The City of Truth, Pt. 3

Ronald Weinland

February 17, 2024

Today we’re continuing in that new series entitled The City of Truth, and this is Part 3.

Last Sabbath we had reached a point where truth was being compared to or coupled with grace, talking about the importance of that in scripture. Something we really haven’t focused on in the same manner in times past but certainly have started to do in this particular series.

I thought it’d be good to go back and look at a few verses, how this was expressed that way, just as a reminder in John 1. There is so much said in the book of John about truth. And in this case here, from the very beginning in John 1 talking about grace as well.

In John 1:14 it says, And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And so, that’s a beginning of a process of being introduced to the importance of the two being coupled together and why.

Verse 17—For the law was given by, or as it is through Moses. Again, being reminded here that it was received in a physical manner. They couldn’t receive it in a spiritual manner; they didn’t understand it. It wasn’t until Christ came that he began to explain the spirit of God’s law. And the Israelites certainly didn’t comprehend any of that. It wasn’t given to them because it takes God’s spirit to see something on a spiritual plane.

So, it says here The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Joshua the Christ. So, now able to be received in a spiritual manner. But it’s not just a matter of the law, it’s not just a matter of the truth and understanding what that is, it’s a matter of grasping what grace is all about as well. That’s why it talks about Christ being filled with grace because it’s this mind of God in him, the Word made flesh, which reflects God’s desire to give to us the blessings of His Family, the blessings, first of all, of forgiveness through Joshua, and then on and on it goes.

And we grow in those things as we grow in our understanding of how God is accomplishing that, and understanding things that, candidly, in the very beginning they still didn’t grasp and comprehend because it wasn’t given to the early apostles to understand all of these things in that regard.

So again here, toward the end of the sermon then it was stated (which I’m going to repeat this statement because it’s important to understand): “Both grace and truth must have God in them to indeed be true.” To have the truth, to know the truth you can’t do it on your own. You can’t do it by research, you can’t do it by study. No matter if you learn in Greek and Hebrew and are expert in it and perhaps have a Ph.D. in both of them and able to go into Old Testament scriptures then and learn these things. You can’t do it.

It takes God’s spirit. You have to be drawn by God to be able to see and understand those things. And on and on it goes.

So, the same thing is true with grace. Not just the truth that comes from God, which is His Word, and it’s what He reveals at different times, but also this matter of grace and how blessed we are to have the mercy, the kind of favor, the kind of love that God gives to us. Because all these things, the forgiveness of sins, all these things are about how God works with us and how God draws us and calls us and then blesses us as we grow.

He loves us. He wants us to receive his way of life. He wants to give us more of His power and life if you will. And that’s what this is all about. So, that’s what grace is, is that process.

“These go together and work together, grace and truth.” You can’t have one without the other. “Truth is about the very mind and being of God, His ways, and grace is about how truth is to work or can work,” because we have to be yielded to it, we have to be of a humble spirit. So again, that determines much. And again here, “Grace is about how truth is to work or can work in our lives,” for it to actually be truth, the truth or truthful, for our lives to be truthful.

So, we can be given knowledge, we can be given to a point of certain understanding as well when it comes to matters of the truth that God has given to us, and yet if we’re not living it, applying it, then it has no meaning. It becomes dead as it were. The two have to work together. And so much of that if we grasp it is how we respond to God’s calling and begin to live His way toward others.

Because just to be on the receiving end, to grow in knowledge, that’s kind of the problem that took place in Laodicea. “Rich and increased with goods.” All kinds of knowledge that God was giving to the Church, but unless it’s lived truthfully toward others…? Because that’s what God’s Family is about, relationships. Everything is about relationships. It’s about how we work together, how we think about one another. That’s what God desires, a right kind of Family with the right kind of mind, His mind in the mind of His Son which has to do with matters of grace. It’s how we think toward one another. And if we’re not living those things?

So, we’re tried in that. We’re tried as to whether or not we’re living the truth, things that we hear Sabbath by Sabbath toward one another in the Body of Christ. Because that’s our training ground. That’s where we have opportunity to grow. And then toward the world as well. So much of our ability to deal with the world has to do with this matter of grace, to have the ability that Christ had, Stephen had. “They don’t know what they’re doing. Forgive them. Have mercy upon them.” So, in their time and so forth our desire.

It shows a desire and an attitude toward others that your desire for them is to have the same opportunity in time, in their time, in God’s time that we’ve been given, and to understand how blessed we are that we have this now. So, as Stephen is going through the process of being stoned, basically made that comment. The same as following the example of Christ, “Forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.”

And if we really live like that and think like that, that has a lot to do with how much we can take from the world. They’re not accountable yet. They’re just living on their own their own way, and because of that, we experience a lot of grief. Because we’re living something different. And when it comes right down to it, they really don’t like it. We’re seen as weird, as strange, or whatever, or as a cult or whatever it is labels people like to put on others because they don’t understand.

And with that then goes a lot of heartache and hardship sometimes, whether it be on the job, whether it be in other family members, or whatever it is you might be living that things come back on you. We’re cut off from the world in that regard as it talks about in Revelation.

So, this series about the name that God refers to, concerning what He’s creating in a spiritual Jerusalem, in Zion, again, which is this expression that was mentioned earlier on in the sermon out of Zechariah calling it “the City of Truth.” It’s important to understand how God looks upon what He’s created. Because it’s about what He’s creating, what He is blessing us to be a part of and shows how important this matter of truth is. It’s a City of Truth. That defines what we’re going to become filled with, the mind of God, the being of God, and how we live then toward others, our desires, and so forth.

Let’s look at another area of scripture because this is mentioned in several places in John, but another very important one here that we’re going to look at today is John 8. There’s a lot here. The reality in many ways, in times past we really haven’t focused on the importance of truth to the degree we really needed to. So much was given to God’s apostle Herbert Armstong throughout a period called Philadelphia, and yet it wasn’t really grasped for the importance of what was there.

That’s an amazing thing to understand, what we lived through, so many of us that were a part of Philadelphia. That which took place wasn’t grasped. It wasn’t understood by the people who lived during that period that God has blessed with time more understanding because of what we had to go through in order to get it.

We had to go through Laodicea. We had to go through, we had to see what happens when these things begin to be taken from you, when God’s spirit begins to be taken away and you can’t hold on to things anymore. You can’t do it. You have to have God’s spirit. That’s why a Laodicean spirit, that which is lukewarm can’t be accepted by God.

So, John 8:1—Joshua went to the Mount of Olives. Now, early in the morning, he went again into the temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat down to teach them. Now, the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say to him, Teacher, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now, Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, so what do you say?

It's amazing the attitude of the Jewish people, the leaders, the Sadducees, the Zealots, the Pharisees, the different ones, the different sects of the Jewish people at that time. Their smugness, their haughtiness, it reeked so bad. And candidly, through time it hasn’t gotten any better. That’s why we should be able to see and understand that which is in the world and that which claims to be of God and of Christ and so forth, and when it’s done on a physical plane by people, groups, organizations, different doctrines that are there, it’s a horrible thing, it really is.

It’s that same kind of thing to where the truth is kept away, the light of it, even the ability to begin to see things in a physical manner in the mind is so blocked. Then for God’s spirit to draw them becomes even more difficult, harder because of what they’ve done, because of what Satan has done.

So, they were tempting him, they were testing him to see what he’s going to say because they want to trap him. They want to trap him with what they see as “the law of Moses and he’s not living that and…” Anyway, they were so convoluted in how they were interpreting things anyway.

Verse 6—They said this to test him so they might have that which to make accusation against him. That was their whole motive. It’s an awesome thing to see through these different stories how God, that mind that was in Christ, he knew these things. He knew exactly what they were doing. He knew their attitude, their mind, and what they were trying to accomplish.

But Joshua stooped down and wrote, his finger on the ground. Now, doesn’t say what he wrote but it was something that changed the tide of what was happening in the room or in the area there where he was doing this.

So, when they continued asking him, he lifted himself up and said to them, Any among you who is without sin, let them be first to cast a stone at her. So, whoever you are. So, whatever he’s writing on the ground… Could throw out ideas of things it might be. Who knows? I don’t know. Names? Things that have taken place that people have done without names attached to it?

Then again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. So, in hearing the… This is really awkward in the translation here, in the King James. Some places it uses the word “being convicted,” and so forth, but it has to do with the expression “to rebuke; to expose as a matter of reproof,” if you will, which has to do with conviction or being convicted of something. That’s a better term, being convicted of something, having something exposed. So, that’s how this expression is actually being used here.

It’s a matter of hearing this they became, in other words, reproved by what was being put on the ground there, whatever was taking place, and this affected then their mind. It says, By conscience went out one by one. So, one by one as these things were happening, for whatever reason, for whatever was there, they started walking out one by one and the group got smaller and smaller.

…beginning at the eldest unto the last. So, others were watching this. Are they going to stay there? Are they going to be the ones who might cast the stone? Because they’re not going to start this process. They’re not going to throw stones at her. So, something had to change in their thinking, in their mind.

Then Joshua was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. And when Joshua had lifted himself up, and saw no one but the woman, he said to her, Woman, where are those of your accusers? So, “Where are the accusers? Where have they gone?” Has no one condemned you? Same sort of word here, “‘reproved you; condemned you’ at this point in time?”

She answered and said, No one, Lord. So, Joshua said to her, Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more. Awesome! A different approach. A different thinking. They couldn’t understand these things. He has God’s spirit; he’s dealing with her in a way that individuals in the world have to be dealt with until they're able to have a calling. And it wasn’t at this time, obviously, at least not right then. We don’t know what happened later on. Might have become part of the Church. We don’t know.

Then Joshua spoke again to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Any who follow me will not walk in darkness. Now, these are… If you can imagine those who stayed behind, those who are in the area there still and still having been taught and the ways of the Pharisees or Sadducees or whatever group it had been – because in most cases that had to exist there in this point in time. And so, they’re hearing these things stated and it’s like, “Who is this to say such things?” …but will have the light of life.

So, there were still those there, Pharisees, those who were still there in the area. Therefore, the Pharisees said to him, You bear record of yourself. So, to them, this is something that obviously you can’t do. You can’t go in and start saying things about yourself and say who you are or what you are and there is no credibility in that in the law.

They said, Your record is not true. And Joshua answered and said to them, Though I bear record of myself… Because you see, it says it takes two to establish at least a beginning of a record, if you will, a witness. That you can’t do it of yourself or take one person’s say so in a matter. Though I bear record of myself, my record is true. This had to irritate the tar… Can you imagine the carnal mind with the kind of ideas and beliefs that they had concerning the law, concerning Moses and the Old Testament, and so forth?

They were so far off track it was a religion of their own. Just like religions today. It’s their own; it’s not from God. And so, they conjure up these different ideas. And they didn’t get along with each other but right now they’ll get along to a point because they’re all trying to find something wrong.

So, He said, My record is true. Because I know from where I came, and where I go. But you cannot know from where I come, and where I go. So again, kind of have to laugh at some of these things because it’s like, “He’s crazy.” It’s like anybody would think about some of you and some of the things you might have to say about whatever is true, “You’re really weird.”

You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one…in the context, according to the flesh. This has caused some in the Church at times some problems, so that’s why I emphasize some of this, of what it says.

“You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one according to the flesh.” Because you see, you can take this at its own value and say, “Okay, Christ never judged anyone; you’re never to judge anyone.” You have to judge all the time in life. You have to judge matters all the time. But you have to do it according to, strive to do it according to God’s will, according to what God says, how God says to do it. Because that depends on…then it’s going to have a response in your life how you treat them. And if it’s with grace, regardless of who they are, wow. Because you understand the truth and you understand they can’t comprehend it.

Christ knew they couldn’t. These things are written, were written for the Church so that we could learn from them, so we could see that chasm of what it means not to have God’s spirit and what it’s like when you are able to understand and see such things, and knowing it’s only by God’s presence in you, God’s spirit in you that you can see and understand such things.

So, that doesn’t make us only special because of God’s calling, yes, but that’s God’s doing. But we’re not great. No haughtiness in that. Instead, there should be an absolute humility of spirit.

Yet even… It’s not “if.” See, because of the concepts that people get on a physical plane, in so many translations here, are done because of their ideas of Christianity, of God, and so forth. And so, they have their own certain words or interpretations of things that they think is in the context and it’s not. So, it’s not “if.”

So, he didn’t say, “Yet even if I judge…” He said, Yet even whatsoever I judge. So, if that was in there and translated like it should have been then it wouldn’t be a matter of someone taking it and saying, “Well, he never judges.” Because the context of it was, “I judge no one after the flesh.” In other words, from a carnal human way of looking at it. And that’s your battle in life because that’s your tendency. That’s our tendency in life, is to judge the way we see it not the way God says it is, not the way that God said we should do it.

So, this is, again, that matter of grace. To handle God’s truth, indeed we have to handle it properly, which means we’re striving to live it properly toward one another.

Yet even whatsoever I judge, my judgment is true. Because I am not alone—Awesome!—but rather myself and the Father who sent me. So, he’s revealing things here that they couldn’t understand. He goes through this whole thing, and they can’t understand it. They can’t. It’s written for us; it’s written for the Church, for those whom God calls over time so that we can see that difference. Darkness and light. God’s spirit or the lack of it.

It is written in your law, that the testimony of two is true. Well, again, we know that’s not always true in life, is it? But they have written this, this is what they are supposedly living by. And anyway, misinterpreting some things that are even said in the Old Testament.

He went on to say, I am one who bears witness of myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness of me. Then they said to him, Where is your Father? Joshua answered, You neither know me, nor my Father. There are just some things you can’t explain to people. Incredible. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. So, to try to explain something that is of a spiritual nature, he can’t do it because there is nothing that you can say in words that people can understand without God’s spirit. It’s a beautiful thing.

Every truth you know, everything you know of God that is true, it’s because of God’s spirit in you. Nothing because of us. Solely because of the power of Almighty God that dwells in our minds. That’s why if we don’t continue always in a right relationship with Him, if we don’t continue to strive to listen and obey His way of life and be at one with Him, and we don’t go off base somewhere ignoring what we should be living and we continue to do something wrong, we hurt that ability of God to work in us, to help us to grow and conquer and overcome. Because that’s the only way we can grow and conquer and overcome, is that God continues, abides, dwells in us, lives in us in our minds.

These words Joshua spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple, and no one laid hands on him because his hour had not yet come. So, although it’s reflecting here they hated what he had to say, they were trying to catch him in something so they could lay hold on him, but it wasn’t his time yet and so it goes on with the story here.

Then Joshua said to them again, I am going away, and you will seek me, and will die in your sins. What does that mean? Where I go, you cannot come. So, everyone there listening, the disciples as well as others who were hearing these things. And when you say something about “You’re going to die in your sins?”

Where I go, you cannot come. Then the Jews said, Will he kill himself? because he said, Where I go, you cannot come. Now, again, carnal thinking. Totally carnal physical thinking. Nothing of God’s spirit in it whatsoever and so they’re trying to reason around what’s he talking about.

I love John 3 where it goes through and he’s talking to Nicodemus. Awesome example. Later on, it’s the woman at the well. This living water: she wanted that. She didn’t want to have to keep going back and forth from the well. That’s all they can grasp. That’s all they can reason by is their carnal thinking. God’s not in it. God’s spirit is not there.

Just like Nicodemus. Christ basically flat-out told him, “You can’t understand these things.” Talking about being born again. “What do you do, climb back into your mother’s womb? How can you be born twice?” Well, it’s a legitimate question if you’re only on, like, a physical plane. How could you be born twice? It doesn’t make any sense to people, back then especially. Today, you think about what they’ve done with that expression in traditional Christianity and that becomes even sicker, if you will, because of their ideas and concepts and so forth of being born again and what this means to them, and they think they are born already.

So, “Is he going to kill himself? Because we can’t come where he’s going and…” Then he said to them, You are from below. Whew! I am from above. Wow! It’s like just asking for it. But again, driving these things home. Again, we have to understand that the things written all the way through John here are for us. The world can’t understand these things.

Traditional Christianity can’t comprehend these things. No matter how much studying, no matter how much they have, they just can’t grasp it. They have to have some other kind of interpretation. And the more they actually study into it the worse it becomes because the more convoluted some of the teachings become because they have to prove, they have to push their ideas, their doctrines. And so, they really twist things.

So, by the time that someone is called into the Church, there is so much garbage to be gotten rid of. Sometimes it’s better for those who know less! Because I’ve known a lot of people that have come into God’s Church. Sometimes the more zealous they were in their church, especially in some of the ones that do some of the things they do, the harder it has been for them. And sometimes it’s harder to get rid of that… I call it a protestant thinking, of how to see things, because that does a horrible damage to the mind, and it takes a lot to undo that. It takes God’s spirit. It takes a lot of healing.

And so, there are people who have had to fight for years and years and years to begin getting rid of those kinds of things.

It’s like different weaknesses that people have. We all have weaknesses. We all have frailties in life, certain things that are worse than others. And because of our backgrounds, whatever it might be in life, or the way we are as carnal human beings and battles that might be our number one or two or three, or whatever it might be that are maybe more unique to us than someone else. But you put enough of them together there are going to be several very similar.

But in the midst of all that to come out of a protestant world is a hard thing to do. That’s why I think of—I’ll just be open about it—people who have been called who were Catholic, a lot of times it was easier for them. Because especially during my period of time when I was being drawn into the Church, they were still doing this Latin stuff in the churches, and they didn’t know what they were saying. They’d go in and listen to this stuff in Latin and it’s like… And then they finally changed. But they didn’t know what scriptures were about.

And then they have what they call catechisms, and so people would have these things that they would… They didn’t say the Bible as a whole, it was these catechisms that talked about it maybe a little bit here and there, not a whole lot, their ideas, their beliefs, their concept of things. And so, it was easier for them than it was for many protestants—just being candid—because there wasn’t a whole lot in that religion that was put in here as far as a twisting of the Bible. I mean, it was twisted already but it was… Do you understand what I’m saying? There was a difference there. But when it comes down to a protestant world and how they deal with it?

So, I’ve known a lot of Catholics. It was easier for them to make that transition and not to have to fight. Because that’s a horrible battle to have to fight, of perceiving certain things because of certain definitions you hold in your mind. Well, the Catholics didn’t have too many definitions of anything. It’s easy to get rid of Christmas. It’s easier to get rid of Easter. I mean, yeah, Easter and Christmas and some of those kinds of things and all the rest of the Latin stuff because they didn’t understand it anyway. And trinity? Well, it never made sense anyway and they admit it’s a mystery, so they were able to get rid of a lot of those things a lot easier.

Protestants? Not so easy because there’s a difference in how you look at God and Christ and so forth and things that are taught.

I’m going to start in verse 21 again, Then Joshua said to them, I am going away, and you will seek me, and will die in your sins. Where I go, you cannot come. Then the Jews said, Will he kill himself? because he said, Where I go, you cannot come. Then he said to them, You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Wow! Put yourself in their shoes and what they’re hearing.

Therefore, I said to you, that you shall die in your sins; for indeed, if you do not believe that I am, which is what he said, you will die in your sins. So, the context here is about what was being said - the Messiah, the Christ.

So, a lot of the things that Christ, when he was teaching and so forth and different groups and the like, it was about this matter. Is he the Messiah or not? John the Baptist was talking about one who was coming and talked about a Messiah at the like and the need to repent, and this was spreading among people as well.

And so, there is this inquisitiveness about them. Not so much the Pharisees and Sadducees because they didn’t believe it one iota. They just wanted to find things that they could accuse him of so that others wouldn’t be listening to him. Because what was it doing? Well, people get very protective when it has to do with people who might follow them are being drawn to someone else and saying things that are different from what they’re saying to the point that it’s revealing things they don’t really want people to even think about. Which is true of the world today, too.

Then they said to him, Who are you? They want him to just come right out and say it. But he didn’t say it that way as a whole. Who are you? And Joshua said to them, Even that which I told you from the beginning. Hasn’t changed. So basically, he was more to the point early on and at different points as well in scripture here. But this time here he wasn’t going to say that to them.

I have many things to say and to judge of you, nevertheless, He who sent me is true and I speak to the world those things which I have heard from Him. Now, they knew what he was claiming. They knew he was talking about God. And for a Sadducee or a Pharisee, this was infuriating them even that much more.

I think of some of the times that I’ve been on some of their interviews, especially one time when it was a priest. And they got him on there and going back and forth about a few things and… They know what you’re talking about, and how far out this seems to them in their minds, and they can’t help it.

Then it goes on to say, They did not understand that he was speaking to them of the Father. So again, that He is the Father, his Father in this manner. Then Joshua said to them, When you have lifted up the Son of mankind, then you will know that I am. That’s what he said. “When you have lifted up the Son of mankind.” So, they couldn’t understand any of this at all. What do you mean, “‘Lifting up the Son of mankind,’ then we’re going to know what you’re saying?”

Basically, he’s saying, “I am,” in essence here, in context, “the one I told you I was.” That’s what it’s about.

And I do nothing of myself but as my Father has taught me. So, they didn’t understand. They knew what he was claiming but they didn’t understand it. They didn’t grasp these things or how this could be possible. On the contrary, they just disbelieved it totally.

Verse 29—Even He who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone; for I always do those things that please Him. That’s pretty bold. And he was supposed to be bold. He’s the Son of God. He’s the Word of God made flesh. Awesome!

As he spoke these words, many believed on him or toward him, if you will. But in essence, what it’s saying is that he is who he says he is. That’s what they’re… They’re not able to believe everything he’s saying yet; they don’t grasp it all yet on a spiritual plane. But because of things that John the Baptist had already done, that’s why he was addressed earlier, and the message had already been going around and people were talking about it, and they felt like “This may be the time that the Messiah will come and,” what, “take away the Roman rule, the oppression that we’re under.” That’s what they were looking forward to. Because that’s what they believed that they were going to have, a king come that God was going to give great power to, who would have them become a nation at one once again. And whoever was oppressing them would be conquered by whatever means. The Messiah.

As he spoke these words many believed toward him. It’s what it literally means, as to who he is, who he says he is.

Then Joshua said to those Jews who believed in him, If you continue (abide, remain, how that word is used, dwell in) in my word, you are truly my disciples. So, for those who were listening, because there were those there who were hearing this that became a part of the Church. Obviously, the disciples did right away. They were the ones that God raised up to become apostles immediately but there were others there as well and they heard these things being said.

And so, they’re being given an opportunity to be drawn. There were those that were being drawn and they had to make choices as to what they would do, and see a little here and there about what he was saying.

And you will know the truth. “If you’ll do these things, you’ll live them, what I’m telling you, then you’re truly my disciples.” It really has a lot to do with this thing of grace and truth again. “If you’re really doing it, if you’re living it then you can truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth.” What an incredible thing to know it. Why? How? Because of God’s spirit. Only because of God’s spirit.

…and the truth will make you free. And they responded to him, We are Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to anyone. So, they couldn’t grasp what he was saying about being free. “What do you mean being free? We’ve never been under bondage?” Again, this incredible gulf between dark and light, truth and that which is false, and how we’re able to see what is true.

We were never in bondage to anyone. So, how can you say, You will be made free? They didn’t see the need for any of that. Sadly, sometimes even within the Church, these things have been lost, of recognizing the need that we have to be made free. Does that happen? Thousands and thousands and thousands have lost that over time, to understand we always need to be made free.

We’re coming out of bondage; we’re not out yet. We’re like those who are living out there, you know, in that period of time as they were starting to come out of Egypt. For us on a spiritual plane, we’re going to continue to be working on coming out of Egypt our entire life.

So, being made free? Yeah, the process has started in us. Completely free? Not yet. There are still things up here that God reveals to us that we have to see, that we have to understand in our own thinking, in our own minds.

So much of our life is learning how we think. Learning how we think, how “I” think, so we can learn to be on guard against certain things as God reveals them, that this thinking isn’t right, this thinking needs to be changed. And the only way it can be changed is by His help, His favor, and the effort and the desire we put into it in crying out to God for help to be made free, to come out of sin.

So, coming out of sin is not an easy thing. We have to do it all of our life, coming out of sin. If we were totally freed we would never have sin again. So, we know the truth. What an awesome thing. It’s a blessing to have humility of spirit and to understand before God that what we have in order to be called righteous is the ability to ask God for forgiveness of our sins and to strive to live by what He says the way He says to do it. And then as we do that, because we strive to live the truth He accounts that to us as righteousness and the sins are forgotten and forgiven over and over, day by day, whatever they are.

Because every day we have carnality up here. Every time we wake up we have carnality up here. We have a human spirit that fights against God’s spirit that’s in here. And that’s every day of our life in our thinking, in our attitudes and the way we see things and the way we see the world around us, and the way we respond to things. We can’t respond perfectly all the time, sometimes maybe rarely to certain conditions.

Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin. What an incredible thing to say. Said, And Joshua answered and said, Truly, truly I say to you, Whoever commits sin is a servant of sin. So, in other words, “We have no need of being free.” But they didn’t grasp what he was saying. All they could think about is… And they were under a kind of bondage. Which is goofy. You think of the Roman rule? How do you get around that one? You’re not totally free even there.

So, for some, it would be a matter of looking at it physically, which they would grasp a hold of and say, “If he’s the Messiah, this is going to change,” because they were being highly oppressed by the Romans. But it was about sin – which they couldn’t see. Some were being drawn to see that a little bit. His own disciples were being drawn to see some of these things a little bit. But they couldn’t put it all together yet. Awesome!

So, the whole point of some of these things about truth is for us to grasp more deeply how blessed we are that we have all the truths that we do. Sometimes we just don’t grasp how blessed we are and how valuable these things are in our life. It’s hard for us to grasp what people have lived during Smyrna, Thyatira, or whatever period of time it was within the Church. They didn’t have all these truths. They weren’t there.

And how awesome it is when we see things in a greater way, especially toward the end and especially starting with Herbert Armstrong and what God was giving to the Church in ways the Church never had.

“Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin.” Now, we are so blessed that we can have the beginning tide of that changed to where we seek to serve God and His way of life through the power of the holy spirit that lives within us. And that should be a constant desire, that we watch, that we’re on guard and fighting this fight. Because it’s a hard fight. It’s difficult. And that’s why we have to cry out to God continuously, “I need help to fight these things in life.” Constantly, day by day.

“Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin.” So, if God’s not in the picture…? Wow, what a blessing we have through Joshua.

And the servant does not abide in the house forever, but the Son abides ever. Always there. So, he’s speaking of himself. But could they understand it? No. But we can so that we can be in awe… and so we can be in awe of God, so we can be in awe of Joshua our High Priest, so we can be in awe of the power of God’s spirit that was working in him to be seen and revealed to the world.

Because that’s what God was doing. He was revealing himself to the world in a way the world hadn’t seen for four thousand years. They did not grasp the spirit of the law, of the ways of life that God had given to them, even to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, all the way through. There was a certain way of life, there was a certain reality of truth, that Yahweh was God and so forth, things that they learned, and things that they were to do to reflect their desire for God to be in their life.

They wanted God to be in their life and they had a lot of physical things even that they went through in order to reflect that heart and that desire, but they never saw the things that Christ gave to the Church. And it’s only here that God begins through His Son to reveal Himself more to the world, to the Church.

Four thousand years people never saw. Moses never saw what the disciples saw. They never saw it to that degree. They didn’t see fully the spirit and what was there and what it was all about. That’s an amazing thing to understand. That there are those God has worked with in the first four thousand years who are reflected in the one loaf. You know, on Pentecost, the two loaves that were waved to be accepted and received by God, one before Christ and the one afterward. And how blessed are we to have things of understanding and comprehension about God that they never were given? They had a relationship with God and were tested in many things.

Therefore, if the Son will make you free, you will be free indeed. So, that’s how we’re made free. But it’s not a one-time thing. It’s not a one-time thing where people go under the water and come back up and all of a sudden it’s over with. No, from that moment on it’s a battle, and it’s one of your desire to keep your foot on top of the neck of the one that wants to keep coming up out of the water. The old self, keep him buried. Gurgle. Gurgle. Gurgle. Because it never dies, it’s always there, and you have to fight, and have God’s help in order to fight that.

Therefore, if the Son will make you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s seed; but you seek to kill me. Wow! This is powerful. I know that you’re Abraham’s seed; but you seek to kill me, Joshua was saying to them, because my word has no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and you do that which you have seen with your father. Talk about powerful in what he’s getting ready to say here. Whew!

They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Joshua said to them, If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. Because, you see, it’s a spiritual thing, what Christ was talking about, and they didn’t get it. All they see is lineage, physical lineage, “We’re Abraham’s children.” Well, whoop-tee-doo. What makes you better than others? It’s the life you live. It’s the spirit of God in you.

But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I have heard of God. Abraham never did this. Wow! Now, that’s awesome to understand what he’s saying. Abraham never had this. This is what I was talking about earlier, to understand what we have. Sometimes we don’t grasp how much we really have, how important this is to God that we have been given such awesome treasure, and how we handle it then.

Verse 41—You do the works of your father. Then said they to him, We are not born of fornication. They still have this thing of Abraham. “We’re Abraham’s seed.” And they don’t get it. They can’t.

We have… Notice, We have one Father, God. So, now they’re fighting back even more, and they don’t even understand what they’re saying. But because of what he’s saying they have to say this because they’re of Abraham, therefore, “We have one Father, God.”

Joshua said to them, If God were your Father, you would love me. For I came forth and have come from God. Awesome! I did not come of myself, but He sent me. So, why do you not know what I am saying? Because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil. Slicing and dicing here in words. Incredible! To know how they’re taking this because they’re going to fight back to the point they do want to kill him. That’s where this is all going in time, in God’s time and Christ knows that.

But again, stressing these things and pointing out these things of things we can take for granted if we’re not careful, this kind of knowledge that we have of our Father and what it means that in the world without God what it’s like, how they’re kept in darkness because of a being and everything that he’s done and that attitude and spirit that there is something we have to make choice of. And that’s selfish carnal human nature, “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”

Lucifer didn’t have the lust of the flesh, but he had lust, and he had the pride of life in his life when his mind started to change, and he wanted things different from what God said he could have or should have. And all mankind has been this way.

That’s why we have to come to a point to seeing the ugliness of what human nature is like, which we’ve focused on in this past year. It’s a mind of Satan. Carnal human nature is of that mind. That’s how horrible it is.

I did not come of myself, but He sent me. So, why do you not know what I am saying? Because you cannot hear my word. (verse 44) You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. In other words, “choose to do” is what the word means here, “desire.” It’s just automatic. “You will do,” “you will desire.” Because it’s about lust. That’s where it came from. We were made that way to have that kind of a mind. What an incredible thing to understand, the marvel of God’s creation. He made us to have the mind, a mind like Satan – lust, lust, lust, pride, pride. It’s automatic.

If you tell people in the world this, like… Please don’t do it. You know, sometimes people have tried to tell others certain things about the Church and tried to tell others… Like I mentioned here recently about people going up and telling people when they’re going to be baptized or whatever the thing, or “You should be baptized,” or “When do you think you’re going to get baptized,” and it’s like, you want to tell them certain other things perhaps, I don’t know.

Sometimes people do try to tell different people, “Well, what about this? And do you know this? Do you know that…” whatever it is that you think you know that you’re trying to put in their minds? And you think, “What are you doing? God does the calling. God does the drawing, and there is a certain way that they will learn if that’s their desire. And it will not be from someone trying to force it down or cram it down or reason with someone when they’re not ready for it yet. That’s God’s job.

And how does He do it? Through things that are written. Through things that are spoken Sabbath by Sabbath and so forth. That’s how God does it.

So, why do you not know what I’m saying? Because you could not hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do, or choose to do or desire. He was a murderer from the beginning. Do you realize that’s the kind of spirit on a spiritual plane that we have without God? That’s what we have.

Say, “Never, never would I murder anyone.” You don’t understand your mind. It’s not about a physical act, it’s about that which is spiritual and beyond that.

He was a murderer from the beginning and did not abide… he did not continue in, remain in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own. For he is a liar and the father of it. The mind can become so distorted, which happened to him… or to Satan and the demonic world.

But it happens with mankind as well even within the Church after baptism, after receiving the impregnation of God’s spirit. This is how far the mind can go, to a point where it loses what was given to it and seeing and knowing the truth because it takes God to continue in that, to continue to have that in us.

And that’s why it’s so horrible to do things on a continuing basis without repentance. Because God’s spirit can go by the wayside. When God’s spirit starts going by the wayside we become weaker and weaker and have no real strength of life that it takes to combat and to change and to grow. That requires God’s spirit.

So, “When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.” So, what a horrible thing to understand the carnal human mind, that without God’s spirit people can’t help but live a lie.

Verse 45—Now, because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you can reprove? That same word, again, coming up again, rebuke or expose me of sin? “Who is going to be able to show, expose sin in my…” Because he didn’t have any sin.

But if I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears God’s words. If everyone in God’s Church could always hold on to that and know that. It’s a simple thing. “Whoever is of God hears God’s words.” So, we have gone through things that have happened within the Church, especially through Laodicea and on into the Apostasy and past that, and the reality is if people are able to hear the truth there is only one way that that can happen. It’s because God has to do it.

That’s why I cannot tell you one of the greatest moments in the sense on a spiritual plane, of seeing this in action profoundly for me and being strengthened by it in ways that I can’t give to you fully, was in 2005 at the Feast of Tabernacles. Because this is when God began to reveal more about Himself, more about Christ, and that Christ was not a part of the trinity (because it hadn’t been totally dissolved yet). Only the holy spirit had been revealed that it’s not a being, and so the other part had to be done as well, that he hasn’t eternally existed.

And I was excited in one respect, to be able to speak those things and tell about those things at the Feast, but a real concern in the back of my mind was what about the Church? Will the Church…? But knowing full well exactly what God says, if “and whoever is yielding themselves to God,” you know what, “they’re going to hear it.” They’re going to hear it. Because it’s a spiritual thing.

And so, to see that take place throughout the Feast, especially getting down to Melchizedek, because I did not know and I don’t remember at what point of the Feast it was, I did not know the answers to Melchizedek until toward the end when I gave it toward the very end of the Feast. Because it hadn’t come together. Because you can’t see what you can’t see. But I knew that God was going to give it and God gave it. Awesome.

And then people latched on to it at different points throughout the Feast, “I see it!” Because little hints were given months before that, and some weren’t seeing it. Some were a little bit fearful about what’s coming, “Will I be able to see it?” Because of all that had been said already kind of preparing the way.

But to see that in action to that level, to me was awesome, because it’s a matter of seeing God and God’s spirit at work in people’s lives. Because that’s the only way you can see the truth, God has to give it. And when He gives it you just see it. What an amazing thing!

These are the things that should inspire us. To understand how we have it, how we receive it, and how we keep it.

So again, he’s saying, Whosoever is of God hears God’s words. That’s why when someone is doing things they shouldn’t be doing or someone, it’s come to a point where they need to be talked to, if you will, because of things that they have done or are doing, and it comes to a point where they won’t listen to you, I have my answer. They can’t hear because they’re cut off, and it becomes obvious by things that are said because they can’t speak the same things anymore.

On the contrary, they’re speaking other things, and it becomes an easier thing to see they’re not a part anymore. And if they’re not a part then those things have to be made known to the Body, disfellowshipped. It’s not a pleasant thing to go through.

Therefore, you do not hear them, because you are not of God. Then the Jews replied, and said to him, Do we not rightly say that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon? “Aren’t we right by saying that?” Where did that come from? I’ve heard a lot of things when people say things, when they get to a point where they just, even within the Church when they get so far off base, and they come to where they hate you with every fiber of their being.

Joshua answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you do dishonor me. Powerful! Now, I seek not my own glory. There is one who is seeking and judging. So again here, it’s understanding the power of Almighty God, that we’re blessed to be able to have a relationship with Him, even within the Church to understand these things, and God desires… When we begin to be drawn to Him, called to Him, His desire is we be in His Family, in Elohim. He loves that. And He loves us.

Sometimes we don’t grasp the depth and the power that’s associated with that when we’re called into God’s Church. That God’s focus is upon us more than anything else in the world. You know, the last part of the temple, do you think God’s concerned with that and excited about that? The last part of the temple before Christ comes to be completed.

That has to be so incredibly exciting to God Almighty! After all this time, to see it where it is, and then those who are going to live on into a new age that have lived in this period of time, that have witnessed so many things in the world and what happened to the Church. Awesome to be part of that.

How could there even be a greater time to be living in? To be a part of something like that, we really can’t grasp fully but we can appreciate it and strive to appreciate it even more and come to even understand more so how important we are to God.

Verse 51—Truly, truly, I say to you, If anyone keeps my saying, they shall never see death. Because it’s a matter of growing and growing until we’re born into that Family forever.

Then the Jews said to him, Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; yet you say, If anyone keeps my saying, they shall never taste of death. See, this is carnal thinking. It’s like now, this death, everybody has to die once. He wasn’t talking about that. But they couldn’t understand.

That’s why there are so many things we have. All the truths you understand not even the scattered Body understands. And even the eighteen that were there, that were given through Herbert Armstrong, even the scattered Body doesn’t comprehend those things anymore. And if you’ve seen (which I don’t encourage), but if you’ve seen things of what they write and so forth out there, it is so protestant. And they can’t help it because God’s spirit is not in it. And the things that they had that were of truth, even during Laodicea that was going by the wayside.

So, to hold on to any of that, very little even on a physical plane is there let alone the understanding of it. So, it’s interpreted and used in ways that are not real. Protestant.

So, how blessed are you? Sometimes we don’t grasp that.

Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? Oh yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. A hundredfold. A thousandfold. And far beyond that. But they couldn’t comprehend that.

…and the prophets are dead. So, who do you make yourself out to be? Joshua answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father who honors me; of whom you say, that He is your God. Whew! These are powerful things. They really are.

But just to reflect on the fact you see it. You can see it because of God that dwells in your mind, the power of God’s spirit that dwells in your being. You see it, and it’s so clear.

Yet you have not known Him. But I know Him. We can say that in such a powerful way today. We know Him in ways that the early disciples weren’t blessed to know Him. We really do. We have this ability to see things that God is giving at the end of an age because it’s time.

I think of the truths that have to do with women and what God is doing. He’s done it partially in the world even over the last hundred and fifty years to prepare the Church to do it in a far greater way, to show what it’s supposed to be like, what life is supposed to be like, what family is supposed to be like, what social life in real life should be like, how people should see one another instead of the haughtiness that has been for thousands of years and putting down people.

Every once in a while we see these shows on TV sometimes. Blows my mind the oppression that was taking place before the eighteen hundreds and before and people had to go, women had to go through some horrible things even on a physical plane to become accepted to do certain things. And certain wars helped push that forward even more. What an incredible thing!

But to see that truth, none of the scattered Church sees it. I’m sure that many of them know about ordination of women and it’s just, what is it to them? Just like what it was to these. That Christ, they said he had a demon. Do you think they said less about the Church and about us and what we believe? “They have gone so far out in left field…” That’s what they believe. They can’t help but believe anything else. “They’re wacko. They’re nuts. What’s next, children?” It’s that smug attitude.

And for that to be converted, for that to be drawn back to the Church? Time will tell. I hope there are many. But I’ll be candid with you, over the last year or two in my mind that becomes less and less and less. Because God’s way is not owed to anyone and it’s up to each and every one of us as to how we receive things that we hear, of whether or not they’re the truth. And the only way you’re going to know they’re true is, again, by God’s spirit, but to reject certain things that are said, well, sometimes that cuts people off even more in the sense of what it would require.

Verse 55—Yet you have not known Him. But I know Him. So, if I were to say, I do not know Him, I’d be a liar the same as you. But I know Him and keep His saying. So, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw and was glad. Now, there is one way we can see this and understand it—it’s by God’s spirit—what Christ is saying here.

You know, God made promises to Abraham of his seed that would have great inheritance and innumerable multitude of the stars, even as the stars of heaven, as it says, and that of his seed that there would be an everlasting covenant. It’s about his seed. It’s about Christ.

It’s about how the things of Abraham are a spiritual thing. Israel is a spiritual thing, not a physical thing. Not a physical thing of lineage at all. It’s all spiritual and how people who are not of that lineage can become of Abraham. Awesome, what God says in scripture to give to us that we understand within the Church.

And I think about how that God blessed Abraham with a son and he rejoiced in that. It was a beginning of a process. He didn’t see it all. He didn’t grasp it all, but he rejoiced in the portion he was able to see. Awesome!

Verse 57—Then the Jews said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? So, Joshua answered them, Truly, truly, I say unto you, Before Abraham, I am. What’s he saying? “Before Abraham, I am.” He’s not saying he’s the Eternal, Yahweh Elohim. He’s not saying that at all. But a person looking at this might think that’s what he was saying. Not at all.

Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him. Finally, they were ready to do him in, to kill him. But Joshua hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. So, moved through the crowd and moved on out and left because it wasn’t his time.

So, in Joshua saying, “Before Abraham was, I am.” He did not say, “I existed,” or “I was.” So, we have to be careful even within the Church how we see things, how we think about things. Because that reality is we have to understand it on a spiritual plane of what’s being said because it’s all about that which is spiritual, and he was seeing those things.

He used an expression out of the Old Testament so that they would even become more upset, to where they were ready to pick up stones because of what he was saying. But that was given that they could interpret it that way to their own fault if you will.

Going to go back through and look at some of this. You know, it’s kind of like the example of when he said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I’ll raise it up.” Yeah, it’s a physical… They couldn’t understand it because all they could see was that which was physical. All they could see when he said, “I am,” is to take it to the extreme that, “Well, this is what God Almighty has declared. He’s claiming that he is God Almighty?” And that was the last straw, so they were ready to throw stones.

Let’s go back through and just focus on some of those things. I’ll just quote these quickly going through some of it. But John 8:23—Then he said to them, You are from below, I am… It’s the same word but he’s just used it in a different way at the end there concerning an association there about Abraham and so forth in time, and they couldn’t deal with that because everything they saw was physical in understanding.

He said, You are from below, I am from above. He’s not saying he eternally existed, that he was Yahweh Elohim, or anything of the like. You are of the world, I am not of the world, therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. For indeed, if you don’t believe I am… So, in the context, we can understand he’s saying that “I am who I said I was from the beginning.” That’s what he told them. And they say, “Well, who do you say you are?” He said, “Well, the same I’ve told you from the very beginning.” The Messiah. The Christ.

Let’s notice Acts 3.

I want to read John 8:28 too, I’ve passed over this one here. Then Joshua said to them, When you have lifted up the Son of mankind, then you will know that I am. The Messiah. The Christ. That’s going to be the beginning of understanding, in that respect, that he was raised from the dead, that he’d been dead for three days, or in the tomb for three days and three nights. That’s how people would begin to be able to see and understand. But only until they’re called and the time of their calling.

Let’s notice Acts 3:25—You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Joshua, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. So, it’s, again, “your seed.” So, it’s all about a spiritual thing. It’s about Christ coming to fulfill what was said here and how even gentiles and others can become of the seed of Abraham because it’s about Christ and how we can become a part of the God Family and become a part of Elohim through Joshua.

So, those are the promises that were given on a spiritual plane. There were physical promises given too, and it’s easy to confuse or read into those things, if you will, because many have and people who have never been a part of God’s Church and just read into a physical lineage and feel like that’s what’s important. And that’s not what it’s about at all.

That’s why the Church, frankly, for a long time we had problems with when it talked about the 144,000. Twelve thousand from different tribes. We thought it was literal, twelve thousand from this tribe, twelve thousand from that tribe, twelve thousand from another tribe. And so, it was as though individuals were going to have to be a part of those physical tribes. That’s not what it was about at all. But it’s about the names that God’s going to use to establish His government. It’s like different positions and places that people are going to be within a temple that we don’t grasp and comprehend yet.

We can understand that as far as Israel’s name, that all are a part of Israel, and to understand that is spiritual. But it’s not about a physical family at all. It’s not being a physical lineage of Abraham. Because if it were there would never be gentiles allowed as a part of the Kingdom of God. What a horrible thing. That wasn’t part of God’s plan. His plan is spiritual to bring everyone that has such opportunity through a calling to become a part of the Israel of God. It’s about what it means. Awesome!

And so, in all this when I read through these things I think about Abraham and what he knew. What truths did he know? Awesome to understand that it wasn’t until Christ came that finally, things on a spiritual plane began to be revealed.

Galatians 3:6—Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So, even in that within the Old Testament, it’s a matter of how we live according to what we’re given to see and to understand at any moment in time. It doesn’t matter when it was, whether it was Noah, whether it was a matter of Abraham and different ones through time. If they believed God and did the things that they knew to that point in time and then God attributed that, accounted that to them as righteousness what an incredible thing. That’s how they were judged, according to what they knew.

We’re all judged according to what we know. And the reality is that back then they didn’t know a whole lot in that respect, in the sense of that which Christ began to teach a lot later. They had a different kind of a relationship with God in that regard and they were judged according to what they were given. And they had the impregnation of God’s spirit living and dwelling within them that God worked with to mold and fashion and to change, and they’re going to be in Elohim. And in so many cases in incredible positions of responsibility and power in the Family of God. Beautiful!

So, sometimes we don’t grasp how God can work and does work with us, with human beings. But to understand what we’ve been given toward an end of an age; do you know what it’s about? It’s about where we’re… First and foremost, it’s going to be about where people are in the temple, what part, what function they’re going to be given. Everything is about our molding and fashioning that God gives to us.

So anyway, it’s just a matter of an appreciation on our part. Do we love all that God has given to us? Do we treasure it? Do we grasp what it is? Do we grasp how blessed we are through time to be at the end of six thousand years? To see the things that we see? He’s given us wealth in ways that we can strive to grasp it and appreciate it, but even that it takes God’s spirit to grow in that and to appreciate it more.

So, Even as Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness, know you therefore that they who are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. Anyone who is able to believe what God gives to them, whatever that is. That’s what gives me hope for certain ones that I know of, certain ones in times past, certain even evangelists that we’ve known of and we’ve talked about who continued on with what they knew after the Apostasy and were faithful to what they had been given before that period of time and continued on with what they could see to that moment in time. And just because God didn’t give them more at that moment in time doesn’t mean that they didn’t live faithfully to what they were given, and that was accounted to them for righteousness.

And I fully believe that with all my being, that there are some in the Church who are going to be a part of the first resurrection, who even after the Apostasy were not a part of a remnant but were able to continue on until they died with what they knew, because they were judged by what they knew and what they were given. Only God can give people whatever He desires. And in an awakening and what took place and progressing on past that point in time of the 21 Truths is something for the remnant. But it wasn’t for everyone.

Does that mean that there are those who will not be there because they didn’t have a part with us? No, not at all. Because it doesn’t matter when people are worked with, God is responsible for what He allows us to see. You can’t come to know something ahead of time.

I’ve been going through some things this past week, studying into. Came to a very definite conclusion, God is not giving it yet. There are certain things unless it’s clear, unless God gives it, it’s not there, it’s not time. There are so many things in the Bible, in scripture that we do not know yet. There are so many things that are going to dumbfound us when we do come to know it, when we do come to see it. But the reality is only in God’s time if it’s not known will it become known.

That’s a matter of God’s doing. So be it. And so it’s been throughout time, they were judged according to what they knew in their relationship with God. And it all comes down to what you’re living toward God and toward others. And God judges us according to that. Awesome! Because it has to do with the spirit in here, in the mind, and how we think toward God and how we responded to God.

That’s why there are some in the Old Testament who didn’t continue in some of the things that were given to them. Same as some in the Church who didn’t continue on with what God had given to them. So, it doesn’t matter the amount in that regard that’s given, it’s how we live with what we have at the time, because we’re judged according to that.

Therefore, they who are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the gentiles through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In you shall all nations be blessed. So, then they who are of faith are blessed with/in faithful Abraham. Because it’s about the seed. It’s about the promises that were given. Awesome!

So, the question to be answered is how. It goes on in verse 16 in saying, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He did not say, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to your seed, which is Christ. Now, this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law… In other words, it’s not about what you do, it’s not about how the Jews or Israel lived according to the law. The reality is they all sinned. They all had the death penalty because you can’t live it on your own, you can’t do it on your own ability, especially the spirit of it.

For if the inheritance be of the law it is no more of promise. So, the promise would have no purpose. That’s why it goes on to say, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. So again, it’s about the seed. So, how blessed are we in the fact that we can see such things? So, what we have gone through in chapter 1 and the different chapters here, in chapter 8 and talking about grace and truth came through Christ, and to understand what we have been given.

We. Are. So. Awesomely. Blessed. Strive to understand that with God and cry out to God for a deeper appreciation, understanding of what you have been given, that you might treasure it even more. Because my understanding is that we just really haven’t through time, not even in recent years to the degree we really should or could…or should.

And so, God is offering us to be able to embrace that even more so in a relationship with Him through what we pray about. And so we cry out to God for these things, “Help us to love Your word more, your truth more, to treasure it more.” To review it more from time to time and recognize how blessed we really are. I don’t care which truth you look at, to understand that its value is beyond what we can really comprehend, that God has to give us the ability to comprehend that because it’s a spiritual thing, it truly is.

So, that’s why we’re going through this particular series. One more sermon in this series.

1. Chapter 1