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Life for Life, Name, Belts & Weapons,
Death Walk and the Eternal Covenant
Fred R. Coulter—November 18, 2000
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EXCHANGING OF GARMENTS
Spiritually speaking we will see that these things apply to us.
1-Samuel 18:1: "And it came to pass when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was joined with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as he did his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him go home to his father's house any more. And Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul" (vs 1-3).
This is an example of how we are to love each other. The Church is called The Tabernacle of David, so we can get a good lesson out of this. Here's what he did:
Verse 4: "And Jonathan stripped off the robe that was upon him and gave it to David, and his apparel, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle."
- Why did they do that?
- What is the significance of that?
They exchanged it!
The exchanging of clothes means the exchanging of life! Has there been spiritually an exchanging of life? We can go back to Israel and see that there was an exchange of life.
In the first Passover, what did they do? They sacrificed the Passover lamb and that was an exchange for the life of the firstborn! Life for life!
When we come to the New Testament there is an exchange of life, Christ's life—which is Holy and righteous—for our life! Also, there is an exchange of garments. Let's look at our garments.
Isaiah 65:1: "'I revealed Myself to those who asked not for Me… [a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles] …I am found by those who did not seek Me. I said, "Behold Me, behold Me," to a nation not called by My name…. [the Gentiles] …I have spread out My hands all the day to a rebellious people who walk in the way that is not good, even after their own thoughts; a people who without ceasing provoke Me to My face; who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense upon the bricks; a people who sit among the graves, and spend the night in the tombs, who eat swine's flesh, and broth of vile things in their vessels; who say, "Keep to yourself, do not come near me; for I am holier than you." These are a smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. Behold, it is written before Me; I will not be silent, except I will repay; yea, I will repay into their bosom; your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together,' says the LORD, 'they that burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed Me upon the hills. And I will measure their former work into their bosom'" (vs 1-7). Those are pretty awful clothes!
Isaiah 64:6: "But we are all as the unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And we all fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls upon Your name, who stirs up himself to take hold of You, for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us away because of our iniquities" (vs 6-7).
Those are the garments that we have when God calls us. The way it is put in the New Testament:
Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
Here is how Christ is exchanging the garments; Romans 5:8: "But God commends His own love to us because, when we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more, therefore, having been justified now by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him" (vs 8-9).
That's how He does it, through the blood of Christ. Let's see how that is true.
Revelation 7:14[transcriber's correction]—this applies to all of us: "Then I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' And he said to me, 'They are the ones who have come out of the Great Tribulation; and they have washed their robes, and have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.'"
Revelation 19:7: "'Let us be glad and shout with joy; and let us give glory to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.' And it was granted to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, pure and bright; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints" (vs 7-8).
Exchange of garments! We have to make sure that once there is the exchange of garments—Christ's righteousness for our righteousness; Christ's clothing for our filthy rags—and make sure that we keep them that way.
Revelation 3:4: "You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white because they are worthy."
This tells us that since there are only a few names in Sardis that have not defiled their garments. There are many who did. Let's see that there are some who take them off altogether. They are the Laodiceans; what does God say to them?
Verse 17: "For you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'; and you do not understand that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified by fire so that you may be rich; and white garments so that you may be clothed, and the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and to anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see" (vs 17-18).
That's quite a thing and the exchange of garments means exchange of life! This is a complete exchange of life.
2-Corinthians 5:21: "For He made Him Who knew no sin to be sin for us…"
- He becomes the sin offering
- His death tales away the penalty of the second death for us
Exchange of life "…so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (v 21).
So great is this exchange that God actually imputes the righteousness of Christ to you. This becomes a very hard thing for some people to understand. Some misunderstand it and say that 'if God imputes me the righteousness of Christ, then it doesn't matter what I do. I can go sin and do anything because I'm counted righteous before God.' NO! That is licentious grace! A false grace! Not true!
The imputation of the righteousness of Christ to you is to inspire you that God loves you so much that He views you as you will be when you are resurrected! He is going to cover your life with His grace so that you will be able to attain to the righteousness of Christ that He is imputing to you.
Romans 5:17: "For if by the offense of the one man death reigned… [Adam] …by the one, how much more shall those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life by the One Jesus Christ."
- yes, we are not to go sin, absolutely correct
- yes, we are not to take advantage of the grace of God, absolutely true
- yes, we have the law of sin and death in us, and we are going to sin, absolutely true
Upon repentance, God re-establishes us in His grace! That's how God deals with us. Therefore, let's learn something very, very important: If you forsake that, yes, you will go into the Lake of Fire!But if you do love God with all your heart, mind, soul and being, to have this gift of righteousness imputed to you, will inspire you to constantly desire:
- to obey God from your heart
- to love God from your heart
That's what God wants! He knows you're weak and have sin. He put the law of sin and death in you, it's no mystery to Him.
When ministers come along and threaten you every Sabbath with loss of salvation, that's not right either. That's why Christ died, so that you don't have to die. That's why He imputes the righteousness to you.
Here is the ultimate concerning the exchange of life, meaning the garments. Let's see how Christ did this.
Note sermon series:
- Prophecies of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament
- Covenants of God
Here is the whole goal in everything in exchanging life. We will see how God did it. When you read the Old Testament it talks about Elohim, meaning there were two: one Who became the Father and one Who became the Son. The One Who became the Son had to do this; let's see how this exchange took place and what it is to do for us.
Philippians 2:1: "Now then, if there be any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any deep inner affections and compassions, fulfill my joy that you be of the same mind, having the same love, being joined together in soul, minding the one thing" (vs 1-2).
What did Jesus say that we are to seek first? The Kingdom of God! That's what we are to be minding continuously.
Verse 3: "Let nothing be done through contention or vainglory…" I'm happy to see that we haven't seen any of that. Isn't it great when brethren can get together, love God and love each other. We won't have any great displays of vanity and all this carnal stupidity going on in the name of God.
"…but in humility, each esteeming the others above himself" (v 3). How do you do that? By saying that God called this person, God forgave this person and God gave the Holy Spirit to this person! Then all the little carnal things will fall by the wayside. Sometimes a few carnal things have to be mentioned. Here we're talking about the spiritual things.
Verse 4: "Let each one look not only after his own things, but let each one also consider the things of others. Let this mind be in you…" (vs 4-5)—which is the ultimate of the exchange!
- What is He saying here? Learn how to think as God thinks!
- How do you do that? With the Word of God!
Everything in the Bible is what God thought of, and had inspired to be written down!
"…which was also in Christ Jesus" (v 5). There's a greater lesson here, which will help inspire us that we're going to keep our garments white, washed in the blood of Christ.
- we are not going to defile them
- we are not going to take them off as the Laodiceans
- we are not going to come to the wedding as guest dressed in bib-overalls
That's not to put down bib-overalls. If you run a dairy and milk cows you'd better wear them. But you're not going come to a wedding with your manure, rubber boots and bib-overalls with sour milk stained all over it with all the flies buzzing around your straw hat.
Notice what Christ did, which was absolutely the greatest thing that God can do for us. The one of Elohim who became the Son and was impregnated in the womb of the virgin Mary had to become a small pinprick of life, about the size of the end of your ballpoint pen.
What have you been asked of God to do that is so humbling that you refuse to do it? Nothing! If Christ did this—and He did it—because the children of Israel said when they heard the Ten Commandments, 'Don't let God speak with us.' It's okay, I'm going to raise up a Prophet among your brethren like unto you, Moses!' It would be god manifested in the flesh; that's what He did.
Verse 6: "Who, although He existed in the form of God… [Greek means existing as God] …did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself…" (vs 6-7). I tell you what, the God Who:
- made and created all the universe, everything that there is
- created mankind and everything that he is
- made after the image of God for Him to humble Himself and become the size of the point of ballpoint pen to become a human being
That's the greatest humility that there possibly can be. He divested Himself!
"…and was made in the likeness of men, and took the form of a servant; and being found in the manner of man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (vs 7-8).
- Why did Christ do that?
- Could God have saved human beings some other way? I suppose He could have, I don't know!
- Why did God do that? Because the same judgment that He gave to human beings for sinning, because 'the wages of sin is death'
He took upon Himself in the exchange of His life so that His death would pay for yours! That's truly, truly awesome! Now you know why God hates religion! We're talking about eternal life!
Verse 9: "Therefore, God has also highly exalted Him and bestowed upon Him a name, which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of beings in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (vs 9-11).
They're all going to confess it whether they enter the Kingdom of God or they're burned in the Lake of Fire. The truth is that no human being on earth is going to escape the name of Jesus Christ. No human being on earth is going to escape their Creator, Redeemer and Savior! That's what the exchange of life means.
This gives us inspiration to go forward, v 12: "So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed…" That's why you're here; there are many not here because they no longer obey.
"…not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God Who works in you… [in this exchange of life] …both to will… [He gives you the desire] …and to do according to His good pleasure" (vs 12-13).
Not just keep His commandments, but keep them and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. The way that is done is that you love God the Father and Jesus Christ and each other. You live your life the way that God wants you to. God will be there with you through every trial, every difficulty, through everything. He promises in this exchange of life that He will 'never, never leave you nor forsake you.' That's how faithful Christ is!
The exchange of Garments means exchanging life for life! As we saw it was Christ's life for your life! Our life is buried in baptism with Christ and has to be a covenant death as well. This also means change of name.
All of us as human beings, because of our nature with 'the law of sin and death' and being sinful and all this sort of thing, the only salvation there is, is through Christ!
This is probably a repeat, but I want to cover it again, Romans 5:6: "For even when we were without strength, at the appointed time Christ died for the ungodly…. [then Paul makes a very important point]: …For rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, although perhaps someone might have the courage even to die for a good man" (vs 6-7). We can look down through history and see that that is true!
Verse 8: "But God commends His own love to us because, when we were still sinners, Christ died for us." So, His life is given in exchange for our lives!
He did so because He's the Creator. He gave into every one of us the human nature with 'the law of sin and death.' Therefore, only He can take that away. Only He can bring us the things that we need.
Let's see that in exchange of life for life, it is also an exchange so that we can change our human nature through the power of the Holy Spirit. God's work and action goes way beyond just dying for us as sinners. He gives something back for us in return.
2-Peter 1:1: Simon Peter a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained the same precious faith as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ."
This righteousness means to be put in right standing with God in heaven above! It's the righteousness that comes from the Father and from Christ. As we have covered in Rom. 5, this is a gift of righteousness! You can't earn this. This is in addition to the righteousness of keeping the commandments of God.
This is the righteousness whereby God looks upon us in the same way that He looks upon Christ. You talk about an exchange! That's a total exchange!
Verse 2: "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and virtue" (vs 2-3).
Notice what our calling really is. It's so easy to get stuck down in the mundane things that happen day-by-day and the problems of living and overcoming and facing our own human nature. As Paul says that he 'does things that he doesn't want to do.' We have to face that reality that we need to look upon the fact that He's called us to glory and virtue!. That's why you always need to focus on Christ.
Whenever a problem comes, handle the problem the best way you can. Don't get bogged down in the problem, and don't get so involved in the problem that you get your mind off of the fact that God has called us to glory and to virtue.
What happens in that is that in some ways, some people may view that as hypocrisy, but it's not. That's the way that God has give us to overcome human nature. That's why lots of times when we pray about these things, the first thing we're confronted with is a trial. That is going to give us the exercise to see where we have done wrong, and to give us the resolve to really repent and go forward and to claim these promises that we are given.
Verse 4: "Through which He has given to us the greatest and most precious promises, that through these you may become partakers of the Divine nature… [that is a complete exchange of life] …having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Then Peter gives the steps on how to overcome. {note sermon series: Epistles of 1st & 2nd Peter}
Let's understand that this has been done because we've been purchased with a price. Christ was purchased with 30 pieces of silver, which is the price of a dead slave. So, even in the flesh Christ did not exalt Himself.
1-Corinthians 6:19: "WHAT! Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit…" I believe the difference in Holy Ghost (KJV) and Holy Spirit in translations that it was the opinion of the committees that had certain books in formulating the King James Bible that those who believed that 'penuma'—meaning spirit meant ghost, and they didn't look upon it as we do today as an evil thing. But it should be Holy Spirit! The same way with love ('agape') in 1-Cor. 13 being translated as charity. Everywhere else it is translated love and even William Tyndale translated it love. It was that committee that had charge of 1-Cor. that decided to change it to charity, which is a Latin word and I'm sure that there were those on the committee that preferred the Latin over the Greek, even though it was translated from the Greek.
"…a temple of the Holy Spirit which you have within you from God, and you are not your own?…. [your life has been exchanged] …For you were bought with a price…." (vs 19-20).
You were bought with a greater price than Christ was bought with; He was bought for 30 pieces of silver, which is the price of a dead slave, who would have been accidentally killed in doing work or whatever. You were bought with the price of the death of God Who came in the flesh!
"…Therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (v 20).
1-Corinthians 7:23: "For you were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of man." In other words, don't be selling yourself out as an indentured servant or whatever. You have to serve God.
If you're called in a situation where you are a slave, and if you can be freed, go ahead and do that. But if you're freed don't become a slave again. There is a parallel in that we have been slaves to sin, and since we're bought with a price, we are not become slaves to sin again!
Here is the ultimate of our standing before God and having had our lives put under the blood of Christ, and our lives exchanged.
Galatians 2:17[transcriber's correction]: "Now then, if we are seeking to be justified in Christ, and we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then the minister of sin? MAY IT NEVER BE!"
That's what Rom. 7 explains. Christ does not endorse any sin. This is what Paul is saying in response to Peter separating himself and following Judaism. Paul is telling him that Christ is not behind this move to Judaism. It is sin and Christ is not the minister of sin!
Verse 18: "For if I build again those things that I destroyed…" What did Paul destroy? He talks about his gain in Judaism (Gal. 1). Or we could whatever in our lives.
"…I am making myself a transgressor. For I, through law, died to works of law…" (vs 18-19). This has to do with the laws of Judaism and that through the Laws of God you are dead to sin, because 'the wages of sin is death.'
"…in order that I may live to God…. [that's where our whole focus is now] …I have been crucified with Christ, yet, I live. Indeed, it is no longer I… [Greek: 'ego'—he's not living for himself] …but Christ lives in me. For the life that I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith—that very faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me" (vs 19-20).
There's the exchange of life! We need to have Christ living in us, and that's the whole purpose of growing in grace and knowledge and increasing in God's Spirit to have Christ live in us.
Galatians 4:19: "My little children, for whom I am again laboring in pain until Christ has been formed in you… [which shows that it's a process, and a process that must continue to do] …I desire to be with you now, and to change my voice, because I am at a loss concerning you" (vs 19-20)—because they were going back and following Judaism.
Colossians 1:26: "Even the mystery that has been hidden from ages and from generations, but has now been revealed to His saints; to whom God did will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (vs 26-27).
We know that's an earnest of the Holy Spirit that is in us. This is how Christ exchanges life for life!
CHANGE OF NAME
Did not Christ give change of name to some of the apostles? Yes, He did! There's also going to be a spiritual change of name.
Revelation 2:17: "The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes I will give the right to eat of the hidden manna; and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except the one who receives it."
With the exchange of life there comes the change of name! You can look at everyone that God has dealt with.
- Abram to Abraham
- Sari to Sarah
- God named Isaac
- Jacob to Israel—prevailer with God
Revelation 3:12: "The one who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall not go out anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from My God… [a new address] …and I will write upon him My new name."
There we go, we're going to have three parts to our name. Most of us have three parts to our name today, although in some societies they have many names showing some of the genealogies going way back.
This shows that if you're going to be a pillar, that means someone who is strong spiritually in the Lord 'in the temple of My God.' The only way you're going to dwell in the temple of God is if you are a spirit being. There isn't going to be any other way.
EXCHANGE OF BELTS
Sometimes they're called girdles because they're thick. You've seen wrestlers or boxers and they get a championship belt, which is a big belt. I don't know if it was necessarily that big, but it wasn't the little one-inch belt that many are accustom to today. It had to be big enough and strong enough to hold the weapon that you had on your side. So, it had to be quite a substantial belt.
1-Samuel 18:1: "And it came to pass when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was joined with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as he did his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him [David] go home to his father's house any more. And Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped off the robe that was upon him and gave it to David, and his apparel, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle" (vs 1-4)—his belt!
The weapon is also and exchange which signifies something very important. Exchanging the belts means that you are giving your strength to that individual; you're going to help him!You will do all that in your strength and power to serve him and help him. Likewise back to us! We see a lot of this in the Psalms.
The exchange of belts is that you exchange strength! You give your strength to the other person, and he give his strength to you so that together you form a real bond.
Psalm 21:7: "For the king trusts in the LORD and in the mercy of the Most High; he shall not be moved. Your hand shall find all Your enemies; Your right hand shall find those who hate You. You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; the LORD will swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them" (vs 7-8).
That's talking about the Lake of Fire ultimately, but what happened to the enemies of Christ in the Holocaust? Right there!
Verse 10: "Their offspring shall You destroy from the earth, and their descendents from among the sons of men; for they intended evil against You; they imagined a wicked thing which they are not able to perform, for You shall make them turn their back…" (vs 10-12).
This is talking about the crucifixion of Christ. They did it, but they were not able to perform. Why? Because He was resurrected! If you do something and it's nullified, then it's as if you never did it if He's raised from the dead.
"…You shall aim Your arrows upon Your strings against their faces. Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength; so we will sing and praise Your power" (vs 12-13).
That's what we need to do because we are weak, everyone of us! We need the strength of God! How many battles have we tried to fight and overcome on our own only to fail?
Psalm 18:1: "I love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my Rock in Whom I take refuge; He is my shield… ['buckler' (KJV) referring to belt] and the horn of my salvation, my high tower" (vs 1-2). The Lord is the One Who gives us strength!
Psalm 19:14: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."
This also tells us about the heart of David and how he had his faith and love to God in the way that he always looked to God for his strength.
Psalm 144:1: "Blessed is the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle."
We're going to see that there's a spiritual battle that we are in, and our weapons are a little different than David had when they had battles with swords, spears for the literal battles that they were in. But his spiritual battle was exactly the same as ours.
Verse 2: "He is my loving kindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and He in Whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me." David continually looked to God.
Psalm 118:5: "I called upon the LORD in distress… [that's where your strength is] …the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (vs 5-6).
It says in Rev. 21 that the 'fearful and unbelieving have their part in the Lake of Fire. These are those who are afraid to stand up for God, who are afraid of the things that they will go through. This means they will shrink back and not do what they need to do.
Verse 7: "The LORD is for me as my Helper; therefore, I will look in triumph upon those who hate me." We pray for God's will to be upon them!
Verse 8: "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man…. [because God's strength is more] …It is better to trust in the LORD than to trust in princes" (vs 8-9). We can look a the political scene and understand why that is so.
Verse 10: "All the nations surround Me… [talking about Christ] …but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surround Me; yea, they surround me, but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surround Me like bees; they are extinguished like the fire of thorns, for in the name of the LORD I will cut them off" (vs 10-12).
{note Rev. 19 where Christ comes in judgment and in righteousness He makes war}
Verse 13: "You… [the enemy] …have thrust hard at me so that I might fall, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous; the right hand of the LORD does mighty things. The right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD does valiantly. I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the LORD. The LORD has sorely chastened me, but He has not given me over to death (vs 13-18).
I think that's exactly what we're dealing with in our lives. I don't know what's going to come down the road in the future. When we read some of these prophecies, some people get very afraid. There are awesome things that are going to happen, and it's going to be a difficult thing to live through these things. We've never lived in a time where someone marches up to the door and says that you're under arrest. But that day may very well come!
If we shrink back and are afraid and deny Christ in those things, then we're going to be in great trouble. You may be like Peter who denied Christ three times, but ultimately you're not going to be able to avoid God. It just isn't going to happen! That's why it's important that we understand that Christ is our strength!
Psa. 22 is a whole prophecy of the thoughts and words of Christ while He was on the cross when He had no more physical strength left, and He knew that He was going to die.
Psalm 22:19: "But You, O LORD, be not far from Me; O My strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver My soul from the sword… [which He did] …My precious life from the power of the dog" (vs 19-20).
So, He did! Right there at that particular time, we have it very, very clear how Christ thought. He gave up all of His strength. What did He tell Pilate when Pilate said, 'Now tell me, are you a king?' He said, 'You have said it! If My kingdom were of this world then would My servants fight! Don't you think that upon My word that I could call upon God and He would send 12 legions of angels!'
In order to strengthen us, He gave up all of His strength. Carry that back further and what does He have to give up when Christ humbled Himself to become a human being to give up all the strength of being the strength of God? It's an amazing thing!
Psalm 27:1: "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Christ is there! Remember that He said that when the difficult times come God would help us with strength (Dan. 11). He helps us with a 'little help' meaning that that little bit of help is an awful lot for us.
Verse 2: "When the wicked, my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not be afraid; though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident. One thing I have desired from the LORD, that I will seek after…" (vs 2-4).
Notice how He kept His mind on the goal always! Not on the problem! Notice how He looked on the problems. You would have to say that these are problems! "When the wicked, my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh…" that's a problem!
Rev. 19—what's going to happen to all of those gathered at the Battle of Armageddon against Christ? What's going to happen to their flesh? It's going to fall right off their bones!
Verse 3: "Though an army should encamp against me… [that's a lot] …my heart shall not be afraid; though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident."
If God is for you, nothing can be against you! Not even our own sins and weaknesses; of course, that's based upon our need to repent.
Verse 4: "One thing I have desired from the LORD, that I will seek after… [He kept His mind on the goal] …that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple." That's our goal!
Verse 5: "For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion, in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies round about me; therefore, I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy in His tabernacle. I will sing; yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice; and be gracious unto me and answer me. When You said, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to You, 'Your face, O LORD, will I seek'" (vs 5-8)—whenever you have any of these things that take place.
When it's God's desire to protect you, will He protect you? When it comes time that you be a witness in whatever form, howbeit that you be martyred, then God is not going to protect you. If and when that day ever comes, and we don't know when it's going to come, then we have to have the strength now and continue relying on the strength of God!
Notice what He will do if He protects us, and I think we will have many situations—not quite as bad as this—but you talk some of those who have survived different wars and some of the miraculous things that happened to them.
It could only be that God protected them, that only God sent His angels to watch over them, whether they're converted or not. Does God watch over people in the world who are not converted? Yes! The world itself is run and governed by angels, both righteous angels and evil angels (demons).
Note sermon series: Hebrews. What the book of Hebrews points out is that none of the angels are equivalent to Christ the Son of God.
So, yes, there are battles going on, just like when Daniel was praying, when Gabriel was sent. Gabriel said, 'I was delayed 21 days because I was fighting the prince of Persia.' There are battles going on, because the forces of evil want to accomplish their goals. In the meantime here's what God will do for us:
Psalm 91:1: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Right now we're protected and hidden!
Verse 2: "I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I will trust.' Surely He will deliver you from the fowler's trap and from the destroying pestilence" (vs 2-3).
Stop and think about all the ravaging diseases that have been going on in the world. I don't know any of the people of God that have been affected by them. I'm not just talking about those whom I personally know. What about some of these viruses that will just eat off the flesh? Or the Ebola bacteria that they have in Africa? God has protected us as a nation! I think the only reason is because from America is the only place in the world that the Gospel is really being preached in whatever form: in sincerity or in contention! You might a few in Europe, but you'll find out that the vast majority of preaching is here in the United States! That's why God has protected us from the evil!
Verse 4: "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge. His Truth shall be your shield and buckler." Those hare the weapons that we have! We have weapons to fight with.
Verse 5: "You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flies by day, nor for the plague that walks in darkness, nor for the destruction laying waste at noonday" (vs 5-6). These things can happen all around you!
Verse 7: "A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand; it shall not come near you." Those are pretty strong words!
God only knows how much He has spared us from things. Every one of us could probably tell a story or two of what happened when we avoided certain disasters and didn't know it until later on.
Verse 8: "Only with your eyes you shall behold and see the recompense of the wicked…. [God is going to take care of it] Because you have made the LORD, Who is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling, for He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways" (vs 8-11).
Remember that Satan quoted that to Christ to see if He could trap Christ into sinning against God. The angels' job for us—who are heirs of salvation—is to watch over and protect us. We are not under their administration. The world is! It is under the administration of angels.
We are under the direct administration of God the Father and Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. That is the highest, truest form of government. If Christ be in you and lead you, and you follow the laws and commandments of God and love God, then that is the highest and truest form of government.
Hebrews 1:13: But unto which of the angels did He ever say, 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet'?…. [never said it to any angel anywhere] …Are they not all ministering spirits, being sent forth to minister to those… [by watching over and protecting them] …who are about to inherit salvation?" (vs 13-14).
Hebrews 2:1: "For this reason, it is imperative that we give much greater attention to the things, which we have heard, lest at any time we should slip away… [not the things that you've heard] …For if the word spoken by angels was enforced without fail, and every transgression and disobedience received just recompense, how shall we escape, if we have neglected so great a salvation; which was first received when it was spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him" (vs 1-3). This means guaranteed by their very lives!
Verse 4: "God also bearing witness with them by both signs and wonders, and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?"
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Verse 5: "For it is not to the angels that He has placed in subjection the world that is to come, of which we are speaking" (vs 4-5).
We're in an entirely different category than in the world! The angels of God watch over and protect us! But our contact with God is direct with His Spirit through:
- prayer
- His Word
- meditation
- living our lives
The world is not! They do not have that! It's an entirely different situation for them.
This is a very interesting situation here with Paul, he says; 2-Corinthians 12:7: "But in order that I might not be exalted by the abundance of the revelations… [the third heaven that he saw in vision] …there was given to me a thorn in the flesh an angel… [Greek: 'angelos'] …of Satan to buffet me, so that I might not be exalted." Sometimes that will happen, too.
Verse 8: "I besought the Lord three times for this, that it might depart from me; but He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you…'" (vs 8-9).
The reason this happened was so that Paul would always look to God. That's why when he comes to the end of his ministry, when he's writing the book of Ephesians in prison, he says that he's 'less than the least of all the saints.' He understood, and this is a hard lesson for us to learn, and we don't want to have to go through this kind of experience that Paul went through to learn it. I don't and know that none of us do.
Verse 9: "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you for My power is made perfect in weakness.'…." that's why God has called us the way that He has. He's called the weak of the world (1-Cor. 1).
"…Therefore, most gladly will I boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ may dwell in me" (v 9). Some people might be angry if they would go through these things. Some people might say, 'Lord, why do you do this to me?' But notice what Paul said:
Verse 10: "For this reason, I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong"—in the Lord! He gives us His strength!
Matthew 14:23: "And after dismissing the multitude, He went up into the mountain apart to pray; and when evening came, He was there alone. But the ship was now in the middle of the sea, being tossed by the waves, because the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night… [approximately 3-6 a.m.] …Jesus went to them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled and said 'It is an apparition!'…. [spirit] …And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Be of good courage; it is I. Do not be afraid.' Then Peter answered Him and said, 'Lord, if it is You, bid me to come to You upon the waters.'" (vs 23-28).
Remember, this is the one who denied Christ, showing the extremes in his personality. Peter was very strong on the one hand, and very weak on the other hand. I think this also epitomizes it here.
Verse 29: "And He said, 'Come.' And after climbing down from the ship, Peter walked upon the waters to go to Jesus." I've often wondered what Peter thought at that moment. What was it like actually walking on the water? Don't think about it, just do it!
Verse 30: "But when he saw how strong the wind was, he became afraid; and as he was beginning to sink,he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!'"
This shows us that our only strength, faith and hope is in Christ! Why? Because life is just like a bunch of water!
Verse 31: "And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'"
Stop and think about that! I tell you, that makes our faith so lacking when you really comprehend it. That's why we need to grow in grace and knowledge. That's why I think the way we grow in strength is to acknowledge our weaknesses and to admit them, confess them, and repent of them. To look to God for His strength!
Verse 32: "Now, when they went into the ship, the wind ceased. And those in the ship came and worshiped Him, saying…" (vs 32-33).
You can only worship God! Was Christ not manifest in the flesh? Yes! In a storm you can't see anything! It talks in the Bible about shipwrecks. When a ship is wrecked, it's shipwrecked, it's lost!
I crossed the Pacific Ocean coming back from Korea in a ship and there was one of the Gulf of Alaska storms, and the ship was over just about 30-degrees, not 45 because that would be halfway down, but it was between 20 and 30 degrees and everything was all at an angle. We would go out and stand in the doorways (we could not go on the deck) and look out and you would see those waves and wind, I don't think really down deep inside that there's ever a seaman who does not believe in God.
Then there's a move called The Perfect Storm. The moral of the story with the perfect storm is that you can't fight against the forces of God! I haven't seen it, but from what I understand they came up against this one wave that was so incredible that it turned everything upside down and they lost their lives. The whole thing that we're taught here is that we need to trust in God in everything and have the faith that we need to have!
EXCHANGE OF WEAPONS
This means that spiritually we cannot use carnal weapons to fight wars. That's basically the sum of it. It is Christ who will fight our battles and our enemies. This is what it has to be in our lives in everything that we come across. Here's the lesson: the Egyptians were coming after them, they were afraid, they complained to Moses and God spoke to Moses and the Moses spoke to the people:
Exodus 14:13: "And Moses said to the people, 'Fear not! Stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today, for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again! The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall be still'" (vs 13-14).
We will see that many of the battles we have to overcome, even our own spiritual battles are battles in the world with other people. We have to look to Christ to do the changing and do the fighting, and to cause things to work out His way! Sometimes you just can't fight them, so we just have to wait for God to intervene for us. Sometimes God will help us in the battle, and we use what we have. What we have compared to the world is puny. That's the whole story of David and Goliath
1-Sam. 16 is the anointing of David, 1-Sam. 17 is the fighting against Philistines and Goliath. Now you know why David said that 'the Lord will fight for me, He is on my side.'
1-Samuel 17:4: "And a champion named Goliath came out of the Philistine's camp; he was from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span."
If a cubic is 1.5 feet that means that it would make him almost 11 feet tall. That's taller than any man we know of that's alive today on the earth.
Verse 5: "And a bronze helmet was upon his head, and he was armed with scaled armor. And the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze…. [180 lbs] …And greaves of bronze were upon his legs, and a bronze javelin slung from his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam. And his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And the shield bearer went in front of him" (vs 5-7). So, he had a little help there.
Verse 8: "And he stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, 'Why have you come out to set your battle in order? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants to Saul? Choose a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our slaves and serve us.' And the Philistine said, 'I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man, and we will fight together.' And Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, and they were dismayed and greatly afraid" (vs 8-11).
Verse 16: "And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days."
When it was time for David to take care of this, here is what David said:
Verse 26: "And David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, 'What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine and takes away this shame from Israel, for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?' And the people answered him in this way, saying, 'So shall it be done to the man who kills him.'" (vs 26-27).
When Eliab, David's elder brother, heard this, he said, 'You're just a young whippersnapper out there in your own self-righteousness, your pride and haughtiness of heart.' That's how a carnal person will view the faith of God.
David explained to Saul what he would do, v 32: "And David said to Saul, 'Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.' And Saul said to David, 'You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he is a man of war from his youth.' And David said to Saul, 'Your servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb out of its mouth. And when it rose against me, I caught it by the beard, and struck it and killed it. Your servant killed both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God'" (vs 32-36).
Verse 37: "And David said, 'The LORD who has delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.' And Saul said to David, 'Go, and may the LORD be with you.'"
Saul said that David needed protection so he had all this armor put on him. It didn't fit and David said that he couldn't do it that way.
Verse 40: "And he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones out of the brook for himself, and put them in a shepherd's vessel, which he had, even in a bag. And his sling was in his hand. And he drew near the Philistine. And the Philistine came on and drew near David. And the man who bore the shield was before him. And the Philistine looked and saw David, and disdained him, for he was only a youth, and ruddy with a handsome appearance" (vs 40-42).
We don't know how tall David was, but from this account that we could say that he was probably not much more than 5.5-6-feet tall. So, he was half the size of this giant. When you look down on that…
Verse 43: "And the Philistine said to David, 'Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, 'Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.' And David said to the Philistine, 'You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied'" (vs 43-45).
That's how we need to realize that these are the weapons and the attitudes!
Verse 46: "The LORD will deliver you into my hand today, and I will strike you and take your head from you and give the bodies of the army of the Philistines to the birds of the air today, and to the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel."
You know what happened; it was exactly as he said. David took his sling and slung the stone like a bullet into the forehead of the Philistine and killed him and took his own sword and cut off his head.
That's the way we need to view the enemy. Who is our enemy? Satan the devil! What does it say in Gen. 1 that God/Christ is going to do to the head of the serpent? He's going to crush his head! In other words, take it off. That's how God is going to fight our battles for us.
Now, here is the fight that we are to fight; 1-Timothy 6:11: "But you, O man of God… [this is to us, put our name there] …flee these things, and pursue righteousness, Godliness, faith, love, endurance and meekness. Fight the good fight of the faith! Take hold of eternal life to which you were also called, and did profess a good profession in the presence of many witnesses" (vs 11-12).
Let's see what the battle is. Here's how we are to do it personally. All the carnal weapons and all the means of this world—even all the psychological means of the world—by which they are able to be successful, does not give us spiritual success!
2-Corinthians 10:3: "For although we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the overthrowing of strongholds, casting down vain imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ" (vs 3-5).
That is the personal battle that goes on. There are the exterior battles that go on, which we find in Eph. 6, and this shows the weapons that we are to use, which are not the weapons and means of this world.
Ephesians 6:10: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the might of His strength." This is the external spiritual battle that we are fighting!. We have to fight the enemies of God. One of the things that we have to fight, one of the weapons that the enemy uses against us, one of the most clever and insidious weapons, which is not a frontal assault is false doctrine! false teaching!
That's why we do so much to fight against false doctrine and teachings and explain the Truth vs false doctrine.
Verse 11: "Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual power of wickednessin high places."
We see that taking place in our elections. You talk about the forces of good and evil in the world.
Verse 13: "Therefore, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having worked out all things, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with Truth… [our shield, breastplate, our belt] …and wearing the breastplate of righteousness, and having your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. Besides all these, take up the shield of the faith, with which you will have the power to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one; and put on the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" (vs 13-17).
- those are our weapons
- they're all spiritual
- they all come from having the mind of Christ
This is how we are to fight!
THE DEATH WALK
We've all had the death walk. Gen. 15—Who walked through the animals for the covenant sacrifice? God did! He walked that guaranteeing His death to fulfill the promises to Abraham. Likewise, Isaac also had a death journey.
Gen. 22—Isaac was taken by his father and God said to Abraham to offer his son. Then there was the substitute sacrifice of the ram that was caught in the thicket. But Isaac had to walk that death walk first.
Did not Christ have to walk a death walk? Yes, He did! From His judgment to carry His cross, and walk out to Golgotha to be crucified! That was His death walk.
We have a death walk, which is a little more mild than that. Our death walk is baptism! Just as Christ pledged His life through His death, you pledge your life through your death in the watery grave! That is your death walk.
Roman 6:3: "…as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through the baptism into the death… [conjoined with His death] …so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection.… [here is our death]: …Knowing this that our old man was co-crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin… [that doesn't mean we're totally free of sin; Paul makes that clear in Rom. 7] …because the one who has died to sin has been justified from sin" (vs 3-7).
That doesn't mean you're without sin. The translation 'freed from sin' (KJV) gives the indication that you are now without any sin. That is not true! You are justified from sin.
Verse 8: "Now, if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." Then it goes on showing that we should yield ourselves unto righteousness and not unto sin. That is the death walk!
Our death walk occurs daily, where Christ said that 'he who does not take up his cross and follow Me and crucify the flesh daily, cannot be My disciple.' This is an ongoing thing, part of the covenant battle that we are in.
THE ETERNAL COVENANT
When all of this is fulfilled and done, then there is going to be another eternal covenant that will be made. Every time that God does something new, there is a covenant.
Note sermon series: Covenants of God—going through all the covenants that God has made in the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. There are other covenant. For example: we are all living under the covenant that God made with Noah after the Flood. Everything that is in there follows along with this.
- Were there not sacrifices? Yes!
- Were there not words of the covenant? Yes!
- Was it not written down for us? Yes!
- Is it still in effect today for all living flesh on the earth—converted or not? Yes!
Here's what God is going to do when the new heavens and new earth take place. These things are part of that eternal covenant.
Revelation 21:1: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea."
Why? All will be resurrected and in the Kingdom of God, so therefore, being spirit beings they won't need anymore sea to modulate the temperature on earth.
Verse 2: "And I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from heaven say, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men…'" (vs 2-3).
The beginning of the eternal covenant when it's put into effect with men made perfect. The Greek there is 'anthropos' that means human beings—applies to men and women.
"'…and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people; and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall not be anymore death… [all of these are parts of the word of that covenant that will be made] …or sorrow, or crying; neither shall there be any more pain, because the former things have passed away.' And He Who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' Then He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, 'It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the one who thirsts, I will give freely of the fountain of the water of life. The one who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son'" (vs 3-7).
That is the covenant that we are in, brethren. When God fulfills it in the Kingdom of God, after all His plan has been fulfilled, for what we know up to that point in Scripture, it is going to be an amazing thing, indeed!
All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version
Scriptural References:
- Romans 5:6-8
- 2 Peter 1:1-4
- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
- 1 Corinthians 7:23
- Galatians 2:17-20
- Galatians 4:19-20
- Colossians 1:26
- Revelation 2:17
- Revelation 3:12
- 1 Samuel 18:1-4
- Psalm 21:7-13
- Psalm 18:1-2
- Psalm 19:14
- Psalm 144:1-2
- Psalm 118:5-18
- Psalm 22:19-20
- Psalm 27:1-8
- Psalm 91:1-11
- Hebrews 1:13-14
- Hebrews 2:1-5
- 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
- Matthew 14:23-33
- Exodus 14:13:14
- 1 Samuel 17:4-11, 16, 26-27, 32-37, 40-46
- 1 Timothy 6:11-12
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
- Ephesians 6:10-17
- Romans 6:3-8
Scriptures quoted, not referenced:
- 1 Corinthians 13
- Romans 7
- Galatians 1
- Revelation 19
- Daniel 11
- 1 Corinthians 1
- 1-Samuel 16
- Genesis 1
- Genesis 15; 22
- Romans 7
Also referenced: Sermon Series:
- Epistles of 1st & 2nd Peter
- Hebrews
- Covenants of God
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 5/25/18
