A Shadow of Good Things to Come 233
God, The Omnipotent Creator 241
For A Testament is of Force After Men Are Dead
FEBUARY 15, 2012
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We begin where the writer said: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22
Our title came from the decree of the redemption Law that said: “For a testament is of force after men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” Hebrews 9:17
According to the demands made by those statutes, salvation was not available to lost sinners from Adam to the cross.
You know what? The writer brought up the law of redemption for our benefit and not his own.
The reason I believe that is that earlier in his writings he quoted the Great I Am as saying: “As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” Hebrews 4:3
Yes, he knew, but he would that we should know also.
John gave his take on the work of Jesus Christ and His finished work by saying: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast) whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world“. Revelation 13:8
Paul agreed withal. He told Titus: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,” Titus 2:11
(His message included Adam and his posterity from the beginning of the world unto the end of the same.)
Jesus said that: “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26 Amen to that!
Yea, the works of Jesus Christ was in full force from the foundation of the world and it’s still ongoing.
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You Know? God reckoned His son Jesus to be slain from the foundation of the world and He used His attributes to accomplish it.
One such attribute is that: “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Hebrews 4:13-b
Matter of fact the past, presence and future are ever before the God of the universe.
God said of Himself: “I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.” Isaiah 48:3 (How great is that?)
The Apostle enlightened us on another of God’s great abilities; he wrote: “God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Romans 4:17-b
Thus far we have explored Scriptures that leave no room for doubting that the shed blood of Jesus Christ saved repenting souls from the foundation of the world. While at the same time it satisfied the ordinance that decreed: “For a testament is of force after men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.”
You don’t want to miss this: When Isaiah and other prophets prophesied of our Savior’s suffering and painful death, they wrote as though it was a thing of the past. In other words some of it was in the form of history, while others wrote as though they were eyewitnesses to it all.
(The prophecy written in the past tense is/was alliance with where John taught that, Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world)
The prophet Isaiah spoke as though he was in Jerusalem at the time of that riotous clamor of which Jesus was its victim.
Here’s some of what he said: “We hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [4] Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:
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the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:3-5
Then said he: “And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth:
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
[9] And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief:” Isaiah 53:7-10
Isaiah also said of Jesus: “And he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12
The following is a Masonic Psalm written by King David a millennium before it was witnessed in Jerusalem.
David was moved by the Spirit of Christ to write:
“They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.” Psalm 109:3
David wrote that several centuries prior to Calvary.
Again, when led by the Spirit, David said: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
[15] My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
[16] For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
[17] They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”
Psalm 22:14-17
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Now the work of Jesus Christ serves to cleanse both soul and body, since Calvary.
For the purpose of saving souls, His blood was in full force from the foundation of the world. (Without repentance His blood is of no strength). A little more than two thousand years ago His sacrificial death and shed blood fulfilled, then replaced, the law of sacrificing of animals. That Law served to “purify the flesh.”
Want proof?
The writer said as much, he wrote: “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9:13-14
Now the blood of the Old Testament covered the sins Israel committed with the flesh (not with their soul mind you,) for both saint and sinner ministered in during the Old Testament. Therefore, when one who ministered defiled their conscience by sinning with their outward being, a sacrifice was in order.
Then He said: “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” Hebrews 10:4
Now the shedding of blood of those animals served two purposes. One: it was to cover the sins of those who had part in the ministry.
Two: it testified of the coming of a better way.
Jesus brought in that better of ministering.
The Bible said of Jesus: “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” Hebrews 8:6
Because the Old Testament only served to cover sin, the Lord promised: “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.”
Zechariah 3:9-b
And so He did.
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The great Apostle said: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” Colossians 2:14
The writer confirmed: “But now hath he (Jesus) obtained a more excellent minstry.
During the Older Testament, three separate prophecies depicted our Savior’s finished work as being covenanted from the dawning of time and at the evening of time.
1. Israel offered burnt offerings twice daily, even burnt offerings morning and evening. Ezra 3:3b
2. The former rain and the latter rain in the first month. Joel 2:23
3. Zechariah prophesied: “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea.” Zechariah 14:8
May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus be blessed forever. AMEN!
The Law Having A Shadow of Good Things to Come
March 30, 2012
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I gleaned our title from where the writer said: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things;” Hebrews 10:1a
I believe biblical shadowing to be typical of when a person is setting facing the East with the sun at their back, and then someone approaches them from behind. First, their shadow comes into view then the person themselves.
Accordingly, the Old Testament cast the shadow projecting the coming of Jesus Christ, including His suffering, dying and by all means His resurrection. Amen!
The New Testament emphatically proclaimed His arrival and that He is the Son of God, the Word of God and the Word was made flesh and, the Word was God.
(John 1:1) Amen!
Before launching His campaign to do a finished work He came to John, the Baptizer, to be baptized.
John not only had the honor of baptizing Him but he had the privilege of introducing Him to Israel.
That introduction went like this: “John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
The author devoted the entire book of Hebrews in making known the things that Jesus brought for the betterment of His Kingdom; in fact in describing those better things, he used the word BETTER no less than twelve times.
Yea, Jesus took the things that were contrary to the service of God and nailed them to His cross; then replace them, leaving the kingdom in far better condition than when He came.
The words like beat or beat it in a mortar were commonly used in describing the processing of wheat into fine flour and the beating of olives for the purpose of extracting the oil. Such oil was used in ceremonial rituals.
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The process of beating the grains and Olives foretold of the beatings that awaited Jesus when He was brought before Pilate and others.
Bake in an oven or burn the offering by fire, told beforehand of the fiery burning sensation Jesus suffered at the hand of God.
The Spirit of Christ that was in Jeremiah testified of such torturous burning.
He wrote: “From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.” Lamentations 1:13
Jesus also said through the pen of the Psalmist: “I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. [3] My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned:” Psalm 39:2-3b
During the Old Testament times God fed the children of Israel with manna.
Moses said: “And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.” Numbers 11:8
That ceremonial act was a shadow of the last three hours of Jesus’ suffering on the cross in our stead.
Moses also gave Israel’s priest the formula for killing and processing the bullock when it was being killed according to a ceremonial ritual. Here’s what he said:
“The whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire:”
Leviticus 4:12
The first increment of the sacrificing the bullock was that: “The whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp…”
(Now the word carry in the case of the bullock bore the same meaning as did the carrying away of Jerusalem to Babylon.)
For the bullock traveled under his own power as he was being escorted outside the camp to ‘a clean place’ where he was to be sacrificed.
The writer verified that Jesus was taken outside the camp. He said: “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” Hebrews 13:13
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The next step was: “the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place.”
The Apostle wrote: “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:” John 19:17 The meaning of the word Golgotha is: “the place of the skull” and “the place of the skull,” would indicate that it was void of vegetation. As saith Moses wherein were ashes, therefore it was a clean place indeed.
The third and last operation of the sacrificial order was: “And burn him on the wood with fire:”
Without doubt, the cross on which Jesus was crucified was of wood.
And He was burned with the fiery wrath of God on the wood as was formally stated.
Not all slaughtering of animals portrayed the coming of the Lord, only that which was done ceremonially, other animals were slaughtered for their daily bread.
The author of Hebrews gave the downside of those Old Testament rituals:
He wrote: “Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. Hebrews 9:10
Then He came back with the more excellent way that Jesus established by saying: “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;” Hebrews 9:11 (Thank God for Jesus! Amen and Amen!)
Heretofore we have witnessed some powerful stuff and considering the brutality that Jesus endured for our sake and it is heart wrenching to say the least, while at the same time an unselfish pride take over and we are blessed.
I worked with a man in Ohio; he contended that Jesus was killed before He accomplished the work He came to do. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Be assured that nothing happened to Jesus, by chance, here’s proof.
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He told His apostles: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, [19] And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.” Matthew 20:18-19
Oh What a Saviour is mine!
Foreshadowing is seen at its very best through the ordinance of the Lord’s Passover in the Old Testament.
That ordinance said: In the tenth day of this month, Abib they shall take to them a lamb and keep it up from the tenth until the fourteenth day of that same month. Exodus 12:3
Jesus entered within the walls of Jerusalem on the tenth day of the first Jewish Month, Abib.
Your lamb (said the ordinance) shall be without blemish.
Pilate found no fault in Him, neither did the Roman centurion.
Matthew said: “Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.” Matthew 27:54
And the ordinance firmly stated: “And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
Yes, Israel carried out that command; they killed both the Old Testament Passover as well as the New Testament Passover on fourteenth day of the same month as prescribed by the ordinance.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it, but roast with fire; it is the Lord's Passover. Exodus 12:3-11
Yea, Jesus and His disciple joined the thousands of Israelites in eating the Lord’s Passover. And they ate it in the night of the fifteenth day of the Month, Abib.
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That night Jesus prayed: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Matthew 26:39
I am fully persuaded that Jesus wasn’t pleading for His life; remember He told His disciples earlier: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, [19] And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.”
Jesus was not double minded.
Instead I believe that His request to the Father was that His sacrificial death would meet the demands made by the Passover ordinance.
For His sacrifice to be official the heavenly clock would have to be turned back to three o’clock PM and the calendar would have to read the fourteenth day of Abib.
There were two foreshadowing events that were at the disposal of Jesus.
One such foreshadowing event was where the scribe wrote:
“In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death “And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.” 2 Kings 20:1-11
Therefore Hezekiah and the Spirit of Christ that was within him were told to set their house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live: Hezekiah at that time and Jesus on the night of all nights.
Notice these comparisons:
Whereas the scribe said: “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.”
Jesus told His disciples: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death:” Matthew 26:38
[2] Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, [3] I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.”
Yea, Hezekiah walked with God in truth and with a perfect heart; But Jesus Christ, much more.
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“And Hezekiah wept sore.”
”And being in agony Jesus prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:44
[4] And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears:
Joshua 5:14 said that Jesus was the captain of the host of the Lord.
Both were the sons of David and both were the Captain of God’s people and both cried to God with tears.
Then God replied: “Behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.”
Both were healed on the third day. Hezekiah was healed of his boils, and Jesus’ broken body was healed on the third day when He was raised with His glorified body.
[8] And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?
[9] And Isaiah said: This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
I doubt that Hezekiah cared one way or another if the shadow of Ahaz’s sun dial went forward, ten degrees, or back ten degrees as long as it counted as a sign.
However the Spirit of Christ that was in him caused Hezekiah to answer: “It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.” [11] And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.”
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By the time that Jesus finished His prayer of pleading with His Father the night of all nights was far spent.
I believe that when Jesus waked His disciples from sleep, it was around one o’clock AM. This meant that ten hours of the official time for the killing of the Passover had elapsed.
Therefore Jesus used the ten hours that God granted to Him to turn the heavenly clock counter clockwise ten hours, thus making it three o’clock PM. the official hour of the day for the killing of the Passover Lamb.
That didn’t completely solve the problem because three o’clock in the evening was the official time that the Passover should be killed and the clock was still clicking.
In the days of Joshua, he commanded: “Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon; so the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.” Joshua 10:12-13
And because the Spirit of Christ was in Joshua, both our Lord and Joshua were granted about a whole day, respectively.
After the Heavenly Father turned the heavenly clock back ten hours, that caused it to read three o’clock PM the evening of the fourteenth day of the month Abib, (the appointed time that the Passover was killed.)
At that time Jesus commanded: “Sun, stand thou still.” So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down for about a whole day.
After God turned back the heavenly clock from one o’clock AM to three o’clock PM then He commanded the sun to not go down for a full day. Jesus fulfilled the demands made by the Old Testament ordinance and it come off without a hitch. AMEN !
In concluding, let us hear the truth of the whole matter. Paul said: “For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:” 1 Corinthians. 5:7
Then Sunday the seventeenth day of Abib, Jesus arose from the dead.
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When the Lord saved us we had part in His death, burial and resurrection.
Paul recorded that three-step plan that the Holy Spirit used in saving us.
He said that we were crucified with Christ; buried with Him, and then He raised us up with Him to walk in the newness of life. Romans 6:3-5
And by the way, the water baptism of the outward man is a testimonial as to what God has performed in the inter man.
During the Old Testament the law was made up of both the sacrificing of animals and the Ten Commandments.
Since Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial law, it was moved from the foreground to the background; however it didn’t out live its practical worth, no, not in the least. For the two Testaments still embrace all of God’s Word.
The Old Testament cast a shadow of the better things that Jesus brought to earth through His finished work. Amen!
After Jesus came and fulfilled the law, only the Ten Commandments survived. Therefore when Paul and others mentioned the Law, their references were to the Ten Commandments.
May the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob be blessed forever, Amen!
GOD, THE OMNIPOTENT CREATOR
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July 3, 2012
This document is designed to show that the Almighty GOD created all things, and that He created them in six days, then He rested on the seventh. Amen!
The Webster Dictionary defined God’s Power as being OMNIPOTENT. He has absolute power over all, and such power is attributed to the Almighty God and to Him only.
The great Apostle Paul said of our OMNIPOTENT CREATOR; “By him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1: 16-17
Moses being a man of few words, avowed; “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Genesis 1:1-2
You already know that, Jesus Christ is the Word of God. John said as much in John 1: 1
But did you know the Holy Ghost is the breath of God? You’ll find that in John 20:22
Here’s what the Psalmist wrote concerning the creation “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” Psalms 33:6
Yes, Christ Jesus created Heaven and earth and it was “without form and void…” The Holy Spirit took raw material(s) and formed the earth and the Stars into sphere like objects and hurled them into their own orbits,
and He did it in an orderly fashion that worked like clockwork.
Then on the sixth day God formed Adam out of some of the earth that Christ Jesus had created on the first day.
Throughout the ages men have stood in awe as they gazed upward into the heavens at the vastness of space and its illuminated hosts.
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Isaiah the prophet suggested: ”Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.” Isaiah 40:26 Wow!
Below, I’ve listed a few of man’s findings as they probed the universe in quest for knowledge. What they’ve found is indeed staggering.
Yea, they’ve found that the stars and planets numbers in the millions; and through basic mathematics, they’ve calculated the moon to be a distance of two hundred and forty thousand miles from earth; and the Sun? Well they’ve found it to be somewhere around ninety three million miles from our planet. Those same astronomers have tracked asteroids for millions of miles and over a space of several months.
Yea, they’ve learned to calculate the distances of stars and planets through the genius of mathematics, and through the means of instruments such as the Hubble telescope. In addition, they’ve hurled robots into space that thundered through the universe at speed faster than bullets. Then after traveling millions of miles they’ve landed them on the red planet, Mars.
It might well be that the great expanse spans millions, and millions of miles. But be it ever so true; what we know about is but a drop in the proverbial bucket when compared to what we don’t know.
Now, I am in agreement with the data that I have learned from the archives of the astronomers; however I couldn’t keep up with those who claim to have measured distance in light years; that’s just too mind boggling for me.
Let’s assume that those that meted the heavens in light years are correct; It only proves that Jehovah God, created more than we originally thought.
With His unlimited power He could have well pulled it off without a hitch.
I took that into consideration as did the legendary little man that shouted when he heard that God had drown Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea.
When someone challenged him on the depth of water at that time of year saying that it was only inches deep.
Then the little fellow had another shouting fit. He said that was yet more miraculous that God had drowned Pharaoh and his army in such shallow waters.
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Likewise, I believe that if the universe spans many light years, as some say, it only means that God had created more stars and planets than we had thought originally.
That would be more reason to shout about His greater accomplishment.
When God created the heavens and the worlds and all that is within them; there might well have been a BIG BANG.
According to Peter the creation is going out with a big bang!
He wrote; “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 2:18
The difference between the view of the pseudo scientists and the understanding of the Christians on the “Big Bang” theory is that those scientists say that no one was there to hear the big bang whereas we say that God was there and it was heard by Him if there was one. Amen!
Here is what the wise man Solomon had to say about to those foolish evolutionists: “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”
Then again he said; “Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.“ Ecclesiastes 3:11
May the God and Father of Jesus Chris be glorified forever.
Amen!
