Come and See- Chapter 8 of the Gospel of John – Part v – Abraham’s Seed

Come and See

Chapter 8 of the Gospel of John

Part v

Abraham, Abraham –  Here Am I

And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. (Genesis 22:11)

They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? (John 8:33)

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Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. (Psalm 66:5)

For I [know] their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. (Isaiah 66:18)

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He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about tenth hour. (John 1:39)

And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. (John 1:46)

And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. (John 11:34)

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Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; (Philippians 1:27)

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And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. (Revelation 6:1)

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say,  Come and see. (Revelation 6:3)

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. (Revelation 6:5)

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. (Revelation 6:7)

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The Root of Slavery

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They answered him,We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? (John 8:33) WHAT? Never in bondage to any man? How obvious that these Jews were spiritually bankrupt, and they could not face the reality of their political and religious situation. They could not live in reality in their past, or in their present reality. They were ruled by Rome, and by Roman law. They were not free, but bound by chains to the Roman government, who by right of conquest had subjected them to the subjection and obedience to Rome. Even their temple (which was built by Herod) came under Roman law, and was known to all the people as ‘Herod’s Temple,’ and from the building of the temple we have a religious/political sect called the Herodians. Under Roman law only Roman citizens were free men, and Roman freedom carried its own burdens of slavery from the very poorest Roman to the wealthiest, and to the ruling class; Satan was in control, and as today, peddled his tactics with the word ‘freedom.’ In order to be a Roman citizen one had to have a Roman birth, or buy this illusion of freedom at great price. The Jews in the temple before the Lord (as so many today) stated that they had never ever been in bondage to anyone. They refused to see their own dilemma, and the deep darkness that Adam had plunged humanity into. Adam sold his soul, not for wealth, but for position and power swayed by the devil’s lie. The Jews (in their zeal to be Abraham’s seed) refused to go back to the man who sold his soul a long, long time ago.

   The evil master of mankind is the devil. And over time, through history, generation after generation, he universally fathered millions to represent him, and to obey his doctrine of death. He was a murderer from the beginning. 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)

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Freedom versus Bondage

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   One should understand the root difference between freedom and bondage. All of society (whether political or religious) has created a sphere of a world wide bondage. The world is enslaved to a multitude of systems that include and is integrated with bondage. There is a systematic financial doctrine of bondage through debt and taxation. The simplest way to explain it is the so-called right to live on land; however, this land is owned by the state, and the laws of man allow the state to tax or rent the land to the residents of that land. And this is progressive, if you improve the land owned by the state, you are rewarded by being charged higher taxes. And there is much more in the history of mankind . . . there have been taxes on life itself. This is why Mary and Joseph returned to Bethlehem to pay their life tax for just being alive and breathing. In the United States, and in other countries, the government has enforced a death tax (which was removed by the current President Trump and will soon be reintroduced and enforced by the lust of government control, and the greed of evil men) that upon death, the state is not satisfied for they would rob the graves or what was left of the possessions of the dead. And I could go on and on through history with this diabolical slavery of mankind, all rooted in sin. Where is this bondage and this slavery rooted? It is evident that the Jews did not know the root, do you? Could it be sin? Before Adam partook of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil, he was free to partake of every tree in the garden except the tree of good and evil. Adam did not have to work by the sweat of his face. God had provided ALL for Adam and Eve. There were no burdens of labor. There were no financial burdens. There were no taxes imposed by God. Man was FREE in an environment that would and should please anyone in a world without sin, a world without chains and shackles of any kind, a world without tyrannical government. We see only man and His God, or should it be God and His man. This all changed at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when Adam broke the law of sin and death.

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (Genesis 2:16) 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)

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)

   The serpent had been listening very intently to the words of God as recorded in Genesis Chapter 2. Having lost his own personal glory and cast out of heaven (Isaiah 14) he set his plan to remove the glory from God’s newest creation: mankind. It was Lucifer’s own rebellion and sin that stripped him of his position, and of his legions of angels, now bound in chains for following him. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; (2^nd Peter 2:4)

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. (Jude 1:6)

   The angels had been cast down into a realm of darkness and there they are chained because of their sinful allegiance to Lucifer. These chains have reserved them in the place of darkness waiting for the final judgment in the lake of fire, when they will be united with Satan once again. These angels (who are bound in chains) have never been loosed on mankind in anyway and at any time. Mankind (in Adam) does not need any help in their own wickedness and enmity against God passed on by their father Adam. Man cannot pass blame onto these angels for his own rebellious sin against God for it is the heart of man that is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. The wickedness of this evil is confirmed in Genesis Chapter 6:5. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

    In this wonderful newly created environment in the garden of God, with no emotional travail, with no anxiety, with no burdens of life in the course of time, Eve, went near the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; Satan saw her, and moved to take advantage of her. He drew her eyes to the tree of good and evil. He made his presence known, and then suggested that if she partook of this tree (and her husband as well) that they then shall be as gods. Satan was not ignorant of the command of God knowing that this command was the Law of Sin and Death. (Romans 8) Satan, the cunning serpent waited for his chance, and on that day when the woman strolled by, he wooed her with the promise that she or they (including Adam) would be as gods.

 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1)

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (Genesis 3:2)

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Genesis 3:3)

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (Genesis 3:4)

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)

  This was both a deceptive and a desperate move on the part of Satan. For he had apparently conceived a plan to destroy what God had created: not only men as a race of mankind, but the entire creation was being drawn into his lair, first the woman, and then the man. It was man who was vulnerable and the target. Man had apparently lost his understanding through temptation, for he disannulled the very words of God. When your Creator tells you that, thou shalt surely die. Should you not believe Him?

    However, neither Adam nor Eve rebuked the serpent. A word of concern is not a word of rebuke; thus, they became co-conspirators with Satan against God. Rebellion and unbelief were the result of the groundwork of the lies of Satan. Every day was a pristine day in the garden. All was well. There could never have a better environment or a greater place to live in, and this all ended when Eve (in a second of time) reached out and took fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and partook of the poisonous venom of sin, and gave it also to her husband with her. And he did eat. The deed was done. The dye was cast. The dark cloud of sin spread over paradise, and entered into them, and into the world. The spiritual realm that had surrounded the garden was shattered by man and his sin. Mankind, in Adam, was now a slave to sin. He was bound by the invisible chains of sin and death. As sin possessed Adam, his actions brought sin into the world, and left its stain on every inch of God’s creation.

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)

For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (Romans 8:20)

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)

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The Result of Sin

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   The slavery of man to sin began at the hands of man in Adam. This stain or possession of sin has perverted every second in history. Millennial after millennial, century after century, mankind has been bound by the chains of sin. This bondage brought forth death. When mankind, the slave of sin, is no longer useful to sin, sin brings forth death, and because of Adam’s sin he was cast out of the garden into a world of thorns and thistles, to labor by the sweat of his face. Mankind has become a beast of no small measure. Evil is part of man’s character. Mankind delights to put his brother in bondage, and if his brother refuses to conform to the slavery, Cain simply (without regret) kills him, after all, the words of Cain were, Am I my brother’s keeper?

   There is a web of deceit in the society of the world. Man of evil use charity to amass great wealth. They are deceitful in every way, and we live in the FULLNESS of their time. We live in the throes of the devil’s kingdom. As Christians, we are waiting for a Just God to come forth, and to destroy the evil nations of this world. The Lord will also destroy the Church of the hypocrite and religious bigot who proudly states (as the Jews stated in John 8) we were never in bondage to any man.

   In John Chapter 8, the Jews fell back on Abraham, after all, they were/are the seed of Abraham, and because all the promises were given to Abraham and to his seed, the Jews went back to their founding fathers in their perverted culture. The reality was that faithful Abraham had no influence on any of them. Masses of Jews had been living with a hardened heart for a long time, and they did not the works of Abraham. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. (John 8:39) But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. (John 8:40)

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The Natural Seed and The Spiritual Seed

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To fully understand the seed of Abraham, one needs to examine the natural seed and the spiritual seed.

Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: (Romans 9:6)

Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. (Romans 9:7) 　

That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. (Romans 9:8)

  There is a great division between the natural seed and the spiritual seed. God gives us more light in this truth in Galatians Chapter 4, verses 28 and 29. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. (Galatians 4:28) But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. (Galatians 4:28)

   The typology used by the Holy Spirit of God between Isaac and Ishmael is that in Isaac we see the child of promise and the spiritual seed. In Ishmael, we see the flesh (the natural seed) and this establishes two worlds: one is of the flesh (the seed of man), and the other is of the spirit (the seed 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 1:12) 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)

   The seed of God are the children of God, and they are known as the ‘sons of God.’ The children of the flesh are the children of Satan, and they are known (as the Lord referred to them) as ‘the children of the devil.’ This is a difficult truth for mankind to accept. The Jews became extremely hateful when they were called the children of 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) Compare the word of the Lord in verse 44 with 1^st John Chapter 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)　

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (1st John 3:9)

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. (1st John 3:10)

   What a contrast! The children of the devil have a father of lies and murder. The sons of God have a father of love, and He has bestowed that love on His children through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The children of the devil live in darkness, and the children of God live in the light of their Savior. Therefore, we see the two seeds that are in the world. The good seed in Christ, the Son of God, and this takes us all the way back to the garden. The fall brought sin into the world, and destroyed man’s relationship with his God; however, with the shadow of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil hanging over them, the Lord put forth His promise of two seeds. One seed was of the serpent (the natural seed also known as the evil seed), the devil; the other seed was of the woman, and the Seed of promise. The evil seed would develop through the children of Adam who had become a child of Satan.

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. (1^st John 3:10)

For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. (1^st John 3:11)

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. (1^st John 3:12)

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. (1^st John 3:13)

   The other seed is the seed of the woman which is the seed of promise which began by the Supernatural birth of Abel, for Abel was the first recipient of the seed of promise. And although we do not learn of Abel’s faith until the book of Hebrews, Chapter 11, it informs us that Abel, being the promised seed, is the first recipient of God’s faith in Jesus Christ, and grace through faith.

   And Abel being dead, yet speaketh. There is a lot of information for the child of faith in Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 4, 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. The first thing that we see in this verse is the obedience of Abel. He offered an excellent sacrifice. This simply means that his sacrifice met all the holy and righteous parameters set by God. He was fulfilling God’s command in complete obedience to God. And this is where the trouble began, for Cain had enmity in his heart against God, and would not be obedient to God, therefore, that which was obedient to God had to go; therefore, Cain killed Abel. However, prior to Abel’s death, he obtained a witness that he was obedient to God. This verse (11:4) states that Abel was righteous, and righteousness only comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the Harbinger of faith, he is the Distributor of faith, and the Lord Jesus is the Center of all faith. It is Christ who imputes righteousness to those who believe on Him.

Side Note: Belief in Christ Before the Cross and Belief in Christ After the Cross. When we consider those of the past looking forward to the Cross and believing in this promise, they SAW the day of the Lord and they were glad. In our present age, we look back to the Cross where God was satisfied in His beloved Son. We also (as Abraham and Abel) look into the future, for God has given us many prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled. And WE look forward with a believing heart to the fulfillment of the promises of God.

   It was God, according to Hebrews 11:4, who testified of Abel’s gifts. This means that there was more than one sacrifice. He was obedient to God day by day. Abel’s testimony was of such character that the Almighty tells us that Abel is the first recipient of faith. The other part of the witness of Abel is that he was the first of the seed of faith, and he exhibited the fruit of faith. Abel’s supernatural birth was the same as my own new-birth. I was born-again by the will of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The seed of promise is a spiritual seed. And the Spirit of God is the Discerner and Distributor of that seed.

   When we compare the birth of Abel with the birth of John the Baptist, we will find new life in the Old Testament. For John was the last of the prophets of the Old Testament just as he was the first to testify of the New. He took all the Old Testament scriptures to the point of the fullness of time, and the Lord Jesus (from that point) began His ministry and His service for His Father who had sent Him to redeem mankind, and to take away the sin of the world.

   Both Zacharias and Elizabeth (the parents of John the Baptist) were beyond the age of child bearing when the angel of God met Zacharias in the temple while he was fulfilling his course as a priest of the most high God. The prophecy and promise were given to Zacharias of a son who would announce the promise Seed of the woman that it would be John who was sent by God (John 1) to introduce the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. The concept of John and his birth was at the will of God, and was a supernatural birth. Therefore, it is no great thing when one examines Hebrews Chapter 11,verse 4, that Abel’s birth was also a birth of promise, and of the promised Seed to come. Although Abel did not fulfill the completeness of the seed of promise, he was undoubtedly part of that promise through faith. In Galatians Chapter 4, we have the fullness of time in the complete fulfillment of the Seed of promise. 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) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:5)

   Now in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, and according to Galatians 3:16, it was Christ who is the Seed of promise. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16) In Galatians 4:5, we are tied to the promise of God by sonship. We are brought into a relationship with God the Father through the force of our salvation. The force is this: that Christ satisfied ALL the claims that God had against us that through His Seed, we are born again, and consequently, WE, as the children of God, will bear His image: the image of the true seed of God.

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. (1^st John 3:2)

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Romans 8:15)

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1^st Corinthians 15:49)

Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21)

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2^nd Peter 1:4)

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The Supernatural Seed

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   When we examine all these verses, we see our relationship to the supernatural Seed of God, and to all the promises of God which are lived by faith in Jesus Christ. In our new birth we have been spiritually removed from a corrupt world to a glorious world of God’s righteousness. In Galatians 3:16, we have the spiritual Seed, which is Christ, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this Seed was that ‘holy thing’ within Mary’s womb. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35) I want to emphasize ‘holy thing’ for this is very significant. You see, Christ, was not conceived in sin, He was conceived by the righteousness of God in ALL the purity of God’s holiness; (1^st John 3:3 even as he is pure) therefore, He was born without the sin of Adam within, and He remained free of sin for His entire life time on earth, until He bore the sin of the world upon Himself and was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. According to the book of Peter, by our new birth, we take on (within ourselves) the divine nature. We have been made in the likeness of the Son of God, and we are waiting for our vile bodies to be changed into His likeness. Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21)

   In the Lord Jesus Christ, in the promised Seed, God sent His Son into the world to reconcile the world unto Himself. The holiness and purity of the Lord Jesus Christ represent heaven above, bringing in His own Person the Seed of promise from heaven. He came out from heaven to the realm of mankind to call out a seed after His own image from the earth. We as the children of God have all the promises of God in Jesus Christ. He has separated us from an evil world. God the Father has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (Colossians 1:12) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13) In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (Colossians 1:14)

    Not only have we been separated from the world, but we have been separated from mankind by the Supernatural power of God; of course, this is difficult for the religious mind, and for the political mind because their realm is still the world, and of those who dwell therein.

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The Root of Good and Evil

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   There is a tremendous value in understanding the root of good and evil. First, we should examine the trees that came forth in Genesis Chapter 1, verses 11 – 13.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. (Genesis 1:11)

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12)

And the evening and the morning were the third day. (Genesis 1:13) 

   We are dealing now with the fruit tree, and it is on the third day that the fruit trees are brought forth. The third dayis the day of resurrection, and remember, that the Lord is the first fruit of resurrection. 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)

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. (1^st Corinthians 15:20) For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. (1^st Corinthians 15:21) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1^st Corinthians 15:22) But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. (1^st Corinthians 15:23)

   These verses establish the Lord Jesus as the first fruit, not only of resurrection, but the fulfillment and fruit of the Seed of promise, for He was/is the Seed of promise within Himself. Look closely at the fruit trees in Genesis Chapter 1. The words that surround both the trees and the fruit.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. (Genesis 1:11) And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12) And the evening and the morning were the third day. (Genesis 1:13)

   These phrases are very central to God’s plan, notice the words whose seed is in itself, both the tree and the fruit. Twice, God uses this phrase, whose seed is in itself. From all the trees in the garden, there are only two trees named. One was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the other was the tree of life, which would give man eternal life. The tree of good and evil, according to Genesis 1:11, had its root, its trunk, its branches, its leaves, and its fruit, and in the tree itself there was a seed. And in the fruit there was a seed after its own kind. This was the seed of the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit of this tree was different from all the other fruit, and IN the fruit was the Law of sin and death. The tree itself was the transmitter of sin and death. For when they (Adam and Eve) took the fruit and partook of the fruit, their eyes were opened and they suffered spiritual death because at that point they partook of the seed of sin and death. Through the disobedience of one man (Adam) sin came into the world, through the seed of evil within the fruit. When Adam brought sin into the world then sin brought death into the world. 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) At this point the entire world changed. Sin and death blanketed everything in the world. Animals would now die because of Adam. Trees would die because of Adam. The grass would wither away because of Adam. The whole world was cursed by sin and death.

   We also have (in the garden) the tree of life. It also has a seed within itself. And this seed was forbidden to fallen man because fallen man suffered a death that he could not recover from. What Adam did, he could not undo. He was beyond the mercies of God. It would take another man from heaven to restore mankind to God, and IN Him was life, and this life was the Light of man, and that life has the seed within Himself. This is why we see the tree of life again in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Chapter 2, verse 7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Notice the particular point that the Spirit saith unto the churches. It is to the Overcomer, who will partake of the fruit of the tree of life. It is the Overcomer in Christ Jesus who will be partaker of His life, the life of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

   Notice, that the garden or paradise of God is returned in the first letter to the churches in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, bringing forth Christ as the firstfruits of God. This tree of life was found in the church of Ephesus. The meaning of Ephesus is ‘full purpose.’ What began in the garden reached its full purpose in Christ. In the tree of life we see the full purpose of God transforming a people through the redemptive world of God’s dear Son who has the divine Seed within Himself, and therefore, through the divine work of God we have become part of His divine nature. As Adam’s sin brought destruction and death, Christ’s life brings redemption and glory to His new creatures, His supernatural creatures, not born of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or the will of man, but of God.

   To the Overcomer in Ephesus, he will be given the right to partake of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God. In the seven letters to the churches, the Overcomer is the one who denies the world, and walks by faith in Jesus Christ. Who were the overcomers? And who are the overcomers? The Overcomer was Abel, the Overcomer was Noah, the Overcomer was Abraham, the Overcomer was Moses, the Overcomer was David, the Overcomer was and are the spirits of just men made perfect.

To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23)

God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:40)

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The Progression of Evil

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   The Pharisees climbed into their cave of darkness and unbelief, and I am sure that the Lord was very grieved by them. In verse 37 of John Chapter 8, the Lord Jesus proclaimed that His word had no place in them. In verse 43, they could not hear His word. I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. (John 8:37) Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. (John 8:43)

   Over the course of time, the Jews had denied truth after truth until the word of God could not be found in them. This is the current world that we live in today, and if the word is not IN a man, then when God speaks man does not hear the word of God. This is the difference between preaching religious doctrines of men, and preaching the Living Word of God. The Jews were not the only ones who traveled this path. For the Church, the visible Church, has traveled the same pathway that the Jews traveled.

   The seven letters to the churches were ministered by the Lord Himself through His angelic host, are very powerful. The path that the Lord took in giving these letters was His personal communication, His Word to the seven churches. It must have grieved Him very much to write these letters exposing the waywardness of the professing Church. Much like the Jews, one of the first things that the Church desired was to have a king, or a man, to rule over them, they accomplished this by leaving their first love, the Lord Jesus Christ. Even today, the professing Church has not His Word abiding in them. They refuse to hear the very words of God. The Lord Jesus sent these letters by His angelic hosts so that man COULD not and WOULD not pervert His words. God’s angelic hosts have always been active through the scriptures in the Word of God.

For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; (Hebrews 2:2)

And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. (Deuteronomy 33:2)

The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. (Psalm 68:17)

Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. (Acts 7:53)

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)

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The Works of Abraham

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   Although the Jews did not trace their history back to Adam in John Chapter 8, they were still children of Adam and his descendants. They centered only on Abraham because of their national identity, and that God had declared that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Because the Lord spoke of the works of Abraham, we need to see more in these works in relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Again we quote from John 8:39, They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. At this point of contention with the Jews, His hour was getting closer and closer. As the Jewish hatred escalated against the Son of God, their position as children of the devil became more obvious.

   One of the most profound works of Abraham is recorded in Genesis Chapter 22. It is the offering of Isaac, Abraham’s only son. In relationship to this work God chose the land of Moriah, He chose the mount, and the exact place that Abraham would build THE altar for the sacrifice of his son. God provided the elements in the wood, in the fire, in the knife, and in Abraham’s son, Isaac. At the very point of the knife being raised in the air, the Angel of God spoke to Abraham.

And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. (Genesis 22:11) And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (Genesis 22:12)

    Behind Abraham (in a thicket)  was a ram caught by his horns. The thorns and thistles of a cursed world had bound the sacrifice. The altar was built on the EXACT spot, the wood was laid out in the EXACT spot, the ram caught with a crown of thorns was sacrificed in the EXACT spot where the Lord Jesus would go to the cross and give Himself for the sin of the world on the EXACT spot that Abraham was to offer his only son, and therefore, God the Father (through the future sacrifice of His only Son) allowed Abraham to keep his only son. It was Abraham’s obedience to God in THIS great work of faith that God the Holy Spirit documented for all ages to witness Abraham’s act and in Genesis 22:16 – 18 God greatly blessed Abraham.

And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: (Genesis 22:16)

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (Genesis 22:17)

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (Genesis 22:18)

    It was because of THIS work of Abraham that his descendants would receive a land and blessings from the Lord; however, the Jews in the day of the Lord Jesus never mentioned this work of Abraham, and what it meant to the Jewish people. But the Lord knew.

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The Determinate Place and Time Set by God

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   We are not finished with the place of sacrifice. For Calvary became the EXACT spot that the Lord Jesus would be crucified. In Isaiah 53, the Lord Jesus is considered a root out of a dry ground. Golgotha, the place of a skull, symbolizes that dry ground, and the depravity of the Jews and all of mankind. In God’s determinate counsel, in the days of Abraham, God marked the place of death for His only begotten Son. God would provide Himself a sacrifice. In 1^st Samuel, Chapter 17, verse 54, And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. When David defeated the giant of Gath, he took the head of Goliath to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was given as a general location, but there is no doubt where Goliath’s head would be buried . . . in the EXACT spot where Abraham had built his altar . . . in the EXACT spot where Abraham laid the wood for the sacrifice, and in the EXACT spot where he BOUND Isaac to the wood. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. (Genesis 22:9) This was not the accepted manner of sacrifice, because in most cases the animal for sacrifice was slain BEFORE it was placed on the altar. However, with Isaac, this is a window of prophecy that the Lord Jesus would be bound to the cross. When David reached Jerusalem (as the Lord had directed Abraham) the Lord directed David to the EXACT spot of Abraham’s altar, and it was there where David buried the head of Goliath, and this place became known as the place of a skull.

And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, (Matthew 27:33)

And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: (John 19:17)

   This place was also designated as the mountain of the Lord. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. (Genesis 22:14) Abraham called this place Jehovahjireh, which by interpretation we see, that the Lord will provide. The EXACT land, the land of Moriah, the EXACT mount, the EXACT place of the altar, the EXACT provision, the Lord will provide Himself a sacrifice. On this EXACT mountain of the Lord, David dug a hole, and placed Goliath’s skull (who is a symbol of Satan himself) for Goliath’s character was of a man who believed he could not be defeated,  not by all the armies of Israel, and yet, a shepherd king slew the giant with the giant’s own sword, and removed the giant’s head, and took his skull to the mountain of the Lord and buried it deep where one day in this EXACT spot the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ would come thundering down upon the head of the serpent to destroy sin and death and the works of the devil on the EXACT spot that God showed Abraham, on the EXACT spot where David buried the head of Goliath on Golgotha, the place of a skull. Is it any wonder that in most societies and cultures the skull has been used as a symbol of evil and death throughout man’s history? God’s determinate counsels cannot be moved! Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (Acts 2:23)

   We understand very little of the determinate counsels and foreknowledge of God, in 1 Samuel 17:54, And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.　David TOOK the head of the giant, using the giant’s own sword, defeating the giant with the very weapon that the giant boasted in, upon this, the Spirit of God moved David’s heart to Jerusalem with the head of the giant to be buried at the EXACT spot that the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ would be raised to fulfill God’s determinate counsels and to reveal to us the foreknowledge of God.

   As we see many times in the gospel of John that in the determinate counsels of God even the hour of the Lord’s death was determined. This determinate hour is repeated many times in the gospel of John.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. (John 2:4)

And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. (John 12:23)

Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. (John 12:27)

Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. (John 13:1)

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:  (John 17:1)

Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. (John 7:30)

These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come. (John 8:20)

Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. (John 13:1)

And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. (Matthew 26:18)

Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. (John 7:6)

Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. (John 7:8)

   Just as David listened to the blasphemy of the giant against the armies of Israel, and against David’s God, so also, the Lord Jesus listened to the testimony of the children of the devil in the Pharisees, in the rulers of the Jews, and of the people. The determinate counsels of God are proven throughout scripture. From one of the mountains of Moriah to the EXACT spot that the Lord Jesus took the weapons of Satan, and destroyed the works of the devil on the cross of Golgotha, the place of A skull. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14) 

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. (Genesis 22:13) And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. (Genesis 22:14)

   In these two verses we not only see the immediate provisions of the Lord in the ram, but we also see the symbolism, and also, God gives us a time period when the alternate sacrifice will be seen in the same mountain. In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. Can you see the EXACT mount of the Lord . . . Golgotha, the place of a skull? The only begotten Son of God on the cross, a very unlikely sword to defeat such a mighty enemy of God, however, taking the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, He defeated IN Himself, being the Living Word of God, all the works of the devil. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Ephesians 6:17) And just to add to the power of the Word of God in Hebrews 1:3, we have the Lord upholding all things by the word of His power. In Hebrews 4:12, we have His word dividing the very soul and spirit of humanity by the power of His word. In Revelation 19:13-15, we have Him destroying the evil nations of the world, and He is called, and is, the Word of God.

   When the cross of God was raised . . . it was the cross of Rome. This was not a cross of justice, for God would not let Rome forget this moment in time. Just as the Jews, when they cried out, His blood be on us, and on our children. (Matthew 27:25) (Their cries were fulfilled from that moment in time forward.) So also Rome has been carrying the guilt in their outward display of their cruel injustice to the Son of God.

Side Note: The cross on a chain: The very cross and the figure of the Lord still being crucified as an idol of the apostate religion of Rome, and consequently, Rome carries this idol as a proof of their own wickedness all over the world to symbolize their own cruelty and the heart of Rome that still exists. They cannot take Him down from the cross because they continue to crucify Him afresh every day in their symbolism and idolatry, and in their prayers and doctrines. They show their hatred for God and His dear Son when they carry their idols upon their chests of the Son of God nailed to the cross. As long as the Son of God remains on their cross they cannot believe in their hearts in the resurrection from the dead. As long as they continue to keep Him there, they deny the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this outward display of Christ chained on a cross by a chain, they share the same beliefs of the Jews for they also believe that He did not rise from the dead. The seed of the devil refuses to believe that the Son of God has risen, and that in the fullness of the Godhead He is at the right hand of the majesty on high. They continue to show their unbelief by their multifarious doctrines in worshiping Mary (who they claim as the mother of God) is the highest point of blasphemy on the earth today.

   Christ was caught in the thicket of sin and death. He faced the giant alone, wearing only a crown of thorns, a symbol not of His kingdom, but a symbol of the curse of sin and death. Only God would symbolize the curse that fell upon all of creation in this way to not only deliver mankind, but to deliver the creatures and creation itself. In the crown of thorns we see the weaving of the counsels of God, and the ram caught in the thicket by the curse that was upon the world. In the very fabric of Abraham’s faith from his call out of Ur of Chaldees to his final resting place in heaven above, ALL were in the footsteps of God’s determinate counsels and the foreknowledge of God. And to remind us of the works of Abraham, and the blessings of Abraham, and the promises to Abraham, God repeats many times throughout the scriptures that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.

Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (Luke 20:37)

For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. (Luke 20:38)

Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. (Exodus 3:6)

But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, (Matthew 22:31) I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. (Matthew 22:32)

And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? (Mark 12:26) He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. (Mark 12:27)

   After investigating Abraham’s faith, and the faith of David as they fulfilled the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, we should conclude that faith is the footprint that guides us through the determinate counsels of God. We are moved and directed by faith in the foreknowledge of God. This is truly difficult for Adam to believe, and yet, the scriptures are full of the very determinate counsels of God and the display of God’s foreknowledge. The Lord Jesus Himself proved His own foreknowledge and the fulfillment of Himself in the determinate counsels of God in the book of Acts 2:23, Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: It is by the determinate faith of Abraham that he acquired the righteousness of God and through that faith he was delivered of God into God’s righteousness.

For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3)

Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. (Romans 4:3)

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:4)

Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, (Romans 4:6)

Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. (Romans 4:7)

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. (Romans 4:8)

Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. (Romans 4:9)

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The Results of the Works of Abraham

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   When the Lord referred to the works of Abraham in Jehovah in the gospel of John, Chapter 8, He was not referring to Abraham’s salvation. He was referring to the outpouring of Abraham’s faith as a result of an inward possession of righteousness that had been imputed to Abraham because he BELIEVED God and thereby became a recipient of salvation through Jesus Christ. Abraham was a possessor of God’s grace, and by this we understand that without faith it is impossible to please God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

   The inward possession of grace through faith brings forth the outpouring of faith and works because of faith. The works of faith are initiated by the will of God and His desire that ALL His children live according to the faith that they have professed.

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (James 2:17)

Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (James 2:18)

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19)

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:20)

Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? (James 2:21)

Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? (James 2:22)

And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. (James 2:23)

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. (James 2:24)

   When the Lord Jesus referred to the works of Abraham he was speaking about Abraham’s total walk of faith because in his lifetime his faith carried him through many trials and conflicts; however, his eyes were on the promises of God, and he believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. In the word of the Lord in John Chapter 8:39 and 40, we read, They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. (8:39) But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. (8:40) In Abraham’s faith we should understand that his works were an outpouring of his faith, his works did not determine his faith, his faith determined his works. The Jews did not comprehend this, nor did they desire to understand Abraham’s works in faith. I remind you again that the Lord was speaking to the Jews, He was reading their hearts for He knew the hearts of all men. In the very statement by the Lord concerning Abraham, He was exposing their absence of faith — that they were without faith. They claimed to be of Abraham’s seed, and yet, they did not the works of Abraham because they had no faith. These were cruel sadistic Jews, they had accused the Lord of being born in fornication, they were calling the Lord Jesus Christ a bastard child revealing the wickedness and evil within their own hearts. And truly, the Lord responded to this by telling them the truth of their own fatherhood, that they were children of the devil. When the Lord Jesus was manifested among mankind He had a heart, He was Spirit, He had a soul, and He had feelings that were of a heavenly Man. Did not these words that the Jews railed upon Him, trouble Him within? This was the same Man from heaven who wept over Jerusalem, who wept at the grave of Lazarus, who wept in the garden over the sin of man. When the Lord Jesus responded to the Jews that they were children of the devil, they refused to accept this divine truth, and so also today, men from all walks of life, religious and political backgrounds refuse to accept the fact that they are children of the devil; these are people of a great darkness. Through the gospel of John we continually have the contrast between light in the Son of God, and darkness in the Jews.

   In the Son of God we have the holy seed, in conflict with the children or seed of the devil. We also have the battle of good against evil, of truth and grace against the doctrines of the devil. All of this is laid out in just a few verses in John Chapter 8. Notice how the Holy Spirit builds the battlefield with these Jews. Every time they establish their false standing, the Lord Jesus pulls the rug out from under them, leaving them nothing to stand on. They declared that they were of the seed of Abraham, and the Lord then stated that they were children of the devil.

   In verse 44, the Lord addressed their hatred and their murderous hearts.  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. Verse 44 is the result of the Lord Jesus Christ establishing His origin, the origin of the Son of God come from above in verse 42. The Jews claimed that their father was God in verse 41, which was a lie. Therefore, the Lord Jesus clarified His origin, and then rebuked them in their lie, and told them of their own origin that their father was the devil. This is very interesting, but they apparently had not remembered their own national history. It was as if their rebellious waywardness in the Old Testament did not exist. Their captivity in Babylon did not teach them one thing. They still carried with them their apostate teaching that led them into captivity in the first place, and now into their captivity under Rome law.

   Notice in the 8^th Chapter that the Jews referred to Moses, and the prophets, then to Abraham; yet they did not believe the writings of Moses, nor the works of Abraham, and neither did they walk in the writings of the prophets. They were trying to appear righteous by appropriating the names of Moses and Abraham. There was no justification in their claims. They were liars, and belonged to the father of lies. Their words were nothing but perverted opinion. They did not go to the scriptures to use the very words of God; if their arguments were valid, they would have gone to their own scriptures to verify and prove what they were saying. It is amazing how mankind (when speaking about the scriptures) generalizes every word by his evil thoughts and his opinions. If the Jews had believed the writings of Moses, there would be no Roman government standing over them. If they had believed the prophets, there would have been no Babylonian captivity. If they truly had been children of Abraham, they would have understood Abraham’s faith, and that he walked in his faith.

   Abraham’s faith in God was his light through the darkness of this world. When Abraham was called when God appeared to him in Ur of Chaldees (Acts 7), Abraham was surrounded by darkness and the children of the devil. But he believed God, and consequently, God led him to a land that Abraham knew not of to a complete change of surroundings and people. He would be in a land that God had promised him, and yet, he would never possess that land, but his faith in God did not waver for he rejoiced because in the distance as time would show, Abraham had faith in the fullness of time that would come. Abraham rejoiced to see the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. By faith he saw the promises of God from afar. He believed God that God would bring to pass every promise that He made to His servant Abraham.

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. (Hebrews 11:8)

By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: (Hebrews 11:9)

For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:10)

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13)

For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. (Hebrews 11:14)And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.(Hebrews 11:15)

But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)

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Hypocrisy Then – Hypocrisy Now

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   To the children of God today, we are in a world of evil. The professing Church is a Church of unbelievers who proudly, yet falsely, call themselves Christians, nevertheless, they are of their father the devil. In many ways they are one verse professors, and that is as far as they can go in their belief. They may be able to inform others of all their meeting schedules, and state the attendance count of their great hall (as if those things being interpreted bring the favor of God upon them), they also may speak of the great treasures that they give to God, as if God needs their treasures.

   The One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills cannot condone their begging Sunday after Sunday in His name. It is amazing that those who proclaim that they know the will of God have to rely on man to fulfill it. They speak of a kingdom or the works of Abraham that they know not of. They speak of a king that they have no relationship with. In truth, the works of men today in the professing masquerading Church do not fit the parameters of the will of God. There is no place within this pretentious place for an all knowing, all seeing, all powerful, all presiding and ever present God. Does not this fit the Laodicean Church, a world wide religion of hypocrisy? This Laodicean Church does not understand (as the Jews did not understand) that ‘faith’ and ‘want’ are opposites. ‘Trust’ and ‘will’ cannot agree. ‘Light’ and ‘darkness’ is two different realms. The Jews were filling the realm of darkness, they were following the devil’s will, and it was the want and desire of the flesh that determined and fulfilled their desires. In verse 43, the Lord unveils their deafness to the word of God. God was speaking to them, and they would not hear. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

   The Lord led me to preach for a time in upper New York state. Every Sunday the same person would tell me that they enjoined the message. Finally, after a few weeks of this, I said, Give me three points of the message. They could not. I said, Are you deaf to the word of God? and left it at that. You sit Sunday after Sunday, you think that every preacher is blind, when a real man of God can read your eyes, your face, your movement and squirming in your seats, he knows your wandering thoughts, oh . . . you did not know this? Well, now you do. This was the same attitude of the Jews. They were before an omniscient God who knew the hearts and thoughts of all, and these Jews were the biggest liars, as we see in verse 44, 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. Yet, these liars claimed God as their father. We have one Father, even God. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. (John 8:41) Now when a multitude, even a nation, claims God as their benefactor, and yet do not the works of Abraham, whether they are Jew or Gentile, is this claim viable? No, it is not. It is the very root of hypocrisy. A nation that murders their own children before they are born cannot claim any relationship with God. Whether they stamp it in their coins, or print in on their money, they deny the Word of God. They are living in a great hypocrisy of man’s delusion and imaginations because they are of their father the devil, and they are living in the same condition as those in Genesis Chapter 6. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)

   The word ‘hypocrisy’ not only applies to national politics, but it also applies to the hypocrisy of the religion of mankind. When a man uses his own doctrines and not the word of God, he violates one of the most strategic communications from the Almighty God. The word of God proves that many are called, but few are chosen. The word of God proves that there are more tares then wheat. The word of God proves that the masses say, Lord, Lord, will have to depart because they are children of iniquity and not children of God. The Lord will say, Depart, for I never knew you.

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) Many will say to me in that day, 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) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23)

   Salvation is not a co-op. It is the individual who is corrupt. God has chosen me, and I have chosen God. There is no group that can enter into this decision. It is MY individual decree that I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why Paul, through the Spirit of God, warned the church at Corinth, for every man should examine himself whether he is in Christ or not. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2^nd Corinthians 13:5) Each and every person must have a personal faith, there is no such thing as a saving collective faith, and every person must give an account of themselves before the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of heaven and earth. A person’s faith cannot be associated with error, there is no room for the excuse that because they did it, then I did it. It is better to stand alone in ones individual faith, then to stand with the masses who are in error. The relationship of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is a thread or link to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This can make you compatible with others of like faith. However, it also separates you from the children of the devil. The collective meetings of error are sanctuaries of Baal, and the Lord demands ALL His children to leave the idolatry of the apostate. (Also consider 2^nd Kings 10:8-28)

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2^nd Corinthians 6:16)

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, (2^nd Corinthians 6:17)

And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (2^nd Corinthians 6:18)

    It is individually that we have an advocate between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus. He is the advocate of the individual walking by faith. Belief is not a visible Church. Belief is within the heart, soul, and spirit of the individual. The illusion that throngs attending church every Sunday are a spiritual habitation of God is false. There is no building, nor sanctuary, neither temple that God claims as His residence on earth today.

    The Jews in Chapter 8 became progressively angry and probably tormented for they were children of the devil, and could not bare the light. In the world we have a physical sensitivity that is called photophobia where one cannot stand to be in the presence of light. They become irritated, and fearful of light. They hide themselves in darkness. In the spiritual realm we have the Jews hiding themselves from the light of God. They become irritable, and hateful of the light because they LOVE darkness and not the light of God in Jesus Christ.

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The Divine Deity Speaks

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   After verse 44 in Chapter 8, the Lord Jesus expands the truth of their condition. In verse 45 it is the truth that upsets the Pharisees. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Here we have Truth as the center point, and it is the truth that they will not believe. Although Christ was not and is not accepted by so called biblical authorities for being a Bible scholar, or an expert in Greek, or a renown Rabbi or an accomplished priest: consider that this is the Son of God speaking. The Divine One who possesses and inhabits ALL truth. These are divine words, and not the words of men. These words might be printed on a page in your Bible, but they were spoken by the Living Word of God. And this truth — men deny today. Self acclaimed biblical authorities spend hours, months, and years to discredit the word of the Lord Jesus Christ in their unbelief. The Pharisees and the unbelieving Jews are still with us today. They have just changed their clothes, their habits, and their arguments against the word of God. In verse 46,Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?  The Lord lays their condition before them that their hearts were so wicked that they could say anything to discredit or to nullify the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. The sinners of the Jews could not see their own wickedness and sin, however, they wanted to attribute sin to the spotless Son of God in whom there was no sin. Isn’t this the same argument today? Many write books, create television programs, preach in the pulpit, teach in the seminaries, and fill the religions of man with the fallacy that the Son of God was a mere man, and therefore, subject to sin. The Lord would say to these today, Which one of you would convince me of sin? (They were attempting to change the Lord’s thoughts of what was sin.)

Side Note: The Sinless Divine Nature of the Son of God.

He was without sin.

— For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

He did no sin.

— Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: (1^st Peter 2:22)He knew no sin. —

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2^nd Corinthians 5:21)IN Him is no sin.

— And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. (1^st John 3:5)

He is pure

– (1^st John 3:3)

Let us go beyond the pale of the sin of this world. In the gospel of John, Chapter 14, verse 30, we have a divine statement by the Living Word of God, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is what He said: Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. (1^st John 3:3 . . . even as he is pure.)

   In Chapter 8 of John, the Jews accused the Lord Jesus of being a Samaritan, which was untrue. They also accused Him of having a devil. The children of Satan often use this tactic against the truth, and against the children of God. The Jews declared this of the Lord Jesus that He had a devil, which John 14:30 refutes. For the Lord Jesus Christ had nothing of Adam IN Him to respond to the wishes, will and whims of the devil. For the Lord Jesus was from above, and being very God, He was above all. He was totally separated from the world by His own holiness. Although the Shekinah glory was veiled in His manifestation, it was quite radiant within Him, and this was outwardly revealed on what is called, the mount of transfiguration. But, it really was the mount of His glory. All these verses refute the arguments of the Jews, the children of the devil, the murderers, and the liars. In all their actions they proved that they were children of the seed of the serpent.

   We need to understand that the Lord Jesus was speaking the words that contained Spirit and life. Yet, the Jews would not believe IN Him. The Lord Jesus declared to them, and we declare it to you this day, that He, who is of God, HEARETH God’s word. He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. (John 8:47) I would like you to understand that the Lord Jesus was not speaking of the written word that Moses penned, or the prophets, He was looking the Pharisees in the face (eye to eye) and He was telling them that out of HIS mouth proceeded the words of God because He was/is God. He was not referring to the scriptures, but to the very word of God that He spoke to them. They could not hear His words because they were not OF God, and this is the same today, throughout the world of religion, and of the world of politics.

   We must understand that when the Lord Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees that they encompassed both the religious and political realm of the Jews. In verse 47, we also have the authority of the word of God from God Himself in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.　We also have the division of His children, and the children of the devil. We also see that He exhibited the power of His very word that within the word of God, the words of His breath (there is the power to forgive, and also the power to condemn). For He upholds all things by the word of His power, both the natural world and the spiritual world. As the Jews could not hear His words, it was because they were not of God. At this point in John Chapter 8, the pot of man’s enmity was boiling, and steam was rising, the Jews retaliated against the Son of God by calling Him a Samaritan and possessed of the devil. The Jews hated the Samaritans, the parable of the good Samaritan was a thorn in their sides for it exposed the priests, the Levites, the Pharisees, and the rulers of the Jews. That one Samaritan had more compassion then all their religious establishments. I think that this is a good place to examine both world charities, and religious charities. Have you ever noticed that to donate to a charity, you need no qualifications, only money? However, to receive benefits from most charities you must meet their criteria. Many charities are only charitable to a select few, as most charitable foundations only benefit the organizers and their children. (When only 10% or less of all donations are spent on actual charity issues . . . would you not call this a sham charity?) These charity organizers have adorned themselves with the cloak of the Pharisees and of the Levites. In the parable of the good Samaritan, the man who had been victimized by robbers had no qualifications, the Samaritan did not care whether the victim was Jew, Gentile, or Samaritan. His compassion was from the heart, and therefore, the Lord recognized that spirit of compassion which the Jews did not have. As the parable of the vineyard, the Jews understood His message involving the good Samaritan. The Lord exposed them and their wicked hearts, and showed them the compassion of one whom they hated. In John Chapter 8, you could surround the Person of Christ as a compassionate God amongst man. He showed this at the beginning of the Chapter with the woman taken in adultery. The Judge of all the earth simply told the woman, Go thy way, and sin no more. The Jews knew nothing about this divine compassion. Beneath their robes (hidden behind the façade of their religion) were their evil hearts.

   Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?(John 8:48) This verse also shows their ungodly and racial temperament. They were having a temper tantrum against the truth. They were making statements that had no foundation of truth. Their statements were being controlled by their inner hatred for the Son of God. The Lord Jesus spoke words of truth again to them that He honored His Father, and they knew He was speaking of God His Father.

Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.  (John 8:49) And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. (John 8:50) Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. (John 8:51) In these three verses, the Lord establishes His own honor because He honored the Father. The Jews did not see this; therefore, He in turn, reversed their statement on their own heads, that it was they who were possessed of the devil. For the Lord Jesus was honoring God His Father. Their comments in verse 48 erases any belief that they would have in God the Father, or in God the Son. In His revelation to them, He was giving them proof of His divine sonship. In His position of Son, He was not seeking His own glory, but the glory of God the Father.

  In verse 51, once again, it is important to see that these were the actual words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. (John 8:51) This was a direct revelation that God was giving to these Pharisees. And the words, once again, were Spirit and life. This enraged the Jews further because they did not believe in an active heaven full of just men made perfect by the Living Word of God.

To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23)

And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. (Deuteronomy 33:2)

   These Jews of Chapter 8 could not believe in a spiritual world greater than their own world. Even today, mankind cannot believe in a spiritual world that is greater than their own temporal world. Their eyes are fixed on the tangible, and they have no spiritual sight to see the unseen of faith. The eyes of faith behold greater things then our tangible world. The eyes of faith travel through the mist of the unseen world in which God through His word reveals a present spiritual life, a future spiritual life, and an eternal spiritual life, so that those of us who believe today, will NEVER see death. We will walk THROUGH the valley of the shadow of death with the good Shepherd of eternal life. The Jews stated that Abraham and the prophets were dead, and rejected the very words of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, the Jews could not seal their argument with the word of God.

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The I AM

Greater Than Abraham

EQUAL WITH GOD

——♦ ——

  They opened the divine treasure of heaven when they questioned the Lord on whether He was greater than Abraham.

Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. (John 8:52)

Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?  (John 8:53)

Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:  (John 8:54)

   Scripturally, the Jews denied eternal life. They could not see life beyond the grave. When the Lord spoke to Moses out of the burning bush in Exodus 3, God spoke in the present tense in verse 6, proclaimed that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob.

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. (Exodus 3:1)

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2)

And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. (Exodus 3:3)

And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. (Exodus 3:4)

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. (Exodus 3:5)

Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. (Exodus 3:6)

   In Matthew’s gospel the Lord Jesus confirmed that God IS not the God of the dead, but of the living. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. (Matthew 22:32) This confirmed that in heaven above today we will find the souls of just men made perfect in Jesus Christ, and that Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob are among the living and not the dead. The Lord told the Sadducees that they did err not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. In John Chapter 8, we see unbelief in the Pharisees as well as in the Sadducees. Notice in verse 53 of Chapter 8 the question at the end of the verse, whom makest thou thyself? They had no idea that the One who was standing before them was the power of the resurrection of life. The words of the Lord Jesus in John Chapter 11:26, And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? These words stand out against the unbelief of the Jews. Both the Sadducees and the Pharisees had an unclear vision of eternity, for that matter, listening to them one would think that they didn’t believe in a divine after life or even heaven itself.

   They continued to ask the Lord Jesus in various ways, who He was. Yet, in John 5:18, they rebuked Him for making Himself equal with God. And now in John Chapter 8, they were still denying the Son of God. In verse 54, the Lord once again explained Himself, and once again proclaimed His equality with God. Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: (John 8:54) In honoring the Father and the Father honoring Him, Christ showed an equality WITH the Father. In verse 55, the Lord qualifies the Jews for being liars. Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. The Lord Jesus fully separated Himself from the Jews. He fully separated Himself from the Pharisees, He fully separated Himself from the devil by declaring (without a doubt) His unity with the Father.

  Throughout the entire world today, the religions of man are all controlled by the children of the devil. They receive their instructions from the devil, and they gladly serve the devil. They willfully remain ignorant of the truth. They tailor their biblical knowledge to suit their own religion; then there are religions that have no biblical knowledge whatsoever, as Christ is in Oneness with His Father, and is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, these multifarious religions are united with their father, the devil. We need to remember that at the beginning of the revelation of God to mankind that Adam HEARD the words of God, and did not obey. That Cain HEARD the very words of God, and did not obey. Why? They were both children of the devil, and they belonged totally to Satan. Sin had changed Adam into a beast of the field, and Cain had been taught of his father; thus, Cain also believed the lie of the devil that ye shall be as gods.

   The Jews in Chapter 8 of the gospel of John had become so blind to the truth that they were changing their own beliefs daily. They justified their own hatred against the Son of God showing that the Lord Jesus was divinely correct when He proclaimed that they were children of the devil. What we have seen so far in the gospel of John Chapter 8 is the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman in conflict pitted against each other in a battle to the death.

   Christ being the divine Seed of promise is the Victor promised, is the fulfillment of the promises of God to Abraham.

♦

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.  (Galatians 3:16)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. (1^st John 5:4)

For all the promises of God in him [are] yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.  (2^nd Corinthians 1:20)

Amen.

© Copyright 2020, Michael Haigh

This article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.

All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)