To Know Why – Pt. 2

Wayne Matthews

December 7, 2013

Welcome, everybody, to the Sabbath.

The title of today's sermon is To Know Why – Part 2.

In Part 1 we covered a couple of main points, and those points were:

1. That we should never forget where we heard and learned the truth. And the reason is because we heard and learned the truth from God while in the Church of God. If we look back at the truths that have been placed in God's Church, we can see truth is our pillar. Truth is our strength, because without the truth what have we? We're just like anybody else. We have error. So where we have the truth and when we have the truth, this is what separates us from the world.

1. We should never forget that it was God that revealed truth to us; we did not find the truth by our own efforts or our own strength. We were called, called out of this world, and placed into the Church of God, the Body of Christ, and by being in the Church (that is, having God's spirit living and dwelling in us) we are then able to hear the truth. We're able to know the truth. We're able to come to understand it on a spiritual level, and therefore, we develop the very thinking of God.

Because that's what the truth is. Truth is the revelation of God's Word into our mind by the power of His holy spirit. So one of the greatest blessings in life is to know and understand the very purpose of life, and in Part 1 we went through some elements of that knowledge, that knowledge being we understand, we know why we were called. We understand why humans exist. We understand the purpose of life.

Now, mankind does not understand this, and therefore, mankind goes off and focuses on things that are physical, because anyone that is called and understands the true purpose of life focuses on the spiritual, because that's the purpose of life – which is to enter Elohim at some point in time. We were called out of the world to come into a relationship with Him. He revealed to us the reason we exist. He revealed to us the purpose of human life. Now, we understand and know that everything really points back to the spiritual, so we've come to understand that all of the physical things that man works with, all of the things written in the Bible that people look at on a physical level are all spiritual in nature. They are driven by a spiritual outcome.

Now, this is a great blessing to have, to understand why the first Exodus happened and to understand what God was doing and the purpose of why He did it, and it all points to a spiritual outcome, to gain spiritual understanding of these matters.

To know why or to understand anything on a spiritual level should never be taken for granted. And that is our human potential, in the sense of our human nature's potential, because we can forget the very fact that God called us out of this world for a purpose. We can forget where we learned the truth and what we were called into. We were called into the truth! And we can forget and take it to ourselves that we think that we learned this knowledge, or that we learned this knowledge, or that we acquired this knowledge of and by ourselves. Well, that is a lie! It is God by the power of God's holy spirit that reveals truth, reveals knowledge to us, and therefore, we can't take any credit to the self because all knowledge comes from God.

If we can always remember where we learned the truth – The Church of God, the true Church – if we remember that, there is a less likelihood that we will wander and drift. Now, by focusing in on the truths, it will hold us to Christ, hold us to God, the Body, the trunk of the tree, because it is about a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is about a relationship with God the Father, and we have to hold onto the trunk of the tree or stay close to the trunk of the tree, and that trunk is a foundation which is the Truth.

So, to know God is to know the truth. To know God is to know the truth.

If you'd like to turn to 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 – However, we speak wisdom, and this wisdom, we understand, is God's way of thinking. It is God's Word in our minds. However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, and it's talking about on a spiritual level, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age. In other words, not mankind's reasoning’s, because it's the wisdom of this age that is the problem, because man thinks he is wise, and that he thinks that he is governing himself by a power that he has taken to himself called, 'his own reasoning.' He's worked out the best way to govern himself, and his own wisdom, which is, he believes, that the best way to do something. The reality is that it is contrary to God's wisdom because the natural carnal mind cannot really govern itself because God has set out a way that man should be governed and it's by the power of the holy spirit. But man has been given 6,000 years to use his own reasoning to work out how he can govern himself, and of course, that's why we end up with all the various types of government.

So is communism better than a democracy? Well, they all are based on human reasoning. What is perceived to be best for that particular nation or what is best for mankind or best for the world; hence, why we end up having the problems we have is because mankind thinks they know what is best for you and what is best for me. Therefore, all these rules and regulations come into force and it is all based on what is considered 'best' for others. When people come into government often their motivations can be right, in the sense that they believe that they are doing it for the good of mankind, not knowing their own human nature, that that's not really the real motive, but they believe that they are doing it for the sake of others, the benefit of others, and they come into government and then soon realise that the world is very complicated, that this system that has been set up by mankind is so complex. And then we have all the lobbyists that turn up; people that have agenda's, and therefore, will pay money, big money toward various things to get their will and their purpose in life, their motivation in life implemented into rules and laws and policies.

Well, God's way is totally different. It's the complete opposite, because God's way is motivated by love, which is genuine, sincere, real outgoing concern for the welfare of others. And that's how God thinks. Well, the rulers of this age, their wisdom, and it goes on and says in verse 6... who are coming to nothing. Well, they're coming to nothing because they will die, but their knowledge, their wisdom, and the way they govern, their governments, are all coming to nothing because they are built on a false foundation. They're not built on truth. They're not built on God's Word.

Verse 7 – But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Now, this wisdom of God we have covered before in a sermon. We've been through what the wisdom of God is, which is the true way of God, the way God thinks, the way God has created for mankind to live, which is wisdom, of course. Outlined in the 10 Commandments is an aspect of God's wisdom... the hidden which God ordained before the ages – why? – for our glory. So we have the very potential to have the wisdom of God, which is the very mind of God, the very thinking of God so that we can implement truth into our life and live a way of life.

Verse 8 – Which none of the rulers of this age knew. So mankind hasn't known really the depth of God's truth. Now, they have understood aspects of God's law, but they can't understand it on a spiritual level because the spiritual level takes us back to intent, motive, why are we doing what we are doing? Now, we can see aspects of these things, the aspects of intent in our life, as we go longer in God's Church and God reveals more of His spirit to us. He reveals more truth to us. He reveals more of ourselves to ourselves. We then start to examine our intent and then we begin to pick up on why we do what we do, and we don't always see it. Every day of our life we don't. We don't really see our genuine motives, but God reveals it to us and then we see, "Oh, that motive was wrong. It was selfishly driven." Well, the rulers of this age have never known that. They don't really understand anything spiritual because they've not had God's holy spirit.

...for had they known, they would not have staked on a pole the Lord of glory. We know this hidden wisdom; mankind doesn't. They haven't been called to it. God's thinking is hidden from mankind for a purpose. Now, we understand that. We know why God has hidden His wisdom, His thinking, His ways from mankind. We know the purpose of that – because God had allotted a plan of 7,100 years of which 6,000 years were for mankind. Mankind was going to be allowed to have free moral agency to make his own choices based on his own thinking, and it was going to last for 6,000 years. And in that time God would only work with a group of people, and He would call some and in the end He would choose 144,000 out of all of those that He has worked with and called over that period, which is more than 144,000 because some have started a calling and left it, for a purpose. And God has worked with some to a level and then they have been finished as far as their work is concerned that God has called them to do to fulfill in that time. But He has completed a work in 144,000 and that 144,000 have been worked with on a spiritual level for a purpose, and that purpose is to return with Jesus Christ to be changed into spirit at the blowing of the 7th Trumpet to return with Jesus Christ to the earth on that Day of Pentecost. And they will then govern and rule with Christ; and they rule with Christ for a purpose, and that purpose is to help and support and to give to others. Isn't that incredible? ...to understand that alone, to understand the purpose of 144,000.

Well, we can look at that, brethren, and say, "Well, what is the purpose of our calling?" Because all of this has been hidden from mankind, but what's the purpose of our calling. Well, we understand the purpose of our calling is to enter Elohim, and we're going to go into today, hopefully, the very aspect of why we were called at this time and what it means to be in Elohim. What is that? What is that all about, really? What is the main focus of that and how does it work? Well, if we get time today, we're going to go into that and explore it in a lot more detail.

So, we've been called now to see, but they have not been called to see. They haven't been called to see the hidden knowledge that requires God's spirit. It requires God's holy spirit to understand this hidden knowledge. We do not take credit to ourselves in the fact that we see it. Now, people can look at us and say, "Well, you're elevating yourself! You're quite arrogant. You're quite proud to think that you have special knowledge," and that they don't. Well, there is no point in even discussing those things because from a human mind it would be perceived or seen that we would be that way, that we are proud and we are arrogant, that we are taking credit to ourselves because we have this hidden wisdom, we have this hidden knowledge about God and about the purpose of life. Well, the natural carnal mind cannot accept or cannot see what we talk about. So we don't take any credit to ourselves. All the glory, all the honour goes to God who called us out of this world. So how blessed, how fortunate are we that we were called? How merciful is God that He called us at this particular time and has revealed His truth to us?

Verse 9 – But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, talking about it physically. The eye can't see and the ear can't hear anything that is spiritual. It is not possible. Nor has entered into the heart, or the inner thinking of mankind the things which God has prepared, what he has planned, what he has purposed for those who love Him. Now, this requires a calling, a calling by God into a relationship with Him, and based on that calling we then can begin to see in a limited way on a spiritual level. We can begin to hear in a limited way on a spiritual level the things that God has prepared for us. But it is in a limited way because we cannot ever really comprehend and grasp the greatness and the glory of Yahweh Elohim. It's not possible. But God works with us and He works with us to the degree He sees fit. He reveals knowledge to us as He sees fit and what is best for His outcome, and the timing is all based on what God is doing in an individual's life. Now, because of this understanding and because we know that it is God that reveals truth, it is God that provides His holy spirit to a person and God calls according to His will and purpose, when He sees fit, we should never look out and judge and condemn anybody. We should really focus in on ourselves and our relationship with God because that is what we need to be concerned about, about our relationship with God.

Verse 10 – But God has revealed them, talking about those hidden things, this knowledge and this wisdom, to us – how? – through/by His spirit. So it requires God's holy spirit to be able to see and understand scriptures, to be able to see spiritual matters. To be able to see motive and intent within ourselves requires God's holy spirit. For the spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. So the ability to see spiritual matters is a gift from God. Now, if we see a particular matter, with regards to a truth, in more detail on a spiritual level, that is a gift from God. Now, it's not something that we should boast to others about or in any way exalt ourselves about, because some people do see things in a greater way. There is nothing to be taken to self. It actually can be a greater test on us. Sometimes God does reveal more depth, or the depth of a truth to somebody...it might even be me where I see something, where I believe I see something in a little bit more detail. The secret to that is to keep it to the self and not take any glory to self, but to keep it and wait for God to reveal this in a greater way rather than speak about it or boast about it. Because that's what happens, if somebody does see something and they tend to want to talk about it. The best thing is to hold it back and say nothing because it's God that's working with us. So the test of that is will we hold back? God has now revealed this to us where we see something in a greater way. Will we take it to ourselves and then try to exalt ourselves in front of others, to say, "Well, I see this and you don't, therefore, you're less than me"? Well that's taking credit to self. It's God that reveals more truth. It's God that reveals a greater understanding. So the best way is to hold it back and give glory to God that we believe we see it, but we must wait for God to reveal it through an apostle to the Church, because it requires truth to enter the Church that way. And greater understanding of a matter, well, that's something between God and the individual.

So today we're going to discuss further about these gifts that God has given us, the gift of truth that He has placed in the Church, and we're hopefully going to go through those in a little bit more detail.

Verse 11 – For what man knows the things of a man… so what knowledge does a man have? How does he understand? How does he think? How does he have his human reasoning? ...except the spirit of man which is in him? That is one of God's truths. God has revealed this very aspect that humans have the spirit of man which is in the man, which enables this reasoning. It enables this way of thinking. Even so no one knows the things of God, so no human knows anything about God, truth about God, the deep understanding on a spiritual level about God or God's way of life, except the spirit of God. So it requires God's holy spirit living and dwelling in a person for a person to have spiritual knowledge or understanding.

Now, the world and the churches of the world have a knowledge of aspects of God's way. They have a knowledge, but that does not mean they understand it. So to know something, what does that mean? Well, it doesn't mean a lot, really, because you can know things, like for example the Baptist's understand about immersion. They know it from God's word, but they don't understand it because they don't understand the deep meaning of what baptism really is about and what it leads to and the steps that follow baptism, because baptism is just a process of immersion in water – but before baptism what is required? Repentance! Because baptism without repentance, what is it? It's somebody just getting wet. That's all it is. The most important thing before baptism is that God would call a person and give them the gift of repentance. That's what's important. Then based on that repentance, spiritual repentance – not physical repentance, spiritual repentance – then baptism has great meaning because it's motivated by the power of God's spirit in the person's mind, because then they are repenting of what they are. They begin to see sin and they come to understand that baptism is needed for the washing or the cleansing or the removal of all their past sins. Well, then they can rise up out of the water to walk anew! If it just involved getting wet, what's the point of it? So baptisms are not valid unless there is a level of repentance, a level of understanding about why they are getting baptized.

Now, I remember back in my past when this discussion came up in regards to baptism, and a particular person had been baptized in a protestant church and had asked the question, should they be re-baptized? And so to try to help them to come to the understanding that baptism was their choice, had nothing to do with me in the sense of whether I believed they needed to be baptized or not, they needed to come to the understanding themselves of whether they believed they needed to be baptized. Now, in my thinking I believe that they did not repent before, therefore, their baptism was invalid, but they needed to come to that understanding to make the choice before God that they desired to be baptized for the right reason. So when I went back and said, "Well, when did you get baptized?" and they said they got baptized years ago in a protestant church, so I said, "Well, the most important thing before baptism is repentance, so when you got baptized to remove all your sins, what is it you were repenting of?" And they stopped and they thought about it, because the reality was they were still Sunday keepers, they were not tithing, and they were not being drawn into the Church of God, so I said to them, "What is it you were repenting of?" And the reality was they stumbled at that question because they were not repenting of keeping Sunday, so they actually got wet, they got baptized, but there was no repentance, so they didn't repent. They weren't changing by the power of God's spirit that was drawing them at that time and working with them. That wasn't happening. This was just getting wet based on a physical level.

So baptism without repentance is just simply getting wet. Unfortunately, at that time, they did not come to fully see what they needed to repent of, because there was no fruits of repentance. So if there are no fruits of repentance towards God's way of being, what's the point of baptism? Because if there is just no fruits of repentance...therefore, it's a process of just going under the water.

Verse 12 – Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, so this spirit of the world, this natural carnal mind, and the spirit of the world is a transmission by Satan and his demons into man's carnal thinking. So the spirit of this world is hostile towards God. It's enmity towards God, and the demonic world is actually hostile towards God. That is actually the spirit of the world, the spirit of get. We haven't received that but what we have received, the spirit which is from God. It requires God's holy spirit. It's a gift from Him. We take nothing to ourselves about that. It's all done by God's great power! How does that elevate God? Now, to understand this and to know it is a marvelous and wonderful blessing because nobody knows it other than those that God calls and God has worked with or God is working with now. Why? – that we might know the things which have freely been given to us by God. Now, that is an incredible scripture! The fact that we have God's spirit – and this is an incredible gift, to know this – to know the things, all the spiritual things that have been freely given… they've been given as a gift from God to us, those that are being called into the Church of God… by God! So God is the one who gives these free gifts, the truth to His Church.

To know why God has called us and given us His spirit is an incredible truth and is incredible knowledge to have. Let's look at Truth 12:

12 (9) Only those whom God the Father calls and draws to Him can be converted. Only those God chooses and calls now can come into the Church of God. Satan has deceived the whole world, and the Church is called out of that world. (John 6:44)

So if we go over that and just look at this, to understand that we have this truth, now this is an amazing truth to have. And I know from experience that the Churches that have been scattered have lost this very truth. They might have an aspect of an understanding of it, but the spiritual motivation or the spiritual intent of this and this statement has been totally lost, because to understand it requires God's spirit and God's spirit is not there. God's spirit is in God's Church, the Church of God.

So let's look at Truth 12 again. 'Only those whom God the Father calls,' so it requires God the Father by His great power – now, that requires a thought process by God the Father. So God has to choose, He has to think whom it is He is going to call. Now, the reasoning why a person is called at this time and somebody else isn't is totally in God's hands. It is in God's wisdom. '...and draws to Him,' so the calling is to be drawn to God, drawn into obedience to God, '...can be converted.' So it requires a calling to be converted. What is conversion? Conversion is from moving from one way of thinking – the natural carnal mind – into another way of thinking – God's way of thinking. So we can be converted. We can be transformed. We can be changed, and the change is the way we think.

Going on in the 12 (9) Truth: 'Only those God chooses,' so it requires God to make a decision, 'and calls now,' at this point in time, 'can come into the Church of God.' So it requires a calling and it starts with repentance, and then it goes to baptism, and then from baptism it requires the laying on of hands by a true minister of God, that God will then empower the person, the individual, the mind, with the gift of His holy spirit. Isn't that incredible to know that? Now, we understand this and know it. We understand it and know it on a spiritual level. Now, the depth of our understanding of this great blessing, we don't always remember it, we forget it, but we should look back on our calling. Now, we also understand that 'Satan has deceived the whole world.' He has deceived the whole world because scripture clearly states that he has, that he has broadcast and he keeps broadcasting to keep them in this state of deception. Now, they are going to come out of that deception the same as I came out of my deception when I was called, 'and the Church is called out of that world.' Well, that's what exactly happened to me.

I've often thought about interviews and how interviews work. When you go to interviews if you were to answer the question directly in the sense of the truth of the matter, of what had happened to an individual... so if you look at it and say, well, you go to this interview and interviews are difficult because often we take them a little bit too personally. So you go there and you present your resume, you're presenting yourself, and the other person on the other side looks at you and is making discernments and judgements of whether or not you and your character and your personality and your work experience and all that will fit into their company. Now, we're not always going to fit because that's just life – we just don't fit into certain environments. We might think we will fit in, but the person making the decision says, "No," and so they'll say, "Sorry, you can't have this job," and we walk away and often it can feel a bit... you get a bit down about it because there is a sense of rejection, and that rejection is of who we think we are, and we felt that we would have done a really good job and they made a wrong decision in not choosing us. Well, that's normal reasoning of a human. What we can come to see is to accept that we simply don't fit and they don't want us; it's not personal. It's just that we don't fit. And that's just the way it is and not to take it personal because often that can be an aspect of our pride. It's a matter of proceeding forward with interviews until somebody sees the value that we have. Now, our value may not fit into various companies along the way.

One of the questions in various interviews that I've been to, the interviewer will often ask the question, "Well, tell me about yourself." And I've often thought, "What if I was to really tell them on a spiritual level what has happened to me? How would they handle it?" And I'd be able to say, "Well, let me tell you! Well, when I was 29 God called me!" Now, you can imagine how the person would think if you were to say that! They'd say, "Beg your pardon? God called you?" "Yes! Well, God called me, you see. God placed in my mind a new way of thinking and he called me and He drew me out of this world and He drew me out and He gave me the gift of repentance and I began to see where I was going wrong according to His word. Then I went through this process and then I was baptized in 1983! Incredible! And then from that point true ministers of God layed hands on me and I received God's spirit so it could live and dwell in me. So, now I have the potential to think like God, and often I walk around in my life thinking like God!" Now, can you imagine the person sitting over there and listening to that?! They would think or just get onto the phone and ring up the people that have got the white jackets, because they're going to cart you away! "Here is this person who believes that God has called them and He's spoken to them in their minds and now they walk around thinking that God talks to them through the power of something in their mind?!" Well, it's just... to them, it's insane thinking! Because? The things of God are foolishness to mankind, as God says it's foolishness to them.

So we shouldn't expect others to understand this sermon or to understand any aspect of what we do because the natural carnal mind can't grasp spiritual matters. So the fact that we understand this truth, Truth 12(9) in itself, and if we should remember it and if we can remember it and hold close to it – if we can remember our calling, brethren. If we hold to that truth, to understand it, that nobody is coming into the Body of Christ, nobody is coming into the Church unless God calls them. And He has to choose them first and call them into the Church. So we wait for God to fulfill His will in the Church. We don't look for rapid growth or more growth or anything special. We just wait on God and God will add to His Church as He thinks fit. When will He do it? When He wills, all for His purpose.

If we go on now in verse 13 – These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teach, so what they're speaking is not about human reasoning. It's not human intellect. It's not motivated by a massive education of all the ways of mankind or the knowledge of mankind, but which the holy spirit teaches, so it's powered by God's spirit. It’s 'holy' because it comes from God. So this spirit, this spiritual knowledge that comes through them, that they're speaking, is powered by God; it is God in them that's doing the works. And how does it work? ...comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Now, that is to join together fitly, to combine two things together. Now, we join two or more scriptures together to come to see, to know, which is to understand on a spiritual level what God is stating. We compare spiritual with spiritual. So we take a scripture and we will put one with the other, and from that combination of one or more or two or three or lots, we then begin to see the aspects of what God is saying. We are to live by every word of God, not just one.

Now, what mankind tends to do and the churches of the world tend to do to prove a point, they take one scripture and say, "See, this is what this scripture says." Now, they can't understand it on a spiritual level. They look at it on a physical level, what it states, but we understand that you can't just use one scripture and just use it to prove anything, you have to actually combine all of the scriptures together to see the motivation, to see the intent of what is being said, and then to see it on a spiritual level still requires God's holy spirit. So the natural carnal mind cannot understand God's scripture and they can put all the scriptures together and all they will get out of it is confusion, because it seems to them that one scripture contradicts another, but the truth is, there is no contradiction in God's word, but there are aspects of a spiritual understanding that explain all scripture. But of course, without God's spirit there will be confusion and it will look like there is contradiction, but there is not one contradiction in God's word. But you need to see all of God's word, we need to take all of God's word and consider all His statements and understand them on a spiritual level, the motive and intent, then we can understand those scriptures.

Verse 14 – But the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. They are judged or examined by God's thinking. Now we can see, brethren, aspects of why mankind cannot understand the things we do.

Let's look at Truth 3:

3 (3) First Tithe to God. God gave the tithing system for the purpose of doing His work on earth. This tithe is God’s and He has given it to the leaders in His Church to use in His work as He directs the Church through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Now, there is a lot said in that, but this truth is foolishness to mankind. I understand and I have experience from conversations with others where people have found that this can be a great test to people. Now, it can be a test to people in God's Church but it's a greater test in a marriage. It's a greater test in a marriage because if one person is converted and the other person isn't this can be a major test, because it requires God's spirit to understand this statement, to understand it on a spiritual level. 'First Tithe to God,' well, it is to God. So first tithe is to God. It's God's money. It is to be given to God. 'God gave the tithing system,' so God established this, it comes from God and God did it for a purpose. There is a reason why God established First Tithe, which is 10% of the net – the Church makes the ruling at the moment, it's 10% on a person's net income. So God gave it. It's not a manmade system, but man would like to think that it is and they will say, "Well, you're in a cult because you're giving money to a cult!" No, we are giving money to God's Church because it belongs to God. 'God gave the tithing system for the purpose of doing His work on earth.' So there is the motivation. That is how God achieves His work on earth. One of the works on the earth, the main work that God is doing, is preparing people for the Kingdom of God, and He has done that over the 6,000 years and we know He has prepared 144,000 for the Kingdom of God. Also, the work is preparing those that will live into the Millennium. That is a work that is continuing. How is that done? Well, it's done through a tithing system; that's how it works.

When we look at the Church website it requires funds to run it. How are we educated? How do we come into the truth? It requires printed materials. It requires sermons. All of those things are funded by God's tithing system. It is God doing a work in us. So the reason we are in the Church is to transform our thinking to enter Elohim in time. That is God's work on earth. Now, there was the preaching of the gospel in that era of Philadelphia where Mr. Armstrong had a work, which was to preach the gospel as a witness to all nations – and he achieved that to God's level, to God's will and purpose – yet that was done through a tithing system. That's how God did the work. Now the work is to prepare a people and God is doing it through a work, and that's how the books are printed. That is how the work is done. That is how the website functions. All of this is funded by 1st Tithe. That's how God works in His Church, and that's the purpose of tithing. 'This tithe is Gods' – now, that is a big problem to most people. Most people cannot see that this tithe is God's.

Often it has happened in times past when people have left God's Church, have left fellowship, they will write in or ask for all their tithes back because they see it as 'their tithes' back. They don't ever see it as God's tithe, but it is God's tithe. First tithe does not belong to any individual. First tithe does not belong to me and it does not belong to you; it is God's tithe, and this is one of the laws of obedience. If a person fails to recognize that tithe, 1st Tithe belongs to God, they're heading in a path of destruction on a spiritual level, because this is one of the key factors of coming into the truth, to actually understand and see this. Now, there are many sermons on the website that cover this under the Topic's section and sermons that relate to God's Tithe and why God's Tithe is important to God.

Now, often people will hand in their tithes and they may see something happen within the ministry – in times past these things have happened – where they might question and say, "Well, I don't believe that God's Tithe is being used wisely." Well, that is not their prerogative. It is not their decision to make and it is not their judgement to make because it is God's Tithe and God places it into the Church, into the ministry, and then it becomes the leader of the Church – at this time is God's apostle – to make decisions of how those funds are allocated and where they're spent in relation to the website and books and other things. That is a decision that God has placed into the leadership. Now, that is a massive responsibility! In actual fact, it's actually in some ways a burden, because decisions have to be made and decisions are made based on, "How does God view this? Is this the right thing? Is this being motivated by God's spirit?" And that's how all those decisions are made – and they're never made on a physical level believing, "Well, it's just money..." This is God's money and God's ministry knows that this is God's money.

So once a person gives God His tithe he has no responsibility and he has no decision and he has no worry about how those funds are used, because they are God's funds, and God directs the use of the funds in His Church: 'This tithe is God's and He has given it to the leaders of His Church to use in His work as He, God, directs the Church through His Son Jesus Christ.' Now, if we see this and if we believe this, the aspect and the matter of 1st Tithe will never be an issue in a converted member of the Body of Christ's mind. It just simply won't be because they understand the truth about 1st Tithe.

Verse 15 – But he who is spiritual, he who has God's spirit living and dwelling in him or her, active, judges all things. Now, this is 'examines or discerns matters as to what God states is right and wrong.' So it's not as if the word 'judge' there is to turn around and judge to condemn, which the world does. They make judgements for the purpose of condemning. We don't do that. We judge, we discern, we examine a matter and we examine it based on, "Well, how does God see it? Does God say this is right or wrong?" Now, this is the same when it comes to that principle we just went back on, 1st Tithe. Now, we, brethren, should apply it to ourselves on 1st Tithe, but we should apply that to ourselves on 2nd Tithe as well, that we discern, we examine whether or not we're saving our 2nd Tithe according to the way that God has said. It is tithe to be used for Festivals. It's not to be used for other purposes other than outlined by God's Church. What God has said and placed in His Church as far as administrative decisions are binding and loosening. So we examine, we discern these matters about what God states is right and wrong and we take direction with regards to use of 2nd Tithe according to the way God has said through the ministry, and we've just had a posting regarding that and covering that very aspect.

...yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. So what it's saying there is that we make discernments. We make judgements to determine whether a matter is right and wrong. No one judges with the natural carnal mind because they can't work out what is right and wrong on a spiritual level with regards to intent. Now, this of course is similar to Truth 1 because we can work things out. We discern things of how to keep the Sabbath, for example, so let's look at Truth 1, the seventh day Sabbath.

Now, these are things, brethren, we know... we know...and we know why they exist! Isn't this amazing, the fact that we know all these things? And it is God that is, in His mercy, has given us knowledge of these things and is giving us the opportunity to reflect on them, to meditate on them, to understand where we understand these things and why we understand these things. We understand these things because they've been placed into God's true Church, and we understand these things on a spiritual level by the power of God's holy spirit. So all the glory, all the credit goes to God. This truth...

1 (1) The seventh day Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath has remained one of the most basic signs of God’s true Church. God’s people have always obeyed the seventh day Sabbath.

Now, we have discerned that, we've examined that through many-a-sermons. We understand that it's a command of God. This is not a personal choice matter. This is a command of God to set aside this time as holy. It's holy time set aside to worship God on this particular day. We have rightly discerned this and we have judged the matter, then we have to make ongoing discernments in how we keep the Sabbath. It's not a matter of if; it's how. What do we think about? How do we keep it? How do we keep this time as holy? Well, they're matters that we grow in based on the power of God's spirit.

Now, yet, it says in the bottom of this scripture in verse 15 – Yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. So no one else can come out and judge us on this matter because we are to judge ourselves with regards to this matter before God: how we keep the Sabbath. And we are forever growing in this knowledge. So with regards to our jobs, the same thing applies. We are to work out how we are to handle, for example, telling our boss. No one can judge us on whether we did the right thing or the wrong thing. We have to handle that ourselves. We have to discern using God's scripture the best way to approach an employer to explain how we cannot work on a Friday night or a Saturday, how we keep that day holy. And I know from here are times that I've raised these matters, sometimes it comes out badly, and we didn't quite explain it as clearly as what we should have done, or other times the hearer doesn't quite understand, and other times it's accepted, and sometimes I've said very little and people have accepted and said, "It's not a problem." Other times, people have said, you know, "See you later!" They're not interested. Well, that's fine. It's all in God's hands. It's up to God whether or not we're going to be employed in that industry or not or what work He is doing with us and what lessons we can learn from those decisions and the way we've handled it.

I remember one particular interview that I went to, I had sent my resume in to a particular business. It was a retail business, and I came to learn that it was owned by a group of Jewish men, and at that time I thought, "Well, because I'm a Sabbath-keeper that probably this interview will go quite well because they 'understand' the Sabbath." I didn't fully grasp at that time how much they didn't understand about the Sabbath, but anyway, I had thought, "Well, they'll understand more about the Sabbath." So when I went into the interview I was reasonably confident because my resume had been accepted and I'd actually gotten an interview – I think I was one of four or five, they said – for this particular role. Well, the interview went for about an hour and a half and generally in those interviews you have a rough idea whether or not it's going quite well and I felt reasonably confident that things were heading in the right direction based on my experience and based on the relationship, the rapport, that I had with the man that was interviewing me. Then he came to the aspect of work and I said to him, "Well, I just need to explain to you," because I hadn't put it on my resume at that point, I normally left it to middle of the interview, if I thought the interview was going reasonably well...I would try to watch my timing. If I thought the interview was going badly I'd normally throw it in first because there was no point. It was already going badly; let's get it over and done with. This time I'd left it to near the end of the interview. I thought it was going well and I thought, well, he's Jewish so he'll understand, so I sat down and I said, "Well, I need to explain the Sabbath. I am a Sabbath-keeper and that means I won't work Friday nights and Saturdays." Now, I had assumed, presumed, that he would understand! Well, I was out of that room, no kidding, within at least one minute – it was all over! He didn't even answer or say anything. He said, "Okay, well, understand that and we'll get back to you." It was about as quick as that! There was no need to explain anything.

And what I realized afterwards, well, their business operated, of course, seven days a week; he might be Jewish but that doesn't mean that he was a Sabbath-keeper, not with the spiritual intent of the Sabbath. When we have the understanding of the Sabbath it doesn't mean to say that others that think they have an understanding will react the same.

And there was another interview where I had, with a particular company, I went to the interview, things were going quite well and there was actually a consultant there with the person doing the interview and it was about an hour into it and it also was a retail business, seven days a week, and I thought, "Well, it's best to table this about now," because again, it's a discernment that you can make, when to table it. I decided to table the Sabbath and told them that.... the particular role was actually a sales role where you had to travel around, go store to store and manage people that worked on a Sabbath, etcetera, and I said to them, "Look, on these particular days I will not be available for Friday nights and Saturdays, so I won't be able to do that role on that day, but I'll be able to pick up some work on Sunday if that was any benefit to them." Well, it went a little bit quiet and we ducked and dived around a few questions. I could see them not quite sure how to handle this, and I got direct questions like, how would I handle the people on that day, and I answered them basically by saying, "Well, I wasn't available but there are other people that can handle them in the company," and all those sorts of things. Got through all that and I got an answer back saying, "Well, we won't require your services." Well, I accepted that because I didn't fit. There was no point in getting upset about it. I didn't fit, and I'd left the fact that God was in charge, and therefore, the decision is God's and it doesn't matter, and moved on. Well, about six weeks later, I actually got another phone call saying, "Come back in for another interview." Same company. I went back in, went through it all – actually God gave me that job, and that was a great job in the sense that I didn't have to work Friday night or Saturday. They knew. Nobody called me, all the staff knew there was no point in ringing me on a Friday night, Saturday. And you know what? Nothing ever happened on a Friday or a Saturday that in any way could not have been handled by somebody else.

Well, I look forward to the day when everything closes on a Friday night and Saturday, when everyone has the same motivation. That is only going to happen, of course, in the Millennium; that's the only time that's going to happen.

Verse 16 – For who has known, who understands, the mind of the Eternal that he, a human, may instruct Him? So is there anybody that can teach God anything? Well, there is nobody. But, brethren, we have the mind of Christ, which is the mind of God.

So brethren, isn't this encouraging? The fact that we know that we have the potential to think like God! It's actually really exciting when we see these things, when scriptures come alive to us.

I want to look at Truth 57, the very last truth that God has placed in the Church at this point in time. Now, this is an incredible statement that God has placed in the Church in relation to the truth. Now, it's a lot more detail than what it is, but I do intend to go through this particular truth and discuss it as we go through it. It starts off...

57 (7) Through the power of the holy spirit, Almighty God will “dwell” IN His Family into everlasting life, and they will always dwell IN Him.

From that, we can see some things: It is 'through the power of the (God's) holy spirit' and it's holy because it comes from God. 'Almighty God,' Yahweh Elohim, 'will dwell,' and that is live in, abide in, 'IN,' and that is IN. It's in the mind. It's in the thinking because it's spiritual, 'IN His Family.' So when a person is converted to spirit or changed to spirit and dwells in everlasting life, and that is in Elohim, God dwells IN His Family. He dwells IN them 'into everlasting life' because it is God that gives everlasting life. So God the Father has life inherent in Himself – He is the only one with life, and therefore, anyone that was to have spirit life it has to be given from God. Now, God will dwell IN the person's thinking.

God has guaranteed and promised that He will never withdraw that life from someone that He has changed from physical to enter into Elohim. God will sustain that life for everlasting, for eternity, from that point (not going back of course, but looking forward), 'and they will always dwell in Him.' So now it requires a unity. Because they have God's thinking in them, they have God's spirit in them, they will be in Him, so it's the same thinking. It's the same understanding. Of course, we will never be Yahweh Elohim, so we're never going to have the complete mind of God. We are forever learning. Because God has existed for eternity, which we can't fully grasp by any means; therefore, to know God is such a wonderful thing. To know aspects of God is such a wonderful thing. To know why God is creating a family is just amazing, and we have this knowledge, brethren, so we should walk away from this sermon series praising God for what He has done for us. Who are we that God would do anything for us? We are nothing! We are nothing! We are just normal humans that God has decided to call and to work with, to train, to mold and fashion, and it's a lifelong process and it requires pain and suffering because every time our pride is affected, every time there is a change from a natural way of thinking to God's way of thinking, the natural carnal mind reacts. It is actually painful in the spirit to do it. But God knows that and He is patient and merciful and works with us over time to change the way we think, to deepen our spiritual understanding on a matter.

Here, once we are changed, once the 144,000 are changed, they will always dwell in Him. They will have God's mind, they will have no part, nothing to do with a natural carnal mind. It will cease to exist. It is no longer there. They are now spiritually minded in all their thinking because they dwell in God.

Continuing on in Truth 57....

This will be accomplished through the power of the holy spirit that emanates from God...

...so it comes from God. It's a continual thing from God…

...and it will never cease to be “coming into” the lives of all who are in the God Family.

Now, that is amazing to begin to even grasp. Now, we only grasp this on a limited level, really, but this promise that God has said, that 'it will never cease to be coming into the lives,' coming into the life of a spirit being, 'of all who are in the Family of God.' So it is God that sustains life. It is God that gives life everlasting, and it is God that has guaranteed the flow of this spirit that is coming out from Him, His way of being into the lives of the spirit beings, that they will be maintained and sustained for eternity. Now, God has made a promise that they can never die. That is the gift of life everlasting. So once a person enters into Elohim, they cannot die because God has made it so, because God has promised it. God cannot lie so it's a promise. It's going to happen.

This will be a perpetual and continuing process into everlasting life.

Once begotten of God’s holy spirit, the flow of the holy spirit can be suppressed and completely removed (cut off) from a begotten person’s life.

Now, this statement is referring to the natural carnal mind, a person, a human being. So once God calls a person and we are 'begotten of God's holy spirit, the flow of the holy spirit can be suppressed and completely removed (cut off) from a begotten person's life.' So we understand, brethren, that the calling is the beginning. So if we look at this, brethren, to understand it in more detail, if we look at God's spirit...and let's use a physical analogy because sometimes a physical analogy can help us with our understanding of how this works.

If we take, for example, using God's spirit as a 'type' and we use it like electricity where it flows from God and it flows into the mind of a human being and you say that is symbolically God's spirit. So here we have this electricity flowing in, which empowers a process of thinking in the mind, and therefore, it electrifies it and it now thinks like God because it's the flow of that electricity into the mind which is the thinking of God, the Word of God into the mind, therefore, the mind now can flow out that electricity out to the benefit of others. And it's only that spirit that can do it, God's holy spirit that can do it, live and think out to the benefit of others.

Now, if that is suppressed, if you look at a light bulb, if you suppress electricity what happens? It dims. It becomes duller. It doesn't flow as much. So the electricity flows in, it slows down, the light goes down on a dim, and we know nowadays that you can dim a light with a dimmer on the wall. You can go up and turn that dimmer and the electricity flow is cut down or suppressed and the light becomes duller. Well, we're the same, brethren, that we can become duller spiritually and the flow of God's spirit can be suppressed in us, or you can go up to the switch and switch it off completely, cut the flow completely off. It goes into darkness. It goes dark. So we can be cut off from God's spirit because of sin. Now we are in darkness – so the light gets turned off, the flow stops, because we are in unrepented sin.

We have the ability, by the power of God's spirit, to be in the gift of repentance, but if we know that there is a sin there and we refuse to repent of it that is when the electricity is turned off. That's when the flow of God's spirit is turned off, because we have made a decision to refuse to repent. So we can have the suppression of God's spirit because God's spirit requires and gives us the gift of repentance, but we can become dull because we've got this sin, but when we refuse to repent of it, when we knowingly know that we've got this sin and we just will not deal with it, the flow of God's spirit will be cut off. Same as turning the light off. We then go into darkness, and when we're in darkness can we see? No, we can't. Well, when we're in spiritual darkness, when the flow of God's spirit is cut off from us, can we see? No, brethren, we cannot see. We cannot grow in spiritual knowledge. We cannot grow in truth. We cannot grow in understanding. We'll actually have an aspect of the knowledge we have and that's it, but over time that is eroded and gone.

So we are begotten by God's spirit. It is in our life, it dwells in our life, and it flows in and out through our life to the benefit of others.

Continuing on in Truth 57...

God dwells (abides, lives) IN the life of a spirit begotten person (a person of the holy spirit)...

God dwells in us, lives in us, and abides in us in our mind and His spirit flows into our minds.

...and they therefore dwell IN Him.

So it is God living and dwelling in our mind, in us. Isn't this incredible knowledge to have? The fact that we know this, the fact that we know why God is doing this, why is God placing His holy spirit in us – we know this! The world has no idea about the beauty of God's holy spirit – none – they just simply don't.

Through the power of the holy spirit, the life (nature, truth, Word, (the Logos), way of life) of God (God's way of being) begins to dwell in a begotten person’s life (in the spirit essence given to the human mind), helping to change the very way one thinks and lives, from...

So what are we being changed from? So the reason God's spirit is given to us is it's helping us to change from one way of thinking and the way of life that we live, and God begins to live in us. We are begotten of God, God dwelling in us – why? – that we will change from...

...that of selfishness and pride...

Which is the natural carnal mind that we have, which we've had sermons covering that in the relation to how much pride we have. That's our natural way of thinking. So God gives us the spirit, this flow of power, His way of thinking, His way of being, into our minds to move us, to change us from this way of thinking, of selfishness and pride...

...to that of outgoing concern and love toward others.

Now, this is amazing! Because people will say they love people – the truth is that without God's spirit, without God's holy spirit living and dwelling in a person, we cannot love, Godly love, agape love, towards another person. It's absolutely impossible because it's only God that can love. It's only God, by the power of God's holy spirit in a mind, in a person, that can love. Now, we cannot love. We can love things on a physical level. So without God's spirit, when somebody says, "I love you," that is a human love and what's a human love really? What's the basis of a human love, really? What's its motivation? Selfishness and pride. Now, we understand that. We know this! Now, this is amazing as well, the fact that we understand our nature – because God's given us the gift to see it – is just incredible! And how do we know it? Because we're connected to the vine. We are part of the Body of Christ, and when somebody leaves God's Church, leaves fellowship, what is it really saying, knowing this truth, knowing the 57th Truth here? What's it saying? It's saying they're moving back to selfishness and pride and they no longer can have outgoing concern for you or for anybody – it's not possible – and they no longer can love you and they no longer can love God and they can no longer love anybody. Who can they love? They can only love themselves. Isn't that incredible?

Now, people would say, people without God's spirit can say, that is just arrogance and pride and that is just foolishness, but we understand this truth and I find it just amazing, the fact that we can love because of the power of God's holy spirit. We can actually have outgoing concern, desire no ill will to anybody, and the only reason we can do it is because God's achieving it in us.

More of Truth 57...

This power however is suppressed and sometimes cut off because of sin, as God will not dwell in sin.

So, God will not dwell in sin. He can't live in this mind, in this Temple – we are the Temple of the holy spirit if we have God's spirit – well, God can't dwell in it, and His purpose is to dwell in it for the purpose of transforming us.

Once given spirit life in a resurrection from death (or resurrection from physical life) to spirit life, this process of God dwelling in a “born” person’s life (no longer begotten)...

Where we are now; we're begotten sons of God. Well, once we're changed we are born into Elohim...

...and they in Him...

We are born into the Family of God, and God's spirit...

...will never cease nor be interrupted...

So this is a promise of God, it won't be cut off. The electricity will be flowing continually. Because there is no sin, because spirit beings as Elohim can't sin, there is no sin to cut it off. There is no sin to dull it. Isn't that amazing to understand?

...but will be perpetual and continuous into everlasting life.

So once we are changed to spirit, according to God's timing, and we enter His Family, we then have the mind of God. Well, God has promised that that flow – and we're looking at it from the analogy or point of the holy spirit being like an electrical force – that flow cannot be interrupted now, and the reason it can't be interrupted is because we can't sin, because we have the mind of God, because God is empowering it – so that flow flows into us. It'll never cease. It'll never be dulled because as spirit beings sin will not dwell, and we know that God has said clearly through the book of Revelation’s last chapters,  that in the end sin will be destroyed. Sin will be abolished, pride will be removed, therefore, there will be no sin, and therefore, there will be a Family of God. We will be in Elohim and the flow of God's spirit, His sustaining life everlasting, will be achieved by Him and that flow will never stop.

Continuing on in Truth 57...

Each member who is born into God’s Family has independent reasoning and thought, but each is perfectly united in purpose, will, and one way of life through the power of the holy spirit that will forever abide in them (which continuously emanates from God—who is the source).

Because that is the secret to all of this, the understanding of it, it all comes from God. Everything is coming from God and He will sustain this life, and we'll have that will and purpose. We'll have this power that will abide in us forever. At the moment, it dwells in us as a temporary thing.

It is God “forever dwelling” in each member that makes the Family of God a reality in “one” perfectly united way.

How great, how merciful is God that He has revealed this to us! How great and how merciful is God in the fact that He even desires to have a family and to use such things as humans? ...to use you and me? That's amazing! It is absolutely amazing!

Let's look at Isaiah 40:10 – Behold, the LORD God shall come with a strong hand, and that is in Christ. God comes in Christ because Christ is representing God the Father; He has the mind of God. And His arm, God's arm, symbolic of strength and authority, shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him,

And His work before Him. He will feed His flock, and of course, at that point in time, the return of Christ, God will feed His Church and He will feed them spiritual food, because this is really talking on the spiritual level. It is about a spiritual way of life. It's about having God's thinking, having God's mind. And if we have God's spirit, that is being fed spiritual food. And when we hear sermons, it is God feeding His Church, and to the degree we understand and what we take away in the sense of absorbing that food is based on what God's purpose and will is in our life.

He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will nurture and protect His Church – and that's what happens brethren. God nurtures and protects His people. He shepherds us. He guides us into the truth, and He has given it to us, the truth, and we then have to stay close to the flock. We should stay close to the truth because God is shepherding and nurturing us and He's protecting us, and the way He does it is through the truth, and if we stay with the truth, meditate on the truth, and dwell on the truth, and appreciate our calling and give the glory to God and realise what God is doing in our life, we will stay protected. It's when we wander off by ourselves and come to our own reasoning, trying to work things out for ourselves based on our human reasoning is when we will wander off and the shepherd will struggle to protect us because we are wandered away from the flock, from the Church, from the Body.

He will gather the lambs with His arms and carry them in His bosom and gently lead those who are with young. So this love and concern that God has – it's symbolically talking there – that God is shepherding us. He's nurturing us. He's protecting us. God is doing the work. We are part of the Church because God desires it.

There is a question then asked in verse 12 – Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand? In other words, who is it that's picked up some water in their hand – the whole earth – and measured it? Put it just in their hand and washed it around in their hand and measured and said, "Oh, this is how much there is." Measured the heavens with a span, and we understand a span is the stretched out hand of a man. So who has done that? Who has actually gone around and measured all the outside of the earth according to the measurements that God has used? ...and calculated the dust of the earth in the measure? So who is it that actually knows the measure of all the dust? Who can give us the number of how much dust there is? Who can measure the sands of the sea? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who is it that has created the mountains and worked out their size? And the hills, how many are there and how many hills are there versus mountains? What makes a hill? What makes a mountain? What's the measurement?

Well, brethren, with this question we should then put things into perspective. We should put our human greatness, our perceived greatness anyway, into perspective. These questions should bring us down to earth. So we should place what we think, our reasoning, into perspective. How stupid are we? How ignorant are we to ever raise ourselves up against God by disobedience and sin? Or to raise ourselves up in our reasoning and our thinking? And to raise ourselves up in our own greatness, our perceived greatness? When this question is asked, we're nothing; we're like the dust of the earth. We are nothing. We have nothing! Without God, we are nothing! And that's really this question. Who's done all this? How can you compare God to us? Well, we can't, brethren. We're nothing compared to the greatness of God and His great glory, and the truth that He has placed into the Church reveals God's greatness. The power of a calling reveals God's greatness.

Verse 13 – Who has directed the spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has taught Him? Who is it that has directed God's spirit? Well, who is it that calls? So who is it that made the decision to call, you or me? Who made that decision? Who directs when a person should be called and how much of God's spirit will be given? Who does that? Have we got any control over that at all? And ‘His counselor,’ who has taught God? Has anybody taught God anything? Can we teach God anything? Can we raise ourselves up and teach God anything? Nothing, brethren. All knowledge comes from God! God is Almighty, and that's sometimes a word that we don't understand. The word, 'Almighty' – God is ALL MIGHTY – He is all powerful. Everything radiates from Him. We should take no credit for anything to ourselves! Hence, when we get down and humble ourselves before God in prayer we can honestly say, "Almighty God, thank You for calling me. Thank You for drawing me out of the world. Thank You for my existence! Thank You for all that You provide for me. Thank You for life! Thank You for the spiritual food. Thank You for your spirit." And ask Him to help us to endure to the end, to be under the government of God to the end. We want life! And that's what God wants to hear from us. He wants to hear our heart, our inner being. So who can teach God anything? Nobody. Who is God's counselor? Nobody.

With whom did He, God, take counsel, or who instructed God and taught Him, taught God, in the paths of justice? So who taught God to be the way that He is? Who taught God about what is right and wrong? Who? Nobody. Who taught Him knowledge? Who gave any understanding to God? Nobody.

And shown Him the ways of understanding? We understand, brethren, there is no one. No one can be compared to Almighty God and nobody should ever be compared to Almighty God. It is a foolishness and a folly and a sin to raise anything up to be equal or anything compared to God.

Now, this brings into the reasoning of why a person should never have an idol. We should never create an image of God. We should never create a manmade image of God, which the world churches do, all these weird things that they create. It's just absolute arrogance and pride of a human being! Because if we were ever to ask this question as it's outlined in the scripture, and answer it, the answer is nobody; therefore, why would a human want to compare anything to God? Because NOTHING can be compared to the Almighty God, nothing at all.

Verse 15 – Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as small dust on the scales; Look, He, God, lifts up the isles as a very little thing. So God can raise up mountains out of the earth. He can raise up volcanoes. He can do all those sorts of things.God is in total control. He is All Mighty and all of this is just something that God has done on a physical level for a spiritual purpose, but the moment anything raises itself up in its thinking, they need to stand back and just remember who Almighty God really is, and of course, the natural carnal mind can't do it, but we, brethren, are blessed. We are so blessed that we can because God has given us the gift, the ability, to do it. How merciful is God!

Verse 16 – And Lebanon, and that really is symbolically or pointing to what is physical or the best available on a physical level. So Lebanon, this is the best that is available that man can bring forward, is not sufficient to burn. So God made it, really, but Lebanon is nothing compared to the glory and greatness of God. Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. All the beasts on the earth are just not enough. It's just not enough if they would all be sacrificed. If every animal was to be sacrificed to God, well that's all nothing compared to the greatness of God. God made it all. What would be the point of doing all that, and it's not sufficient to God's greatness! He is Almighty!

Verse 17 – All nations before Him are as nothing, and the point here really is saying, nobody should ever raise themselves up in any shape or form in any way against God or against God's government, because God's government, God's Church, is of God. It's God who created the Church. It's God in the Church that makes the Church. And they are counted by Him, by God, less than nothing and worthless. The point is nothing can be compared to God and we should never compare anything physical to God, and if we do, we are limiting God. If we compare anything to God, anything at all, we are limiting God. Now, that is a human potential. A human potential of a natural mind is to limit God, to bring God down from being All Mighty to something that is physical, something that we can grasp, but we should never do that. There is nothing that can be compared to God, to God's personality, God's nature, God's way of being. Nothing can be compared to it.

Verse 18 – To whom then will you liken God? Which is the question. It's foolishness to liken anything to God, absolute foolishness. Or what likeness will you compare to Him? It's just insane. When we understand this on a spiritual level, to have an image is insane thinking. Now we know why we should never have an image or an image of God on a physical level, and we shouldn't have one on a spiritual level in our minds, because what we will do, is limit God, limit God's power, limit God's authority, limit God's control over what He is creating, because we'll bring it into human reasoning. So nothing should ever be presented or portrayed as God. Nothing could ever represent or portray the glory and power of Almighty God! Nothing! And that's why images are just simply foolishness, brethren.

Because we understand the purpose of life and the purpose of our calling, we know that we must come to fight against our selfishness, our selfish nature, our selfish desires and put on the very thinking of God. So that's something we know and understand. And we've been through Romans 8 before and we went through the natural carnal mind and then we saw that we can be begotten sons of God and what our purpose in life is. And they're glorious scriptures! I know I go to Romans 8 a lot in my life, but they mean so much to me personally because God, over time, has revealed more and more and more, and every time I go over those scriptures, I'm just dumbfounded really, about what God has revealed to me, what I know, and what you know, brethren, what we know! We know the why! We know why we were given a natural carnal mind. We know why God called us. We know why God places His spirit in us. We know why God is creating a Family – He wants to share. We know those things!

So we can't take any of that knowledge or credit to ourselves. We just thank God for what He is doing. We thank God for the fact that we know why things are happening.

Psalm 56:1-11 –  In brackets it says, ‘When the Philistines captured David in Gath,’ and this is David crying out to God, and being a Psalm, of course, it reveals the deep feelings and emotions, the spirit in him, what he was thinking. Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. Now, we are oppressed, brethren. We are oppressed by man's thinking. We're oppressed by the way people think towards us. Man's ways are not God's ways, therefore, there is a guarantee – it's a 100% guarantee – we will be oppressed. There is a guarantee we will suffer. We will suffer at the hands of mankind, it's a guarantee, because we think differently. We are of God. They don't understand it. They don't know it, therefore, oppression will come. Because of this, we are going to be oppressed by the system, the system of government. Governments are going to oppress us with their rules and conditions and their desire to control and hold us captive in thinking, and that's the problem.

Here in Australia, there is compulsory voting. What it is, there is an election comes up and the government says we are to vote. Now, in God's Church, we don't vote. We don't want anything to do with man's way of thinking, their way of rule, because it's not God's way. So to obey God, because we belong to another Kingdom, we are citizens of another Kingdom yet to come, but we are begotten at the moment of that Kingdom. We represent that Kingdom on the earth. That's our life. That's how we walk. We will not vote for man's ways, therefore, there is a penalty, that if you don't fill out a card and if you don't lodge a vote, you will pay a fine. Well, there are ways through that, of course, which is each person can handle and work their way through how they want to handle that and each person grows in how they handle that, but we don't vote. Simple. And we're willing to pay the penalty. And that's the point, we are under man's government as long as it does not ask us to sin, to break God's law. So we're subject to that government until it asks us to sin, to break God's law, something that is contrary. Now, they can't make us do anything. Nobody can make us sin. We choose not to follow man's ways if it goes against God's ways, and that's why our life is going to be one of suffering. There is going to be oppression on us.

Verse 2 – My enemies would hound me, and that is 'swallow me up' all day. They're going to continue to do this. They'd like to destroy David. For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. So let's look at this on a spiritual level. On a spiritual level Satan and his followers desire to destroy God's people on a spiritual level. Now, Satan and his demons desire to destroy us. They hate what man is, what man is created for. How much more does Satan and his demons desire to destroy you and me, because they know why we've been called? They know God loves us, they know we are the apple of God's eye, they know we are God's Church and they hate and despise it, because? We have the potential to enter God's Family as Elohim. Isn't that incredible? So they hate and despise God's plan! They hate and despise God's plan.

Now, we can fight against Satan's ways, but it's going to be difficult. It's not going to be easy. They will fight against us all day. They do not sleep. They will fight against us, brethren, because that is their motivation and drive because of their hate and ill will towards us. We must be watching out for their spiritual attacks which are revealed by our attitudes. Now, often we can be tempted and tested and be affected by the broadcasting and sometimes we don't pick up on it quickly, but generally, the best way to look at it is to stand back and just take a thought every day, just keep thinking, “What's my attitude here? What's my attitude? Is it outgoing love and concern? What's my attitude towards this situation? What's this, my attitude, towards this person? What is my attitude at the moment?” Well, that will reflect our spirit, the way we're thinking. What we're thinking reflects that.

Verse 3 – Whenever I am afraid I will trust You, talking about God. In God (I will praise His word),

In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? And that's a good question; What can flesh do to me? What can man do to me? What can man do to you? Well, they can oppress you all on a physical level. They can make life difficult. But the reality is nothing can happen to us unless God allows it for our spiritual good.

And in Romans 8:28 (I'm going to refer to it. I won't turn there) – For we know… this is something we know, brethren. We know the why of this. We know that all things, and that means everything works together for good, for spiritual good! So no matter what is happening in our physical lives it's actually for our spiritual good if we allow it, if we won't resist against it, if we won't fight it! Let's not fight God by resisting God, because what is happening to us, there is something spiritual to be learned from it. So All things work together for good to those who love God. Well, we love God because God dwells in us, which empowers us to love God, to obey Him, to those who are called. So it requires a calling, as we went through in one of the truths, it requires a calling from God, according to His purpose, not to our purpose. All of this that is happening to us on a physical level, all the tests and trials we're facing, all the decisions we have to make, if they're handled correctly, brethren, if we stay focused and trust in God and put our trust in God and remain in the truth and follow the calling that we've been called to, which is one of conversion, which is one of changing which is God's purpose, God desires to live in us. God desires to dwell in us.

So all of this is going to come to a positive outcome. So what can flesh do? Well, they can harm us on a physical level, but on a spiritual level they can do nothing to us because we are God's. God is nurturing us. God is looking after us. He called us for that very purpose, to enter Elohim. So we can view the next verse, this next verse, on a spiritual level.

Psalm 56:5 – All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. Now, people twist our words because... people have twisted our words because often our words are driven by God's spirit. They're motive is right, but they can twist them, and they can think thoughts that are against us for evil. They can wish us harm! But we, brethren, desire no ill will towards them, but they can desire ill will towards us because that's natural, that's normal, that's what we should expect. We shouldn't expect anything else from life.

They gather together, they hide, they mark, and that is 'to observe' my steps. So here it is saying, "Well, they're watching me; they're watching everything I do." When they lay down in wait for my life. So physically, they're waiting for David, and because they've got ill will toward him they're looking to destroy him.

Well, on a spiritual level we know that there are beings that wish to destroy us on a spiritual level, and they do lay in wait. They don't ever sleep. They do hide. They mark our steps. They observe us to see what we're doing, and then when they believe that we are in a weakened state, when we've left the truth, they can attack us more fiercely at our weakest point, and our weakest point is pride. Our weakest point is pride, brethren, and if we remember that, we can survive these attacks, remembering that the problem with ourselves is that we are willing to lift ourselves up because we are right in our own eyes. So the closer we stay to the truth, the more we humble ourselves before God, the stronger we can be spiritually because God's flow of His spirit can live and dwell in us and remain in us to flow out to the benefit of others.

So God's spirit living in us is not for the purpose of self. It's for the purpose of God doing a work in us living out to benefit others, to live out to the benefit of His creation. And when we enter Elohim, what's it about? It's about sharing. It's about living love to others, to benefit others! That's what life is about! And that's something that we have to learn now in our life, in this physical life, by the power of God's spirit that we can learn to live love to others. We can learn to sacrifice the self, put ourselves out to benefit others, and that is living love to others.

Verse 7 – Shall they escape by iniquity? What it's saying there is, "Will they get away with sin?" It's a question. Well, the answer is, no, spirit beings will not get away with sin. In anger cast down the peoples, O God! Now, often people misread this because they look at it on a physical level. So the protestant churches will say in anger, "Cast down the people's, O God!" Well, God's going to get angry and cast them down. That's not what it's really talking about. There is a thing of righteous anger and it's about sin, because God can display His righteous anger – righteous anger is just. It is right. It is right to be angry – because people need to pay the penalty for their sins. So the demonic world, God will cast them down in anger, in righteous anger, because the wages of sin is death, and therefore, sin has a penalty and it needs to be paid. So God in His righteous anger, in righteousness, in right judgement will implement the penalty for sin.

You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle, into God's bottle. In other words, he's saying, "God, you are so close to me." Are they not in your book? "Are not my tears in your book? Have you not got record of everything that is happening to me?" Well, the answer is, God knows everything that is happening to us and why it is happening to us. Now, a lot of what happens to us is based because of our bad choices, but God allows those things to happen and He still works with us in His mercy and His patience for a spiritual outcome.

Another version says, "You've kept track of my every turning through life; each tear, each ache written in Your book." God is aware of all His people. God is aware of you. God is aware of me. God is aware of us. He was the one who called us out of this world into His Church for a purpose...for a purpose. God knows all our physical situations. God knows all our physical sufferings.

Verse 9 – When I cry out to You, out to You, God, then my enemies will turn back; this I know, because God is for me. Now, this is amazing knowledge to have! We know why God is for us at this particular time. We know this, brethren. God is for us and not against us. God is for us for a reason. God is for us because He desires us to be in His Family. What an incredible blessing to understand this! What an incredible blessing, the fact that we were even called!

Verse 10 – In God (I will praise His word), in the Eternal (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? And the reality is, brethren, mankind, man, can do nothing to us, nothing at all. If we stay close to God, if we stay close to the truth, the trunk of the tree, God is with us. God will help us to endure to the end.

So we'll finish there, brethren, on Part 2, and the way that it looks at the moment we will have, 'To Know Why', and we will finish with Part 3.

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