Perpetual law, undying love, eternal salvation
“What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a Stumblingstone and Rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” (Rom. 9:30-33).
When restoring the image of God in man, throughout the Old Testament, Jesus has used a method that alone can reclaim a sinner from sin. First, He gave Israel structure; then, He showed His undying love for them. Then He came personally and saved them.
He gave them structure; He laid out the rules of the covenant. His law was His words, His doctrine in the Torah. “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine:
And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” (Ex. 19:5,6). If they would join themselves to Him and obey His laws, then He would provide and protect then. Inherent in this arrangement would come His punishment toward their erring ways.
“My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction:
For whom the Lord loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” (Prov. 3:11,12).
“For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” (Jer. 30:11).
“Fear thou not, O Jacob My servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.” (Jer. 46:28).
Jesus took on a massive project in assuming the role as our surety. As surety, He swore to God that, to His dying day, He would salvage the Human race. He would reconcile them to God and then develop His character in them—His selflessness and grace. Christ would take everyone from the gutter—the worst of the worst—and perfectly restore them to be blameless and harmless, the sons of God and without rebuke.
The work of reclaiming humanity would take 6,000 years, many generations of children learning from the mistakes of their fathers and forefathers. There would be ups and downs. There would be revivals and apostasies, reformations and great periods of apathy and backsliding. Faith in God would spring up with new life, and then be lost in the next generation, accompanied by sorrow, bitterness, disease, and death. Victories would be crowned with defeat. Satan would get a foothold into the precious work of God; and then there would follow misery and heavy divine discipline. And Satan would laugh at man and blaspheme God for His laughable hope to save hopeless mankind.
And the Son of God knew all that would take place. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me, and break My covenant which I have made with them.
Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.” (Deut. 31:16-18). Yet, in light of their present murmuring and future apostasies, He still commanded His blessing on His people! What grace!
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.” (Num. 6:22-27).
“He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.” (Num. 23:21).
Its amazing that He still commanded His blessing on His people; but that is how grace works. Grace takes the initiative and nurtures faith back to health.
Through all of Israel’s ups and downs, their victories and their punishments, God has been love. He forgave when repentance and humiliation was reborn in His people. Sorrow for sinners, hatred of sin, and humility are His core traits of character. As soon as He would see these traits in them, He immediately moved to forgive, and send His Holy Spirit and His deliverance. King Hezekiah wasn’t perfect, but in his lethal disease, he “turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord,…and…wept sore.” (Isa. 38:2,3).
“The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.” “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” (Isa. 38:20,17).
All Hezekiah needed in order to be healed was genuine repentance, which itself is the gift of God freely given to all who will go to Him in faith to get it. “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matt. 9:13). If they wait to create repentance before they go to Jesus, their repentance will be rejected by God. Just as they are, in all their filthiness, they must go to Jesus, the sinner’s friend, and His goodness will give them true repentance, which alone God will accept.
God’s love is a strong love and shows itself in power. The echoes from Mt. Sinai still resound throughout the earth, though much fainter than in bygone years. And likewise, His whispered words, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” also resound throughout heaven and are soon to be thundered to the whole world in the Latter Rains. Many physical and spirit paralytics―spiritual paraplegics―will hear the good word, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” (Matt. 9:2).
“Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men:…and whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him.” (Matt. 12:31,32).
“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” (Matt. 18:10,11).
“How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matt. 18:12-14).
“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Lk. 15:7).
“For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jer. 31:34).
“Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.” (Isa. 60:5).
Until that glorious day, the Lord will permit Satan to ravage the world; until the children of God finish their lusting after the flesh, God’s adversary will have the perfect right to spread misery around the globe. And the devil will take full advantage of this right. We have yet to see the worst of what’s coming. It will be another Egyptian slavery. Satan will inspire the worst passions against all who retain even an iota of the image of God. The devil will try to beat the grace of God’s character out of those who love Him and His law.
Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads, —it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved, —just as soon as God’s people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming. Ms 173, 1902, pp. 3-6. ("Medical Missionary Work in Southern California," November 20, 1911.) Manuscript Release, Vol. 1, p. 249.
“Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” (Dan. 12:10).
“For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.” (Isa. 32:6-8).
“Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear My voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto My speech.
Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.…
Upon the land of My people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.” (Isa. 32:9-11,13-15).
“Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
And My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” (Isa. 32:16-18).
“He [Satan’s earthly agency] shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.”
“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” (Dan. 11:42-44;12:1).
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:” (Matt. 24:15,16).
“Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for Thee: be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.” (Isa. 33:1,2).
“Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.” (Jer. 30:16,17).
“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” (Rev. 13:10).
“Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.” (Isa. 10:12).
“And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” (Isa. 13:11).
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.” (Isa. 24:21).
“For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” (Isa. 26:21).
“I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
And I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it.…
For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.” (Jer. 25:12-15).
“Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.” (Jer. 50:18).
“A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name.” (Ps. 91:7-14).
One day soon God’s people will have settled into the truth. They will settle it in their hearts to obey the privileged light sent down from the Son of God in His heavenly sanctuary. They will be fully settled as His law is sealed in them through faith in His grace.
Righteousness will be the Son’s righteousness, the righteousness of faith, the only kind of righteousness. We will be His workmanship, that He might be glorified. Rather than boasting in ourselves we will be like David, “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.” (Ps. 34:2). Thus He will blot out our wretched past.
“I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” (Isa. 43:25). “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee.” (Isa. 44:22). And heaven and earth will sing again.
“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name written in their foreheads.
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.” (Rev. 14:1-3).
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” (1Jn. 3:1-3).
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a Stumblingstone and Rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” (Rom. 9:30-33).
When restoring the image of God in man, throughout the Old Testament, Jesus has used a method that alone can reclaim a sinner from sin. First, He gave Israel structure; then, He showed His undying love for them. Then He came personally and saved them.
He gave them structure; He laid out the rules of the covenant. His law was His words, His doctrine in the Torah. “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine:
And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” (Ex. 19:5,6). If they would join themselves to Him and obey His laws, then He would provide and protect then. Inherent in this arrangement would come His punishment toward their erring ways.
“My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction:
For whom the Lord loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” (Prov. 3:11,12).
“For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” (Jer. 30:11).
“Fear thou not, O Jacob My servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.” (Jer. 46:28).
Jesus took on a massive project in assuming the role as our surety. As surety, He swore to God that, to His dying day, He would salvage the Human race. He would reconcile them to God and then develop His character in them—His selflessness and grace. Christ would take everyone from the gutter—the worst of the worst—and perfectly restore them to be blameless and harmless, the sons of God and without rebuke.
The work of reclaiming humanity would take 6,000 years, many generations of children learning from the mistakes of their fathers and forefathers. There would be ups and downs. There would be revivals and apostasies, reformations and great periods of apathy and backsliding. Faith in God would spring up with new life, and then be lost in the next generation, accompanied by sorrow, bitterness, disease, and death. Victories would be crowned with defeat. Satan would get a foothold into the precious work of God; and then there would follow misery and heavy divine discipline. And Satan would laugh at man and blaspheme God for His laughable hope to save hopeless mankind.
And the Son of God knew all that would take place. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me, and break My covenant which I have made with them.
Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.” (Deut. 31:16-18). Yet, in light of their present murmuring and future apostasies, He still commanded His blessing on His people! What grace!
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.” (Num. 6:22-27).
“He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.” (Num. 23:21).
Its amazing that He still commanded His blessing on His people; but that is how grace works. Grace takes the initiative and nurtures faith back to health.
Through all of Israel’s ups and downs, their victories and their punishments, God has been love. He forgave when repentance and humiliation was reborn in His people. Sorrow for sinners, hatred of sin, and humility are His core traits of character. As soon as He would see these traits in them, He immediately moved to forgive, and send His Holy Spirit and His deliverance. King Hezekiah wasn’t perfect, but in his lethal disease, he “turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord,…and…wept sore.” (Isa. 38:2,3).
“The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.” “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” (Isa. 38:20,17).
All Hezekiah needed in order to be healed was genuine repentance, which itself is the gift of God freely given to all who will go to Him in faith to get it. “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matt. 9:13). If they wait to create repentance before they go to Jesus, their repentance will be rejected by God. Just as they are, in all their filthiness, they must go to Jesus, the sinner’s friend, and His goodness will give them true repentance, which alone God will accept.
God’s love is a strong love and shows itself in power. The echoes from Mt. Sinai still resound throughout the earth, though much fainter than in bygone years. And likewise, His whispered words, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” also resound throughout heaven and are soon to be thundered to the whole world in the Latter Rains. Many physical and spirit paralytics―spiritual paraplegics―will hear the good word, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” (Matt. 9:2).
“Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men:…and whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him.” (Matt. 12:31,32).
“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” (Matt. 18:10,11).
“How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matt. 18:12-14).
“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Lk. 15:7).
“For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jer. 31:34).
“Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.” (Isa. 60:5).
Until that glorious day, the Lord will permit Satan to ravage the world; until the children of God finish their lusting after the flesh, God’s adversary will have the perfect right to spread misery around the globe. And the devil will take full advantage of this right. We have yet to see the worst of what’s coming. It will be another Egyptian slavery. Satan will inspire the worst passions against all who retain even an iota of the image of God. The devil will try to beat the grace of God’s character out of those who love Him and His law.
Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads, —it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved, —just as soon as God’s people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming. Ms 173, 1902, pp. 3-6. ("Medical Missionary Work in Southern California," November 20, 1911.) Manuscript Release, Vol. 1, p. 249.
“Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” (Dan. 12:10).
“For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.” (Isa. 32:6-8).
“Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear My voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto My speech.
Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.…
Upon the land of My people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.” (Isa. 32:9-11,13-15).
“Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
And My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” (Isa. 32:16-18).
“He [Satan’s earthly agency] shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.”
“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” (Dan. 11:42-44;12:1).
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:” (Matt. 24:15,16).
“Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for Thee: be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.” (Isa. 33:1,2).
“Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.” (Jer. 30:16,17).
“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” (Rev. 13:10).
“Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.” (Isa. 10:12).
“And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” (Isa. 13:11).
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.” (Isa. 24:21).
“For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” (Isa. 26:21).
“I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
And I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it.…
For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.” (Jer. 25:12-15).
“Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.” (Jer. 50:18).
“A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name.” (Ps. 91:7-14).
One day soon God’s people will have settled into the truth. They will settle it in their hearts to obey the privileged light sent down from the Son of God in His heavenly sanctuary. They will be fully settled as His law is sealed in them through faith in His grace.
Righteousness will be the Son’s righteousness, the righteousness of faith, the only kind of righteousness. We will be His workmanship, that He might be glorified. Rather than boasting in ourselves we will be like David, “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.” (Ps. 34:2). Thus He will blot out our wretched past.
“I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” (Isa. 43:25). “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee.” (Isa. 44:22). And heaven and earth will sing again.
“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name written in their foreheads.
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.” (Rev. 14:1-3).
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” (1Jn. 3:1-3).
posted by David | 5:22 PM
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