Under the shady trees . . .

The olive tree, the fig tree and the vine tree are all in the Garden of Eden. The olive tree is the Tree of Life, the vine tree is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the fig tree is the source of Operation Fig Leaf (Adam and Eve).

Jordan says, “Those trees have special meaning. They carry a thought system with them all through Scripture. They become representatives of the nation Israel, because God’s purpose with man becomes centered in the nation Israel.

“The great events and stories that carry throughout the Old Testament--all these great and historical things God put in the Bible because those things carry a social narrative that represents the doctrine--well, these trees are that way.

“Gideon is a great example of what goes on with Israel. There are some fantastic things in Judges 6-8 about Gideon and his 300 men. They go out and defeat the Midianites and so forth, but then to see what happens to his family and how they end up back in complete total apostasy.

“Judge 9:8 says, ‘The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.’

“In the Scripture, trees are often used to represent nations. The trees are going to look for a leader so they go to the olive tree and say, ‘Reign over us,’ but the olive tree said, ‘Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?’

“The tree’s saying, ‘I mean, shall I leave what I’ve got and give to you? I don’t think so.’

“The passage goes on, [10] And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.
[11] But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?
[12] Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
[13] And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

“It’s as though the nations come to Israel and there’s these three different facets of the nation. The appeal to Israel to is, ‘Come and take who God has made you and bless us with it, reign over us, let us enjoy who God has made you,’ and yet Israel at each stage, when the nations do this, saying, ‘We need you!’ responds, ‘Ain’t no way! They’re MY blessings! And I’m not going to share them with YOU!’

“And the result is verse 14, ‘Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.
[15] And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

“Isaiah 28 calls it ‘a refuge of lies.’ Imagine trusting in a shadow. There’s no substance there. The bramble tree is the thorny bush, barren of any fruit. Then it says, ‘and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

“In other words, it’s ‘turn or burn!’ I’ll either rule you or ruin you. Now that’s the apostasy that results when the nation Israel doesn’t function in the capacity God’s given them. Those three trees represent the three roles that the nation Israel is designed to play in the earth.”

“All the other nations are separated. For example, when Solomon builds the temple, the door into the holy place, into the presence of God in there--you know what they made it out of? Olive wood. Because that olive tree to Israel represents access. It represents the special set apart access; no other nation has it.

“Here’s this position of spiritual privilege and they fail with it. The bramble tree represents Israel in idolatry; Israel under the curse. It represents Israel under the reign of the Antichrist. What you’re seeing is a picture prophetically of the future; historically of the satanic policy of evil of seeking to corrupt them at every point. What Satan’s policy wanted to do is to take Israel and destroy her in every area that God had established the nation for. They were to be His prophets, His priests and His kings and Satan’s going to destroy them in every capacity.”

'Confidence in confidence alone'

Hebrews 10 says, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
[36] For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
[37] For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”

Jordan says, “That’s just like what he says back there in chapter 3. It’s a consistent warning in the Book of Hebrews. 3:6 says, ‘But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.’ 3:14 says, ‘For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.’ See it in chapter 6.

“The reason he warns them not to do that is because of what some people are going to do. Luke 12. The problem the nation Israel is going to face in the tribulation, the unbelievers the wrath of God’s going to get em.

Luke 12:41: [41] Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?
[42] And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
[43] Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
[44] Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
[45] But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
[46] The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

“Who is the one God is going to make ruler over His house to give them their portion of meat in due season? The issue in the parable is the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. The issue is ruling in the Kingdom when Christ comes back.

“But and if that servant say in his heart . . .’ Notice he isn’t necessarily saying it out loud. This is his heart attitude. Here’s what he says: ‘My lord delayeth his coming.’

“He’s not a dumb guy that doesn’t know anything. Here’s a guy that’s got the information and prepared not himself.

“The passage goes on, [47] And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
[48] But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

“Notice here’s somebody who does cast away his confidence. He says, ‘Their confidence is that the Lord’s gonna come back and get ’em.’ He says, ‘The Lord’s gonna delay his coming. The Lord isn’t coming back; He’s delayed his coming. Therefore he doesn’t care, he doesn’t see, he isn’t coming and I’ll just go out and do what I want to do.’

“That’s exactly what the context is in Hebrews 10. What happens to that guy in Luke 12 is that he’s thrown out with his portion of the unbelievers; he’s burned up in the fire. God destroys him in His judgment.

“Hebrews 10:36 says, ‘For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.’ You receive the promise after you do the will of God.

“These ‘patience’ verses in prophecy don’t look just toward you getting along okay in life every day and everything being okay. They look toward endurance through that tribulation.

“Luke 21 says, 16] And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
[17] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
[18] But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
[19] In your patience possess ye your souls.

“Those folks were going to be able to possess soul salvation by being patient.

Isaiah 28:14 says, [14] Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
[15] Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
[16] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

“This is an important passage about the tribulation period.  By that verse right there you ought to write down Revelation 6 where death and hell follow that 4^th horseman and that’s what they’re talking about. They’re talking about the covenant that Israel makes with the Antichrist in the tribulation.

“Verses 15-16--that passage is quoted twice in the new testament. Paul quotes it Romans 10:1. Peter quotes it in I Peter 2:6. Paul says ‘he that believeth shall not be ashamed.’ Peter says ‘he that believeth shall not be confounded.’ That’s two different ways of saying what Isaiah’s saying here. Isaiah says ‘he that believeth shall not make haste.’

“You know what you’re doing when you’re not making haste? You’re being patient, aren’t you? You’re waiting on the Lord and you’re not being anxious; you’re being patient.

“Isaiah 30:18 says, ‘And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.’

“This is another passage looking toward the return of Christ. Notice what he says. The Lord’s gonna wait. He’s gone to heaven; He’s tarrying. He’s waiting. He’s delaying coming back, as it were. What are the people on the earth to do in His absence while He waits? ‘Blessed are they that wait for him.’ Don’t give up; don’t quit. Just wait on Him. You say, ‘Well, things are getting tough.’ That’s okay; keep waiting.

“Chapter 40. I’ll disappoint you here. Many of you learned, like I did in the early days as a Believer, to quote Isaiah 40: 30-31 as a great promise, you know, to get you through problems and difficulties and trials. And I’m not going to tell you not to do that because you can make an application off of Romans 5. “But if you’ve got any interest in understanding what Isaiah is talking about, not what you can make him talk about, but what he’s really talking about, it’s what were talking about here.

Isaiah 40:30 says, [30] Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
[31] But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

“When he talks about ‘they shall wait upon the Lord,’ what are they waiting on the Lord for? For His coming. You see you don’t have to wait on the Lord to give you provisions today. You already have the provisions.

“A man called me just this afternoon from New York and asked me some questions about the Bible and he said, ‘I’ve been waiting on the Lord to give me insight into this,’ and I said, ‘Well, you don’t have to wait on the Lord to give you insight. You need to study to get insight. Waiting isn’t how you get insight. Studying is how you get insight. And thinking about and meditating on things is how you get insight.’ See, that’s different kind of a thing.

“You don’t have to wait for God to give you something He’s already provided for you; it’s already yours and you access to it by faith. Now what you might have to do is study some, wait a little while to learn it, but you’re not waiting on the Lord; you’re waiting on you. You’re the one who’s behind.

“You’re complete and completely provided for in Christ already and you don’t have to make deals with God and go bargain with God and say, ‘Well, I’ll quit this if you’ll do that,’ or, ‘I’ll do this if you do that.’ The provision’s already yours in Christ. Just go ahead and enjoy it. Walk up and down in it and have a good time with it. Enjoy it!”

An ear to hear

The Book of Psalms is not written just as poetry, or a hymn book, or for the delight of people in all the ages.

“Many of the psalms are timeless as far as there spiritual impact," says Jordan. "How many times have you been to a funeral and heard someone quote the 23^rd Psalm: ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.’ And you find comfort in that because, apart from what it’s saying to Israel doctrinally, there’s poetic license we use and get comfort out of.

“The problem with using it devotionally is people think that’s all there is to it. The psalms are designed to look at and demonstrate, ‘Here’s Israel’s Messiah who comes to be numbered with the transgressors,’ and He identifies Himself with the Believing Remnant.

“In John 21, you see the risen Christ standing on the shore. His disciples are out on the sea and He enters into their labors. They labor all night and catch nothing and He asks them, ‘Do you have any meat?’ I love that; He didn’t even say, ‘Do you have any fish?’ It’s, ‘You got anything to eat, guys?’

“You read down through the Messianic psalms and sometimes you say, ‘Well, that’s the Messiah; no, that’s the Remnant; no it’s the Messiah; no it’s the Remnant.’ He’s so intertwined because He’s numbered with the people in their sufferings.

*****

“There’s more involved in Proverbs than just a bunch of daily ditties to give you information about how to get through tomorrow and that kind of thing. There are, for example, doctrinal issues the Little Flock are going to need to know in order to equip them to get through the onslaught of the Antichrist against them in the Last Days.

Proverbs 1 starts, 1] The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
[2] To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
[3] To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
[4] To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

"Proverbs is basically in three sections: Chapter 1-9 gives an explanation of the purpose of the wisdom given and how to use it. Chapter 10-29 details the wisdom that is outlined in four specific purposes. Chapter 30-31, the conclusion of the Book, keys the reader into what this information is specifically related to and who specifically is going to need to use it.

“It’s fascinating when you read books about Proverbs, nobody seems to agree or even come close to agreeing on how the book should be structured but he starts out telling you. To know wisdom and instruction is the most basic issue—how to put information into practice, making wise application of what you’ve learned.

“That’s why the writer says in verse 7, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.’ It’s not the ultimate goal of knowledge; it’s where it starts.

“Verse 2 says to ‘perceive the words of wisdom.’ There’s foolishness, deceit and contrary doctrine and you’re to be able to pick out truth from error.

“The issue is you’re going to have an ear to hear and grasp this deceit, recognizing it when it comes along.

“Verse 4 says the proverbs are to ‘give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.’ In Proverbs, a simple person is not a dumb person. You remember Romans 16 where Paul says ‘I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil’?

“Simple doesn’t mean dumb, it just means unmixed; somebody who doesn’t have exposure to things. People who just focus on what God says will have some subtlety given to them. You remember Jesus said to His apostles, ‘Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves’?

“Why? ‘You’re going to need to be able to identify the wolf in sheep’s clothing.’ The people who say they’re Jews and aren’t, as Revelation 2 says. Their given the keen discernment so they’re not going to be sucked into the trap.

“The first time you see the word subtle in the Bible is in Genesis 3: ‘The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field.’ You’re not going to be wise to Satan’s attempts through human viewpoint and the world’s attitudes.

“Proverbs 1 says, [10] My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
[11] If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
[12] Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
[13] We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
[14] Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

“That’s sort of a little humor there. I mean, they’re so stupid they catch their own selves in the net they spread to catch somebody else. ‘So don’t go with them and get caught in that and I’m going to give you some wisdom not to do that.’

“If Israel had understood these verses and followed this all along, when the Lord Jesus Christ showed up, instead of crucifying Him, instead of doing exactly what this passage said they were going to do, and they did do . . . all of their history was a dress rehearsal for the events of the Last Days.”

Maximum impact

The reason Satan hates body truth like he does is because he doesn’t want to contend with the shockwaves that we send up through his heavenly government, where his emissaries look over and see a fully functioning body of Believers manifesting the life and glory of the Jesus Christ.

“Let me tell you something, what we did last Sunday morning in this auditorium sent shockwaves up through the heavenly places all the way out to the deeps and you need to understand that,”  says Jordan in an old study on the subject. “You need to understand the far-reaching effect you have as you simply, by yourself, and as WE together reflect the life and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His actions and attitudes . . .

“There’s more than just the idea of, ‘Well, we’re going to go to heaven by-and-by.’ It’s a fantastic future for us out there.

“Just like God raised up the Lord Jesus Christ and set Him in heavenly places, and it affects His position now and in the ages to come, so it is that you and I have been united with Him, made members of His body, and that which is His and belongs to Him and He has accomplished, is ours and belongs to us, and we have accomplished by virtue of the fact of being in Him, therefore we’ve been raised up to sit together in heavenly places.

“If our position is up there, then what’s the place that we ought to be interested in? Folks, you ought to be interested in your position. If you go out and get a job in industry, they give you a position to fill and they give you a job description.

“You and I are making known the manifold wisdom of God. You and I today, as we function as members of the Body of Christ, as the fellowship of the mystery is in evidence in our midst, we have an impact in the heavenly places.

“Now, my dear friend everybody wants to have an impact, you know. You want to make an impact on history. When history pages are turned, people want to have their name printed there. They run into the power structures and the systems of the world and they try to build big political organizations. Religionists try to build ecclesiastical movements and all. Why? To make an impact!

“Real impact for God, folks, you notice where it’s made. Not just down here but up there!

“If you walk around and you don’t know about these things, how could you ever function the way God expects you to function?! Oh, I know, you can go to a How-to-Do-It seminar and get 15 secrets from a  fellow on how to have a successful prayer life or how to be happy though married, and maybe one or two will work for you some of the time and the rest of them don’t, and you go away frustrated and all bamboozled and you come to find out that that fellow didn’t any more have an answer for you than you figured he did when you went there and spent your $15!

“Philippians 3:20 say, ‘For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.’

“That word conversation there is ‘politamy’ and sometime you hear people translate it ‘citizenship,’ but the word doesn’t really just mean that. The word means the attitude of a citizen of a free city. Politamy is a word the Greeks use to talk about the great city-states of the Greek empire, the Roman Empire, and it was a word that described the manner of life of someone who lived in one of those free cities.

“What Paul’s talking about is the manner of life that becomes the citizen of heaven. The idea is our manner of life it comes from that city-state, from that place, not the earth.

“Listen, folks, if He’s going to come and take us out of here, He must not have much down here for us!

“My point to you is you need to be oriented toward and set your affections--your mind, your thinking--on things above and not down here. You need to have an understanding of that heavenly situation out there so that you can walk pleasing unto the Lord.”

'A tabernacle for a shadow'

In Hebrews 9:13 through 10:18, you see God offering a better sacrifice as He moves right through the work of Christ. Jordan says, “He’s got a better tabernacle, covenant, service and sacrifice. If you’ve got the best, and you’ve got the real, what do you want with the old for? I mean, why be satisfied with a copy and a shadow and a picture when you can have the real thing? That’s the point with Israel. Reality.

“I asked a guy just the other night about that when he was arguing with me about water baptism. He said, ‘It’s just a ritual—‘the real baptism is the ‘by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.’ I said, ‘Well, why would you want the ritual when you’ve got the reality?! Doesn’t make any sense to me. Not a bit.’

“The shadow is done away with and the body, the substance, is ours. I don’t want something I reach out and grab and can’t get a hold of. That’s what a shadow is. I want to be able to get it. I appreciate having the reality. Well, that’s Israel’s situation. They need to move from the shadow things to the real things.

“Hebrews 8:1 says, ‘Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.’ That high priest that God promised—we got him! There’s Psalm 110 again. When he says ‘he is set on the right hand of the throne,’ this is the third time Psalm 110:1 has been referred to and it will be referred to two more times before the book’s over, which will make five times.

“We’ve already seen Psalm 110:4 (‘The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek’) been referred to at least six or seven times. I forget the count now up to this point. Psalm 110’s an important psalm in the mind of the guy who wrote Hebrews. The first verse says, ‘The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.’ His priesthood is a royal priesthood. It’s the priesthood of a king.

“We’ve looked at the passages. In Zachariah 6:13, it’s the priest sitting on the throne and he’s there and he’s going to come back. But the picture of Christ in Hebrews is as a royal high priest over a royal priesthood.

“The picture you get is not Christ sitting far above the heavens, and above all principalities and powers as the head of the church the Body of Christ, destined to stay there forever. But rather, He’s there on exile as the royal priesthood, waiting to come back and introduce His royal priesthood to the kingdom in the earth.

“While He’s there He’s got a sanctuary. He’s ‘a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.’ He’s talking about the ‘true’ one in the sense of ‘this is the original; this isn’t the copy. Moses made the copy on the earth. This is the original thing.

“Notice He’s talking about the tabernacle and it’s interesting; He’s not talking about the temple. Solomon built the temple and the temple Solomon built was a type of the millennial glory and the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ; the peace and the blessings that are won by the Man of War.

“The book of Hebrews doesn’t go back to the temple; it goes ALL the way back to the tabernacle!”

*****

Jordan says in a different study on the same subject, “God’s original intention was to dwell with man in His Creation and sin threw a monkey wrench into that. What God does with Israel is He educates them about how He’s going to re-establish Himself in the earth and He gives them a place where His dwelling is going to be manifest.

 

“God would dwell on the earth in a tent made out of skin that Israel was in charge of. Amos calls it the tabernacle of David; the skin of David. You go all the way to Revelation and discover that it all begins to be accomplished there. In the between-time you have Jesus Christ come on the scene and ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ He becomes the one through whom God's dwelling with man is to be accomplished.

 

"So the great issue in the universe all along has been God dwelling in His creation and sharing His life with His creation," says Jordan. "Now, the tabernacle God gave Israel is a foreshadowing of that. As the verse says, ‘The Lord chose Zion and desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever; here will I dwell for I have desired it.’ His intention is to put His throne in the city of Jerusalem on the hill of Zion. That special place in Jerusalem that was the dearest to David’s heart.”

 

******

The tabernacle, built by Moses, is a picture of the first coming of Christ and the temple, built by Solomon, is a picture of the Second Coming of Christ.

 

“The tabernacle was a temporary structure--made to be moved from place to place—but the temple was a permanent place built in the city of the great king, Jerusalem,” explains Jordan. “It was built by the king, Solomon. You remember David prepared all the stuff for it and wanted to build it but God said, ‘You can’t do it! You’re a bloody man!”?

 

“God was saying, ‘We’re not gonna build the temple by the bloody man, we’re gonna build it by the son of David.’ There’s another first and Second Coming comparison. Moses is the prophet and he builds the tabernacle. It’s the king who builds the temple. The temple is the second meeting place; the tabernacle was the first.

 

“The temple was renowned for its glory, majesty and beauty. It was like the city on the hill. It was gorgeous. People would come and marvel at its majesty.

 

“The tabernacle was just the opposite. It wasn’t built in the city; it was built for life in the wilderness, moving from place to place. Life, not in the kingdom reign of glory, but in the wilderness of nomad life. It was humble and unattractive in its outward appearance.

 

“When you walked up on the tabernacle what you saw was a funny-looking wall made out of boards and skins and post. It was not outwardly attractive. What does Isaiah say about Christ in His first coming? ‘There was no comeliness about him.’ He was a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief.

 

“The tabernacle was a place where God’s majesty dwelt but it was veiled behind the skins of that building. I keep emphasizing that the building was made out of badger skins and goat skins and all kind of skins. Well, where does god put His life? If He puts it in you, where does He put it? He puts it in a body of flesh. That’s the idea back there.

 

“By the way, the tabernacle was the center of life for the nation Israel. When Israel, in the wilderness, moved from one encampment to the next, the way they would settle in a location is the tabernacle would be in the center. And on one side there would be three tribes of Israel, and on another side there would be three tribes, and another side three other tribes, and another side three other tribes.

 

“Numbers, in the first few chapters, tells you specifically where each tribe was to be and everything about how they were lined up and encamped was determined by the tabernacle."

 

*****

 

In the Ark of the tabernacle were three things--the two tables of stone, a little pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded.

 

“The tabernacle is where the sacrifices were made,” says Jordan. “It’s where the priestly family, Aaron and his sons, were fed. It’s where all worship for God was accomplished. Deuteronomy 16:16 says that there were three great feasts in Israel—Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles—and the only place they could be celebrated was at the door of that tabernacle. That’s a serious matter. That tabernacle was the center of everything that went on in Israel’s life.”

 

*****

Jordan says there is a fascinating comparison between the tabernacle that Moses built and the Book of John because, “just like this system is a system for Israel to approach to God, in the Four Gospels, which tell Israel how to approach God, whether John knew it or not, or intended it or not, God wrote the book in such a way that it follows the pattern of the tabernacle.

“When you come in the tabernacle, there are basically seven pieces of furnishing. The first thing you see is the brazen altar where the sacrifices were brought.

 

“You come through the gate, from east to west, and you see an altar where there’s fire and they’re killing and offering animal sacrifices, pouring out blood. Can you imagine how on a hot summer august afternoon, when they’ve offered sacrifices all day and all night for the nation, what a bloody mess that would have been?!

 

“Have you ever been around people where they killed animals and the blood’s all shed out? You know what immediately shows up? Flies. Gnats. It gets nasty. That tabernacle was not a sweet, wonderful place. The brazen altar spoke about blood (for atonement of souls).

 

“The reason it had fire in it was because the sacrifices had to be burned. It was like a big barbeque grill and it had a grate on it. The first thing when you walk into that tabernacle, it tells you, ‘You can’t approach God till you deal with sin and the only way is with blood and fire.’ ”

 

In and through

Paul starts out in Philippians 2, “1] If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
[2] Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Jordan says, “The Christian life is not rules and regulations and performances and if, ‘I see this happening—OOOH, that’s God working!’ Life starts out of, as Jesus Christ says, ‘the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.’ (Luke 6:45).

“Proverbs 4:23 says, ‘Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.’ Your life proceeds forth out of something inside of you. The outward activities are just the expression of something that’s inside and this passage is talking about what’s inside that is to be working in and through you.

“Bowels and mercies. People say, ‘What’s that?’ Go back to chapter 1 and Paul’s already told you. He writes in verse 8, ‘For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.’ Obviously he’s using a figure of speech or a metaphor.

“You can easily find another place it’s used that will explain it to you. The bowels of something is the innermost recesses. Bowels of the cave; bowels of a ship.

“Isaiah 16:11 says, ‘Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh.’ He’s talking about, ‘I’m going to have some groaning way down in the depths of my inner man; my inward parts,’ and he’s not just talking about his physical anatomy; he’s talking about his soul.

“I John 3:17 is another place that helps you. ‘But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?’

“He’s talking about the innermost part of a person’s soul. The inward part. By the way, the issue about the bowels of compassion—that’s where compassion comes from.

“If there’s something that can go right down into the depths of your soul where life really comes from . . . is there any of that? It’s all in Christ. Now he says, ‘If all this identity and these things you have in Christ are true, here’s the mindset it’s going to produce.’

“Philippians 2:2 says, ‘Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.’ He’s saying, ‘Here’s the thing I’m trying to get done in the ministry. Paul goes on, ‘Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
[4] Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
[5] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:’

“ ‘In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves’—that’s the whole key!

“By the way, verse 4 is a great verse to remind you you have to be careful when you read the bible. If you take that verse out of its context, and take it literally, you can see how that verse will get you into trouble!”

Content in rejoicing

Here is the continuation of the study Jordan gave last month on Romans 12:

“The basis of my hope is being justified by faith. Justification is not simple being pardoned. Richard Nixon was pardoned and yet people knew he was guilty; they just didn’t hold him accountable for it. But he’s still guilty and you still revile him.

“Justification is not acquittal. O.J. Simpson was acquitted and how many people still think he was guilty? The jury said he’s not guilty.

“Justification is not saying, ‘We’re not going to hold him accountable. We’re going to forgive him.’ Justification is to declare him to be right. It’s not just to say he’s not guilty for something. It’s to say, 'He absolutely did the right thing, not the wrong thing.' It’s a positive thing.

“Forgiveness is a negative thing; it’s the taking away of . . . justification is the declaration of rightness. Now, that’s a much more powerful thing. You have the ability to stand before God as being totally doing the right thing in Christ. That’s where I have that hope.

“Now, that’s the GROUND of my hope. Rejoicing in the fact that Jesus Christ is my righteousness. Now, the GOAL of my hope is in Romans 5:2: ‘By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.’

“See, in Romans 12 when he says ‘rejoicing in hope,’ he takes you back to chapter 5 and he says, ‘You’re rejoicing in hope because Jesus Christ is your righteousness and what you’re rejoicing in is hope of the glory of God.

“Chapter 3 said you ‘came short of the glory of God’; now he says you ‘rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.’

“Our hope flows out of that confidence we have in Christ and we rejoice in that! When you think about rejoicing in hope, I think about the thing in Philippians 4 when Paul says, ‘Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
[12] I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
[13] I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’

“He writes in verse 4, ‘Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.’ I can rejoice when I’m suffering need or when I’m abounding. Either way! In the seasons of life when things aren’t going well and trouble’s normal, the joy is going to flow from the hope not the ‘present good things.’

“I look out and see the glory that’s to come and I say, ‘It isn’t always this, and the things I’m going through now aren’t pointless, useless, absurd. They’re something that works for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!' and I can say, 'My ace in the hole is in the end it’s just glory!' and I can rejoice in that hope! ”