God Gave Them Up
(Hebrews 10:29)
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)
—— ◆ ——
His Sovereignty Is Despised
He Alone has the Rights of Creatorship
We begin in the fullness of time when God SENT forth His Son from heaven, His ONLY begotten, the Son of His love. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. (Galatians 4:4). He who had created the worlds by the Word of His power and the Heir of all things and the Creator of all things was at long last a living active reality upon the earth. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. (Hebrews 1:2) He had come to purge our sins by the sacrifice of Himself. He was obedient to the determinate counsels and foreknowledge of God. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3). He came to be the Savior of man. This Man from heaven left the glories that He had and came to tread the earth that He had created, and as a stranger He walked through His own creation among His own creatures unknown by them.
He had come to His people, Israel, and brought them out of Egypt. He called them OUT of Egypt to be His nation upon this earth. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:6) As His created world knew Him not, so also, His nation received Him not, and yet, by His creatorial power, the heavens and the earth through the Rights of Creatorship belonged to the Man Jesus Christ. The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. In Psalm 24:1 the Lord divides the tangible creation in the earth from the creation of the inhabitants: the people of the world. In the tangible, He called THAT part of creation OUT of darkness, in the vacuum of nothing creating OUT of NOTHING not only the heavens and the earth, but space itself.
● Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:3)
●Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (Colossians1:15) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians1:16) And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians1:17)
This was a great thing. The Creator had come as a Man from heaven to bring righteousness into the world and to fulfill that righteousness. And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. (Matthew 3:15) The world and the people that dwell therein knew Him not for He was a Man from heaven, the Son of the Living God.
● The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (1st Corinthians 15:47)
● Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (Hebrews 10:7)
● Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. (Hebrews 10:9)
—— ◆ ——
His Word is Despised
He Alone has the Rights of Interpretation
All that was written by the prophets since the world began was the Word of Christ IN them by His Spirit from above. As He chose Mary to be the vehicle of His birth, He chose each prophet BEFORE they were born. As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began. (Luke 1:70)
● Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5) Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. (Jeremiah 1:6) But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. (Jeremiah 1:7) Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 1:8) Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. (Jeremiah 1:9) See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. (Jeremiah 1:10)
● Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1st Peter 1:8)
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (1st Peter 1:9)
Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (1st Peter 1:10)
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (1st Peter 1:11)
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1st Peter 1:12)
● That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour. (2nd Peter 3:2)
In the prophecies of 2nd Peter 1:20 and 21 we have the voice of the Living God through His Spirit as the true interpreter of the prophecies of old. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (2nd Peter 1:20) For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2nd Peter 1:21) However, the modern teachers declare that there are MANY valid interpretations of prophecy, however, they do not believe that the words of God and the prophecies through the word of God are infallible and that there is only ONE interpretation. THIS interpretation belongs to God and God alone. The deceivers of this age (who are ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth) cannot accept that man is left out of the true interpretation of the word of God EXCEPT by and through the Holy Spirit Himself.
The same Spirit of Christ that was in the holy prophets of old is the same Spirit today that defines and interprets the truth in the heart of every true believer. As Christ was in the hearts of the prophets giving them the word, His word has not changed, and the interpretation of that word belongs to the Spirit of Christ and Him alone. This is why the natural man makes a mess out of explaining and understanding holy scriptures, for with an unrighteous heart man cannot understand the things of God. As God chose the prophets in times past, as He chose His apostles while He walked with them on earth, so NOW from His seat in heaven, the Lord Jesus chooses His ambassadors to declare His name and His truth among man. They are to declare the name that is above every name which is Jesus Christ. The chosen of God receive the Spirit of Christ to SECURE the truth of the word in the heart, soul and spirit, and to proclaim (through the word of God) that there is only ONE interpretation of scripture, and this interpretation is sent down from heaven by the Holy Ghost to the world and to those who dwell therein.
—— ◆ ——
His Authority is Despised
He Alone is the Authority in ALL Things
When Christ was teaching in the Temple, He was asked by what authority, or who gave Him that authority, to teach within the Temple. Many today also refuse to acknowledge the authority of the Living Word of God and the written word of God. His voice was despised then as His voice is also despised today as He speaks from heaven to the conscience, heart, mind and souls of His servants. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: (Hebrews 12:25) It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63) Man (the Pharisees and the rulers of the Jews) could not conceive that the Son of God had come to bring them grace and truth. His authority was the Word of God within Himself as the Living Word, and the words that He spoke were and are Spirit and Truth.
● Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. (John 7:14) And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? (John 7:15) Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. (John 7:16) If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (John 7:17) He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. (John 7:18) Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? (John 7:19)
● And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? (Matthew 21:23)
The world that Christ came into believe it or not, is similar to our contemporary age. Unholy men cloaked by counterfeit robes of righteousness have taken over the religious system WITHOUT the Spirit of God. No person could speak, nor teach unless they are approved or ordained by man . . . . and so, in the power of Adam’s spirit, they could not understand the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ surrounded by the truth of God. So, today, people desire grace without truth, and yet grace and truth are inseparable IN Jesus Christ. If man is assigned religious power, then out of his own imagination, he will make up heresies and claim those heresies to be truth. When unholy men are in power, they (without hesitation) deny those who have been sent from God to be the ministers of righteousness in this sinful world. True men of God are rejected because they know the scriptures and the power of God. (Matthew 22:29)
As the Jews in the days of the Lord Jesus emptied the power of the Law, so also today, the gospel has been emptied by liberal beliefs and substituted with empty philosophy and meaningless traditions of men. The Church was NOT to be an open display controlled by worldly men. It was NOT to be a country club, nor the Temple of Herod. The Church was to be a testimony to the Son of God. The contemporary and current Church has removed ALL true testimony of the Son of God. They have trampled underfoot the Son of God by their erroneous interpretation of holy scriptures which have been tried in the righteous fires of God seven times to be true and holy before God.
We have before us today, the same heart of the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the rulers of the Jews. In John Chapter 8, verse 59, when the religious Jews could not stop the Lord Jesus from teaching in the Temple, they took up stones to stone the Son of God. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. (John 8:59) When they took up stones the Lord Jesus knew what was in the heart of all men, He cloaked Himself for He was the manifestation of the invisible God; therefore, to all those who would stone Him, He simply became the invisible God and SO PASSED BY. These are the treasures in the word of God that reveal the complete Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. As He passed by, in the next sequence of events, He opened the eyes of a man who was born blind.
—— ◆ ——
His Deity is Despised
The Divinity of Christ is Minimized and Diminished
After receiving sight and meeting the Lord Jesus, Christ asked the blind man, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? (John 9:35) the blind man . . . answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? (John 9:36) Then the Lord replied, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. (John 9:37) And at that very moment he worshiped Jesus Christ for being the Son of God the one true Deity. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. (John 9:38) Now with eyes wide opened he beheld the Creator of heaven and earth who is the ONLY Deity with an endless life, and the power of an endless life. The Lord had exposed the unrighteous works and the unrighteous words of the Pharisees.
As they in the past trampled underfoot the miracles of Deity, and Deity, so also today, they trample underfoot the Son of God in the universal world church of unrighteousness. Can the church of unrighteousness recover itself? No, for we have arrived at the end of the Church Age. We are back to the age of individual testimony of each and every true believer.
Revelation Chapter 3 closes with I, meaning Christ, stand at the door, and knock. Verse 20 . . . Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. This is the last call of the Church Age. It is very similar to the last days before Israel’s captivity in 2nd Chronicles. This is the testimony of the Spirit of God to Israel just before their captivity. And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: (2nd Chronicles 36:15) But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. (2nd Chronicles 36:16)
The voice of the Lord in the gospel is clear. At the end of the Age of the Church, they who cry, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (Matthew 7:22) will hear these words Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23) In Revelation Chapter 3, we have the dreadful declaration to the entire mass of pretenders, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Why? Because as there was no remedy for unrighteous Israel, so also, there is no remedy (except repentance) for the wayward and unrighteous church.
—— ◆ ——
His Sacrificial Blood is Despised as an Unholy Thing
In the second part of Hebrews 10:29, the Church has turned its back on the heavenly covenant sealed with the blood of Christ . . . and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? His blood was placed on the mercy seat in heaven.
The covenant that God made with Abraham was an earthly covenant (Genesis 15) to be fulfilled by Abraham’s descendants which takes us back to the deliverance of the children of Israel OUT of Egypt under the blood of the Pascal Lamb. This was an extension of the covenant given to Abraham which will be fulfilled at a later date when Christ comes to reign over the world for a thousand years of His millennial kingdom as King of kings, and Lord of lords.
A heavenly covenant could only be brought about by heavenly blood.
The covenant with Abraham and Israel was sealed with the blood of earthly animals as a far figure of the blood of Christ. The blood of earthly animals was a covenant of the earth, but the blood of Christ is a heavenly covenant SANCTIFYING both heaven and earth in His blood. A heavenly covenant could only be brought about by heavenly blood. It was the blood of God from heaven and NOT human blood. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28) This makes the blood of Christ a heavenly transaction among all members of the Godhead. Both heaven and earth had to be satisfied in the only blood of satisfaction, which is the blood of God, to buy back that which sin took away had to be a heavenly covenant under the blood of Christ.
We should consider Colossians 1:20, And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. In this first Chapter of the book of Colossians we have Christ, the great Creator of heaven and earth (verse 16). For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him. (Colossians 1:16). He is the Redeemer who has called us out of darkness, and He is also the Redeemer of both heaven and earth through His blood, the blood of His cross (verse 20). This is to reconcile ALL things unto Himself to all the children of God who are the sons of God. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:2) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 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. (1st John 3:1) 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. (1st John 3:2) And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1st John 3:3)
Those who refuse to see the value of the blood of Christ are UNWORTHY of His name.
As a child of God, you are bought with a price. This price is the precious blood of Christ, the blood of God. This is the blood of the everlasting covenant. All the other bloods shed on earth whether it is beast or man is only the blood of earth. Christ’s blood is the blood of heaven. Those who refuse to see the value of the blood of Christ are UNWORTHY of His name.
—— ◆ ——
His Name Is Despised
Only ONE name given among man can bring or has brought perfection to the heart, soul and spirit of man. And only in the ONE who possesses that name is there salvation. And this name has been placed higher than the heavens.
● Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (Philippians 2:9) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (Philippians 2:10) And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11)
● For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; (Hebrews 7:26)
● Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Now don’t get frizzled. All the names of God are fulfilled in the name above all names: Jesus the Christ. From the beginning of scripture with ‘elohiym, and Jehovah, and Adonai, and El, all the names and positions in which God declared Himself are ALL fulfilled in Him who is Wonderful, Counselor, the Almighty God, the everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. As soon as Christ was manifested on this earth, ALL the names and ALL the positions of God were fulfilled in Him. And when the end of scripture comes, Christ CLOSES the entire canon of scripture as, I Jesus . . . I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. (Revelation 22:16) This verse is wonderful, and the authority and position of His name make it wonderful. When you examine this verse closely, He is not only the root of David, but the root of all things. He is the Root of all life. He is fulfillment of all life. He is both the Root of life and the Offspring of life. We see this as He expresses His relationship to David, and then He gives us the essence of all creation in the bright and morning star, as the Creator He brings light to the darkness of Genesis 1:3. As the Redeemer He brings life and light to the soul, as He is the Alpha (the beginning of the creation of God). Revelation 3:14. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; He is the Omega, the Author and Finisher and the end of our faith. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2) He is the end of our faith. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (1st Peter 1:9)
This is the One whose name is despised and whose name has become a curse word. How easily His name slides off the filthy lips and tongues of the unclean
● But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. (Psalm 22:6)
● They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth. (Job 30:8) And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. (Job 30:9)
● They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards. (Psalm 69:12)
—— ◆ ——
The Spirit of Grace is Despised
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)
The third and last point in Hebrews 10:29, is doing despite to the Spirit of grace. In 1st Peter 1:12, we are blessed with the gospel sent down from heaven in the Person of the Holy Ghost. This was to sanctify the gospel as it was sent down from heaven completing the promise of the Lord to send another Comforter. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1st Peter 1:12)
What I am about to write will not be accepted by the majority of professing Christians. A man is not capable of preaching the gospel EXCEPT it is done through the Spirit of God sent down for that very specific message. The fact that God is Spirit is a SEAL of the Holy Ghost. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
This again takes us to the consistency of the word of God for back in Genesis Chapter 1, it is God the Spirit hovering over the face of the darkness of the deep. This was the entire Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but only revealed as Spirit. There was no manifestation of God’s shape, form or Person. All the Godhead was moving in the invisible realm of His Spirit. Why is this so foreign to man? Because man (as a worm) wants to be as God. We need to be sorry for the infinitesimally small creature called man.
In our contemporary Age of Insanity, man cannot even uphold his manhood. Eve has clipped all that was left of Adam, and now, the world and the universal church want to clip the Spirit of grace from the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we (man in Adam) come into this world, we come in with inherent sin from Adam. There is no escape from this because we have been conceived in sin and iniquity. All this met its conception and was finished at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Adam disobeyed the word of God there was spiritual upheaval in man and in the world. Man rebelled against God and counted the words of God as an unworthy and unholy thing and because of his disobedience sin began to reign over man until his death. God drove man out of the garden, barring man by a flaming sword and two Cherubim from the tree of life. Man in Adam had chosen sin and death over life as God had established The Law of Sin and Death.
● For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
● But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17)
So therefore, death has passed onto every man. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. (Romans 5:12) Now the solution to this, the remedy for sin, is the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The gospel of grace and truth offers life in The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Once again, we see the unity of the Spirit of God within the Son of God. Remember that God is Spirit. Here in Romans 8:2, we see the wonderful fulfillment of new life IN Christ BY His Spirit for a man MUST be born again. This unites the Spirit of grace as ONE with the Spirit of Christ, and grace and faith is united through the Spirit of the Son of God. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) Now consider that which is born of Adam that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of God is born of the Spirit and IS Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:7) In the presence of Christ, Nicodemus struggled with this truth as many today also struggle.
The key to John 3:6 is found in John 1:12, and 13. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13) So therefore, those who despite the Spirit of grace are under the penalty of the second death.
●But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
● And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Revelation 20:14) And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)
● Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. (Matthew 12:31) And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (Matthew 12:32)
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. (Hebrews 10:26) There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins . . . returning to our verse of Hebrews 10:29, the trampling (treading) under feet is a dramatic statement, for in the Old Testament age they not only stoned people, but they also trampled upon people until they were dead.
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)
Therefore, these words in Hebrews 10:29 are meant to be profound and dramatic. But now, Christ is NOT on the cross, He is at the right hand of God. But man wants to trample His name into the dust of history.
Here the parable of the vineyard is important, for this parable reveals the heart of man in all of his disobedience and deception and deceit.
And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. (Mark 12:1)
And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. (Mark 12:2)
And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. (Mark 12:3)
And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. (Mark 12:4)
And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. (Mark 12:5)
Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. (Mark 12:6)
But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. (Mark 12:7)
And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. (Mark 12:8)
What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. (Mark 12:9)
And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: (Mark 12:10)
This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? (Mark 12:11)
And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way. (Mark 12:12)
This parable was given to the Pharisees to expose them for the murdering swine that they were. In their pharisaical cult they had already murdered the servants of God and this parable exposed them. The vineyard was the entire nation of Israel. In the beginning of the nation of Israel, the Levites were given control of the spiritual welfare of the entire nation under God. The Levites were to maintain a spiritual life for the nation. They were to be the ministers of righteousness to the people. However, they failed, and in the day of Eli, the priesthood had come to ruin under the corrupt sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, whom God destroyed.
The next quickening or revival of the Levites was under Solomon when he built the Temple of God in Jerusalem and appointed the Levites to their courses. Through the process of time, they also failed. And God punished the nation by allowing Nebuchadnezzar to ransack and destroy the Temple. After seventy (70) years of captivity in Babylon, a small advance party of Jews (under the leadership of Nehemiah) with a mixed company of people from the captivity was sent to Jerusalem under the decree of Cyrus, the king of the Medes and Persians to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.
Then later Ezra went to rebuild the Temple, and once again, Levites were appointed (according to their genealogy back to Aaron) to serve and to fulfill the assigned courses, however, this also failed. And through the last book in the Old, we see the complete failure of the priesthood.
—— ◆ ——
The Ministry of Christ as Melchisedec, the High Priest of God, is Despised
Four hundred years passed when God did not speak to His nation Israel. During the course of this time there rose a pseudo religious group known as the Pharisees. During this time period, before the Lord came, there was a temple built by Herod. There were two main groups who ruled the Temple: the Pharisees (the religious side) and the Herodians (the political side); there was also another religious group, the Sadducees, however, their influence was not as powerful as the Pharisees. The Temple of Herod was their shrine, and there was no relationship to Aaron and the original order of Levites.
The Pharisees were the main ruling party and religious class who had usurped power over God’s vineyard. They literally had no right to the priesthood, nor did they qualify through genealogy. They had taken the vineyard by force for themselves. The appointment of God had become the appointment of man. (Compare Laodicea, the last church in the Church Age: those claiming priesthood do not qualify through genealogy for they are not sons of God. They have taken the vineyard (the church) by force for themselves, taking away the rights of all the sons of God as priests of God.)
In the gospel of Luke, the Holy Spirit pointed to Zacharias and Elisabeth as the only two individuals who had an established genealogy that led directly back to Aaron: thus, giving Zacharias the right to be the high priest.
But man under the leadership of the Pharisees had changed the law of priesthood, so that Zacharias was only allowed to minister at the altar of incense. As the word of God is past, present and future, the instruction that we receive from the Spirit of God in Revelation Chapter 8 shows us the value of the altar of incense which is in heaven. The ministry of the altar of incense in heaven is the ministry of Melchisedec, the Son of God.
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. (Revelation 8:2)
And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. (Revelation 8:3)
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. (Revelation 8:4)
And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. (Revelation 8:5)
In verse 2 of Revelation 8, there are seven angels who stand before God. In verse 3, we have ANOTHER angel. This Angel is the Angel of His presence known in the Old Testament as the Angel of the LORD. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. (Isaiah 63:9) This Angel is a reappearance of the manifestation of Christ in the Old Testament. Now, in heaven, the Angel of the LORD, the Lord Jesus Christ and Melchisedec are united in ONE form before the golden altar. This specific Angel has a golden censer in His hand, and MUCH INCENSE was given to Him for IN His PERSON is the sweetness of ALL accepted incense ascending up to God.
As we see in the book of Judges in Chapter 13, that the Angel of the LORD ascended up into the flames of the two sacrifices as a sweet savor to God.
Also, in Ephesians 5:2, we have the sweetness of the offering of the Son of God to God the Father as a sweet savor ascending up into the heavens. And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
However, in Revelation Chapter 8 we are in heaven looking down upon the earth. The Heir of the vineyard has declared His authority over the heaven and over the earth. He has been given power over the heavens and over the earth; thus, He is in position to judge the earth as He listens to the prayers of the saints.
We need to return to Chapter 6 of the book of the Revelation, verses 9 and 10. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: (Revelation 6:9) And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (Revelation 6:10) These are the words of those who are revealed to us in the 5th seal of Revelation Chapter 6. The number five speaks of grace, and under the altar of incense are the souls of those who defended the grace and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. For they were slain for the word of God and the testimony which they held which was and is against the satanic world around us and them. They cried out, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Their plea is answered in Revelation 8, when Christ takes the censer and fills it with fire from the altar and casts it into the earth. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth. The righteous vengeance of God fell on the earth for not only the death of His Son, but also for the martyrs of Jesus Christ. As He was manifested in the Body that was prepared for Him, He transfigured Himself into the Body of resurrection. It is this Body that we, as the children of God, embrace and are part of.
Now let us return back to the prayers of Zacharias and Elisabeth in Chapter 1 of the book of the gospel of Luke. Zacharias was told by the angel that their prayers had been heard of the Lord. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. (Luke 1:13) Although Elisabeth was past her time of child baring, God opened her womb, from the altar of incense their prayers were heard, and God answered those prayers from heaven. He broke the silence of four hundred years by a message from the angel that they would have a son named John who would be the last prophet of the Old Testament and the first messenger of the New Testament.
Consider the birth of John the Baptist, both his mother and father had proof of their direct genealogy, not merely as Levites, but all the way back to the first high priest which was Aaron, so, that John would be born with the birthright to be the high priest of Israel. The Pharisees of that day, including the high priests (there were two high priests at that time) did not possess the birthright of priesthood. This is why in Luke Chapter 1, God, the Holy Spirit, established these things so that we can see the hand of God and the difference in the appointments and the workings of the hands of man.
—— ◆ ——
The Truth of Man’s Sin is Despised
After the birth of John the Baptist, there was a great silence: God hid His prophet in the wilderness. As Elijah was hidden in the wilderness for an appointed time, so also, John was in hidden in the wilderness until his appointed time. Then as the rightful priest of Israel, John, was the forerunner of the Son of God, and as the messenger of God, John the Baptist appeared with the message of repentance condemning the generation of vipers, the poisonous religious political group called the Pharisees.
As we examine biblical history, we have to see it as windows of the historical sin of man, and the history of man’s inherent deceitful heart of sin. Man in all phases of life shows himself in opposition to the God of heaven and earth.
There are some verses in the Bible that no matter the time period that they were written in and to, they transcend the entire time period of man on earth. In 1st Samuel 15, we have two of these verses, 22 and 23. And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. (1st Samuel 15:22) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (1st Samuel 15:23)
Behold . . . take notice . . . that to obey is better than sacrifice. Beginning with Adam, God reveals man in all phases of life, and at every level of existence from bondmen to kings; we see the failure of mankind because of inherent sin within ALL of mankind. We should understand that the soul, the spirit, and the flesh were corrupted by sin at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Next, we see rebellion, and rebellion is as witchcraft which also leads to idolatry. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. We see this in Cain, for it was the spirit of rebellion in Cain not obeying the instruction of the word of God given to both Cain and Abel. Abel obeyed through faith. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. (Hebrews 11:4) Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice then Cain. What established this sacrifice as a more excellent sacrifice? Abel had obeyed God’s instruction to take a lamb from his flock, a first born lamb, a male, without blemish and without spot, without or within. Abel was to offer a lamb on the altar that God had provided, a great stone that would later be called the great stone of Abel. And the golden mice, [according to] the number of all the cities of the Philistines [belonging] to the five lords, [both] of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great [stone of] Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: [which stone remaineth] unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite. (1st Samuel 6:18) In the book of Leviticus after God had led the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. God established all the rights of sacrifice in great detail, beginning with the burnt offering which is the MAIN SYMBOL of the offering of God’s Son on the cross of Calvary. As God went into detail in the different offerings because ALL offerings relate to the Person of God’s dear Son, so with Abel and Cain, God went into great detail in the offering up of a lamb for sacrifice and the blood of that sacrifice. In rebellion, not in ignorance, but in OPEN REBELLION against God, Cain brought the work of his sinful hands and the article of a cursed earth and offered these to God as an INSULT in Cain’s own rebellion.
Abel proved himself as the first man of faith, and Cain proved himself as the first man of the wicked one. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. (1st John 3:12) Rebellion is as witchcraft, which leads to idolatry. Cain was controlled by another spirit, and being of the wicked one, whom the Lord Jesus called, the prince of this world. Cain was of that wicked one, and that wicked one is Lucifer, the rebel of heaven and earth. Since Lucifer usurped the power that Adam once had over the earth, Lucifer is also called the god of this world. Cain walked by the spirit of this world under the control and authority of Lucifer, the prince of this world. And if you for a minute think that Lucifer has disappeared in our day and age then you are totally ignorant of his workings among man, for we live in the worldliest society, and the most rebellious society that this earth has ever experienced. Cain’s offering was the first offering of idolatry, and he was condemned of this when God told him, sin lieth at the door.
Cain’s heart had already been corrupted by his inherent sin and the deceiver Lucifer. Cain was of his father the devil. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44) Cain’s offering was the FIRST offering designated as the desolation of abomination which will be fulfilled in the man of sin, known as the Beast when he establishes the last desolation of abomination when he pronounces himself to be God in the Temple of God in Jerusalem. In 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2, we have these words . . .
● Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2nd Thessalonians 2:3) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2nd Thessalonians 2:4) Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (2nd Thessalonians 2:5) And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. (2nd Thessalonians 2:6) For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (2nd Thessalonians 2:7) And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (2nd Thessalonians 2:8)
● 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:) (Matthew 24:15)
● And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:27)
● And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. (Revelation 13:2)
● And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. (Revelation 13:5) And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:6)
Cain was at his most evil point when God told him that sin lieth at the door. Cain was already under the influence of his father the devil and Cain was the unclean thing. The only tribute to the line of Seth was not the labor of their hands, but that they called on the name of the Lord. With the line of Cain, there is no record of them calling on the name of the Lord. Instead, it was Cain who built the first recorded city under Lamech we have the beginning of commerce, and the beginning of material wealth and the beginning of the pleasures of the arts all to control the minds of men from the things of God. Lucifer, because of his overthrow of Adam, stripped Adam from the dominion of the world. Lucifer designated himself as prince of the world of ungodly men. The spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience, again, this takes us back to 1st Samuel 15.
On the night of the Lord’s betrayal the spirit of Satan entered into Judas. Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. (John 13:26) And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. (John 13:27) This was not a sudden turn around for Judas. When Christ chose His disciples, He said of the twelve, that there was one of the devil. Judas had already been marked because Christ KNEW the heart of every man. And there is quite a conspiracy carried out by Judas with the Pharisees, who Christ also called children of the devil in John 8:44. We have been taught by the world and by religion to be ignorant of the children of the devil, and ignorant to the ways of the devil. And yet, there are many scriptures that define this angelic evil figure Lucifer as an evil entity with powers to deceive mankind, and man because he is a host to sin is a viable receptor of Satan’s evil malignities. 1st Samuel 15 travels all the way throughout scripture in the rebelliousness of man . . . man against God . . . man against man . . . nations against nations. Everywhere you look in the struggle of mankind, you will find the iniquities of Satan is enmity against God.
—— ◆ ——
The Headship of Christ is Despised and
Man’s True Fallen Nature is Denied
In the United States we live in a country overflowing with idolatry. There are statues of political heroes, statutes of sports heroes, statues of entertainment heroes, statues to honor the dead, and over and over again, there are innumerable statues that are totally against the will of God. And I did not mention the host of all the religious statues or idols that are found in every corner of this nation all placed in rebellion against the Almighty God. Man is stubborn. He refuses the Lord Jesus Christ His proper position in the Body of Christ. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18) Man has usurped the Headship of Christ in man’s rebellion against God. Man calls himself the Holy Father and selects a blasphemous title to Mary as “queen of heaven” or “holy mother of God.” And then, they do despite to the Spirit of grace in calling man the “Vicar of Christ.” They have assaulted every member of the Godhead with their blasphemy and heresies and have trampled underfoot the Son of God through the idolatry of their images of Christ still on the cross when scripture gives us a heavenly Man at the right hand of God. The Son of God is NO LONGER ON THE EARTH, He has risen from the dead, which apparently, the people who worship the image of the cross do not understand. It is not only that religion has idols, but that they also deify their concrete idols.
This is what makes 1st Samuel 15 such a valuable truth in the world today. The merits of times may change, but the word of God does not change. It is infallible in its own genealogy and can trace its genealogy to the very beginning. May I remind you, “in the beginning God.” This not only applies to the visible creation, but the invisible creation, and in the same power, God has created His word that it will endure throughout all time and timelessness. For there is no other writing in ALL of creation that is so truthful of the Person of God and the unrighteousness of mankind and the revealing of the deceiver of man, the prince of this world, Lucifer. When the Spirit of God wrote all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, it is revealed to us that all men from Adam onward are under the condemnation of sin, and that all fall short of the glory of God in Jesus Christ who is the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His Person. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)
The distance between God’s righteousness and man’s unrighteousness is infinite and that gap cannot be closed because man is in his own darkness of the deep and it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that God can pull man out of the muck and mire of sin. Man has spent his time in sin eating with the swine, and only the Spirit of God can brood over him so that man will seek the light of God. God has to intervene with the sin of man and give man a holy reason to see the condition in which man resides. Man is totally removed from God’s program because of sin. Man is alienated from God. His soul has been corrupted and the soul of man has to be restored. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3) Man’s spirit has to be quickened.
● And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (Ephesians 2:1)
● For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1st Peter 3:18)
● For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. (John 5:21)
● This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. (Psalm 119:50)
Man NEEDS a new heart. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26) Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 18:31)
Each of these changes comes in the supernatural birth when a man is born again of the Spirit of God. That which is flesh is flesh, and that which is Spirit is Spirit. All men in Adam have inherited sin which has corrupted their hearts and is desperately wicked.
● The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:10)
● For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)
● And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)
The book of life is one book, and the Divine Scribe of heaven has written every name that is under the blood of Christ in that book of eternity. However, at the great white throne there are books (plural) many books written concerning the works and the deeds of those who refused the grace and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. This will be the plight of man without Christ, after man is judged by the works that man has done, man will suffer the second death and be cast into the lake of fire where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. This is of man’s own doing all the way back to the beginning of time in Adam. All will be exposed. The sin of a lifetime will be read out against all the secret lies . . . . and all the evil doings. Every heart will be naked before God and Adam (man) in his sin will finally come to an end in the lake of fire. As scripture informs us this is the second death. . . . thou shalt surely die.
● And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Revelation 20:14)
●But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
The distance between 1st Samuel 15 and Revelation 21:8 and 20:14 is millenniums apart. Yet, the Spirit of God defines the state of man in Adam. Adam is naked before God, and the eyes of the seven Spirits of God see ALL in the darkness of man’s heart. Only through the intercession of God removing darkness and giving light can man be saved. Being born again in Jesus Christ is such a spiritual transition, a traumatic experience, that it cannot be forgotten. That moment of time of being born anew cannot be forgotten. It is Christ in His omniscience and omnipresence and by His omnipotence who upholds ALL truth and power both in His word and in the power of His everlasting life. The last unction or the last condemnation in 1st Samuel 15:23 is the rejection of the word of God. God gives us man in diverse manners and in sundry times, all will fail because they will not harken to the word of God. As the Father sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Heir of the vineyard in the fullness of time, and man rejected the Living Word of God. Now, today, the voice of the Spirit of God speaks from heaven and man still rejects the Holy Living Word of God in unbelief. As Saul was rejected from being king, so all the souls at the great white throne will be rejected of God and judged for their unrepentant sin and be cast into the lake of fire. God in Jesus Christ paid the price for their souls to fulfill all the righteousness of God, but they refused the Savior of man. As the unrepentant of Israel, they will be cast into the lake of fire for their sin and their sin alone. Yet, God in His mercy sent grace and truth into this world to give man an opportunity to cast himself upon God. God presented Himself as the Savior of man IN Jesus Christ so that man out of a pure heart could call on the name of the Lord. This is the check list as both Paul and Peter wrote. Paul declared, Let a man examine himself . . . deeply within his heart whether he is in Christ or not. Let man lay hold of the truth as witnessed by the Holy Spirit of God in the word of God that only through the creation of a new man IN Christ will one have the sincere desires to learn the holy scriptures in the truth of the divine nature moving our thoughts line upon line, precept upon precept, till we come to the full knowledge of the truth. We, as newborn babes in Christ, grow in Christ and in the knowledge of Christ by His divine word. The teacher, the Master Teacher is the Spirit of Christ to lead us into all truth. The world of doubters NEVER come to the knowledge of God because of their unbelief, so I beseech you by the mercies of God, Be ye reconciled to God by my Savior Jesus Christ.
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6)
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:7)
Amen and Selah.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. (Isaiah 51:6)
Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. (Isaiah 51:7)
© Copyright – Michael Haigh
Published on January 20, 2024 @ 3:15 PM (EST)
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)