Best of human psychology in I and II Kings

New Year’s Day is upon us and now begins the annual flood of idolatrous advice about how to improve your life--by losing weight, exercising more, learning to slow down and experience mindfulness, better appreciating your self-worth, practicing small acts of kindness and gratitude, meditating daily on peace, love, happiness, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. None of it mentions the need for belief in Jesus Christ and God’s Word.  

“You’ll learn more about human psychology in I and II Kings than you will reading Rogers, Jung, Freud, or whoever else you want to study,” says Jordan in an old study. “You can read all the Christian psychology; you can follow Chuck Swindoll and listen to Chuck Stanley and all these guys who belch out this Christian psychology with their scriptural pabulum on the subject. You can listen to Dr. James Dobson . . .

“You’ll learn more about Christian psychology in I and II Kings than anywhere else, I guarantee you. I’ve read those books for years with my mouth just agape about how they reveal human nature to you.

“See, the difference is the Bible doesn’t just tell you about it; it tells you why it’s that way, looks under the surface and gives you some information, and fortunately, it also tells you what to do about it.

“The keenest observer of human nature really doesn’t understand what’s going on in the inner man of a person. It takes the Scripture to pierce that. I and II Kings will do it for you. But I and II Chronicles look at the same events from a divine perspective.

*****

“In the Old Testament you have some books that repeat things. For example, what’s in I Kings and II Kings is repeated in I and II Chronicles. God didn’t need to write two accounts of the same story just because He thought you didn’t read it enough the first time. There’s a completely different viewpoint.

“You know when you study Matthew, Mark, Luke and John you have four pictures of the life of Christ. You know it’s not designed to be a harmony, or one life of Christ. God could have written that if He had wanted to. But rather He gives you four pictures, four perspectives of Christ and there’s prophetic reasons for that. In fact, the Old Testament tells you there’s going to be a four-fold picture of Christ looking at the same person and same events from different perspectives.

“In Kings and Chronicles, it’s the same way. Kings looks at it from the human viewpoint. But when you look at same events in Chronicles, you’re looking more from the divine viewpoint.”

Wisdom to see THIS is the whole shooting match

God’s manifold wisdom is on display today before Satan’s angels as they see “the fellowship of the mystery” in action, and that’s why Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

“There’s spiritual wickedness in high places where those principalities and powers in the heavenlies don’t appreciate your ministry and they oppose it and you find yourself in hand-to-hand combat, wrestling,” explains Preacher Richard Jordan. “Not shooting across the river, but hand-to-hand combat against their opposition—their wiles and their tricks.

“It’s interesting that these principalities and powers observe the Body of Christ and are instructed by you. Look at I Corinthians 4:9, I Corinthians 11:10, I Timothy 5:2. The body truth working in the Body of Christ teaches them about God’s eternal purpose.

“You’ll see that eternal purpose in Ephesians 1:9-10. It has to do with ‘gathering together in one all things.’ God purposed to establish a universe and His objective was to populate it; an infinite universe with a perfect creation made in His own image which worshipped and owned Him as their sovereign, willingly choosing to own Him.

“Now when He set that purpose up, He purposed to demonstrate His worthiness to rule and to fill that universe. He didn’t just purpose to do it; a despot could arbitrarily do that. He purposed to demonstrate that He was WORTHY of a creation made in His image and that He was worthy of the FREE worship and subjection of that creation.

*****

“He sets up the creation and there upon is challenged by Lucifer, who goes out among the heavenly host and persuades the upper echelon, the principalities and powers, to rebel against God and go with him. A tremendous angelic conflict is established.

“God stops the rebellion, creates hell in which to destroy the devil and his angels. But He didn’t destroy them immediately and the reason for that is--when you think about it’s quite simple--how were the rest of creation ever to know for sure that Satan’s challenge against God’s authority wasn’t justified? You set up an authority and somebody challenges it, and just because you can knock them down, does it make it right? No.

“How would the rest of creation ever be sure that the challenge didn’t have any merit to it and that God, rather than Satan, deserved to rule the universe? God sets up a scheme whereby His own worthiness could be demonstrated. A situation whereby the rebels--Satan and his group--can demonstrate their ability and God can demonstrate His and the choice can logically be made then, can’t it? God can demonstrate that He is not an unreasonable despot, but rather He’s a worthy sovereign.

“That demonstration has been accomplished and what’s going on today in the Body of Christ is demonstrating God’s wisdom and His victory. Colossians 2:15 says, ‘And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.’

“Today, the demonstration has been accomplished and God’s wisdom has been exalted and all that remains now is for the execution of the plan to be consummated, and the reason that hasn’t been accomplished is God’s still forming the Body of Christ. As soon as that’s over with, this thing will get on the road!

“Look at I Corinthians 2:6-10. You see, the princes of this world have a wisdom; they have a wise plan but it comes to NOTHING. Big zero. There’s the wisdom of the world, human viewpoint, then there’s the wisdom of the princes of this world--that’s Satan’s policy of evil (Isaiah 14), but God has brought all of that to nothing.

“The passage says, [7] But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
[8] Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

“I Corinthians 3:19 says, [19] For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

“I mean, they thought they got it figured out and what happened? It backfires on them. Satan reached the climax of his career of deception. He started by developing a wise plan and going out among the angelic host and deceiving them into thinking his wise plan could overthrow God and had merit, but he reached the apex of that career of deception when he deceived HIMSELF!

“You see how wonderful that is?! And it was the wisdom of God that accomplished it because God kept a realm of knowledge and information a secret. He just kept a secret that caused Satan to do the very thing that would result in his undoing. Now that’s wisdom and that’s the wisdom we’re making known today.

*****

“Paul says in I Corinthians 2:9-10, [9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
[10] But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

“He’s revealed unto us the deep things of God. Isn’t that wonderful?! Can you understand why Satan doesn’t appreciate the mystery truth?! Why he doesn’t want people talking about the distinctive message and ministry of the mystery, because it’s the very thing that shows him out to be the fool and the unworthy one that he really is.

“Oh, that’s fascinating and Paul says, ‘I want people to see that truth of the mystery working, the fellowship of the mystery, because it demonstrates before the universe God’s wisdom and God’s eternal purpose to bring heaven and earth, the whole universe, under His authority in willing, joyous, happy subjection and submission to Him and His headship, and that He’s worthy of it.' THAT’S the demonstration being carried on today!

“Ephesians 3 says, ‘To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
[11] According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
[12] In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

“I mean, brother, if you understand what God’s done for you back in those verses you can have CONFIDENCE! I mean, folks, you’ve got a wonderful position and that passage right there is a fantastic truth to see.

*****

“I don’t how it is that people, when they see that truth, it doesn’t produce fruit. The most natural thing in the world is for the doctrine to produce duty, and when it doesn’t, people haven’t really seen it.

“It might be up in their noggin, but it hasn’t gotten into the heart; the mentality of their soul. It isn’t down there; it’s just a mental concept and what Paul’s talking about is people not just SEEING the doctrine, but seeing the LIVING aspect of it; the fellowship side.

“II Corinthians 5:10 says, [10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

“It doesn’t say receive FOR the things done in his body. To receive FOR would be to perform a task, cut down a tree, say, and then be paid $20 for doing it. So what did you receive? $20. Why? You cut the tree down.

“It says you’re going to receive the things done IN His body. Where’s God working in your life today? Aren’t you strengthened by His spirit in your inner man? Aren’t you renewed in your inner man? Where is your inner man? Isn’t it in your body?

“So if you receive the things done in your body, what are you receiving? You’re receiving what you did in your inner man! What Paul’s talking about, when you get to the ‘judgment seat of Christ,’ the degree of edification that you have experienced in your inner man is going to be manifested; put on display.

“All the other is taken away and just left right there to manifest the degree of edification of spiritual growth in Christlikeness; how much Christ has been formed in your inner man.

"THAT'S what you’re going to receive! 'The day will declare it.' All the other will be taken away and THAT’S what God’s going to put His approval on. ‘According to that he hath done,' is a reference to the edification that results in godliness in your inner man, whether it be good or bad.”

Mother lode (er, seed) of all Christmas messages

Yesterday afternoon I attended a ladies tea party at a friend’s house that reminded me of just the kind I used to pretend to have when I was a kid and by myself, using a toy-like plastic tea pot with tiny cups and saucers. How fun that, all these many years later, this was the real deal!

On the topic of how fortunate we all were to have found our church and be given the truth of the Bible, one friend commented, and I’m paraphrasing, “I for one would never have figured out on my own how Genesis 3:15 revealed God’s plan to defeat Satan through the seed of the woman. Someone had to teach me that.”

Of course, in the passage Eve is asked by God after she’s eaten the forbidden fruit, “What is this that thou hast done?” and she answers, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”

As the passage continues: [14] And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
[15] And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Preacher Richard Jordan explains in an old study, “When God says, ‘Upon thy belly shalt thou go,’ He’s not talking about not having any legs. Down South they would say ‘he’s lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut.’

“When you’re on your belly you’re as low as you can possibly get. Every other creature is above you. God’s saying, ‘Satan, you’re going to be the lowest of the low.’ What did Satan want to be? He wanted to ‘be like the most high.’ Now he’s going to be the most low. And there’s going to be a war going on; a war between the most low and the Most High.

“You see where He says ‘and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life’? You know what you’re made out of? Dust. You’re made out of dirt. ‘For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’

“This stuff that happened with Adam and Eve, He said, ‘Satan, you’re going to be the lowest of the low and you’re going to consume man. If man’s left to himself, you’re going to eat him alive,’ and Satan’s going to consume man’s body. Can I tell you that sin destroys you?! There is no free sin. There’s a ‘Pay Day Someday.’

“That thing about dust, go back with me to Luke 11: ‘And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
[12] And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
[13] And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.’

“When it says she’s bowed together, that means she’s bent over where she can’t lift herself up. When you’re bowed down like that, what are you looking at? Dust was all that woman could see. She couldn’t lift herself up. All she could see herself as was devil’s food. I mean, Satan wants to consume you; devour you.

“That’s where Israel was and Christ was the only one who could relieve her from that dust consciousness that she’d lived with for 18 years and spent all of her money trying to get healed from. Hello?! The only one to redeem her was the Lord Jesus Christ, when virtue went out of Him. You’ll see that in Genesis 3:15.

“The power to destroy Satan right there comes from the birth of a child, the seed of the woman. Isaiah 9:6 says, [6] For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

“That verse is on all kind of Christmas cards. A child is born (the first coming), unto us a son is given (Second Coming). You can’t have the Second Coming without the first, so there’s going to be a child, but He isn’t going to stay a baby.

“Everybody loves a baby but people don’t necessarily like adults. That’s why Christmas is so popular; it’s a little teeny baby. But the baby’s a big boy now and He went to Calvary and He died and He rose again.”

(new article tomorrow)

Rest like Ruth's in Boaz

Of all the names in the Book of Ruth, Ruth is the hardest one to find the definition for. In Cranes Bible Dictionary, the name is defined as “friendship, friend, companion, beauty.” C.I. Scofield has it as “friendship or beauty.”

“Probably the best definition is the one F.W. Grant gives: ‘Satisfied,’ ” says Jordan. “He means, ‘Someone who is satisfied.’ The Hebrew word actually refers to being tended to, like a shepherd tends to the flock.

“Then you have the name Boaz. If you look at Ruth 2:1 it says, [1] And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.

“That name Boaz means ‘in him is strength; the strong one.’ Boaz is a very important character in the Bible. II Chronicles 3:17 says, [17] And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

“When Solomon builds the temple, he makes two pillars for you to walk through when you go in. II Chronicles 3:15 says, [15] Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.

“Isn’t that a kick in the seat of the pants? You’ve got a pillar named after you in the temple. That name Jachin means ‘God will establish; He will stablish it.’ Boaz means ‘in him is strength.’ You had to pass between those two pillars; two pillars that represented by their names the person and work of the Messiah.

“There’s no way into the presence of God except through the person and the work of Israel’s Messiah. To understand Boaz, and in order for him to be a reality, that’s what the Book of Ruth is for. Without the Book of Ruth, there’d be no Boaz. There would be no entering into the presence of God.

“So all these characters in Ruth are important, the three most important ones being Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. They’re the three that have the greatest dispensational and doctrinal typology.

“Naomi represents the nation Israel, putting her trust in her husband, and yet trusting him more than she trusts God by following him into Moab. Ruth cleaves to Israel and says, as Ruth 1:16 reports, ‘Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.’

“When Boaz is talking to her, he says in Ruth 2:12, ‘The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.’ Ruth is a Gentile who understood God’s purpose in Israel better than Israel understood her purpose, and was clinging to Naomi with a faith even Naomi didn’t have!

*****

Considered an infinitely charming Old Testament book, with only four chapters, 85 verses and 2,578 words, Ruth, presumed to have been written by Samuel, represents one of two books in the Bible with a woman’s name. The other, of course, is Esther. While Ruth is a Gentile who marries a Jew, Esther is a Jew who marries a Gentile.

“Both of these books are books of history, prophecy and doctrine in typology and someone once said of Ruth that it is ‘one of the richest rewards of truly knowing the scripture,’ ” says Jordan. “Heart history appeals to people who have a heart. The stories based in appeal to affections are the ones that attract people, and Ruth is that way.

“There’s always a charm in a book that is filled with typology, and the main characters in Ruth are all pictures of God’s dealings with the nation Israel, and especially in the kinsman redeemer Boaz, who is a type of Christ.

“Ruth takes place during the deep dark period of Judges, but isn’t recorded until the early reign of David because Boaz is the predecessor of David. David is in Boaz’ line and Boaz is one of those key people in the Messiah’s line and now David can be Israel’s king.

“So, in that interlude between David and Solomon, where God is teaching Israel how He’ll work on their behalf, He writes a little romance book because the first thing Israel needs when they're under all that judgment is for Him to be their Kinsman Redeemer. The first thing the Davidic covenant provides for them is a Redeemer.

*****

“The term ‘kinsman’ is used about a dozen times in Ruth and Unger’s Bible Handbook is the first to refer to Ruth as 'the romance of redemption.'

“When you start at the beginning of the genealogy of Christ and count down the first ten guys you come to Noah. The tenth one in Shem’s line (the line of Christ) was Abraham. Boaz is the third tenth man. Matthew 1:5 says, 'And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse.' By the way, you can go on through the Old Testament and locate those other ‘tenth men,’ finding their significance. It’s fascinating.

“Boaz has some real insightful wisdom and a determined commitment and an undeterred love for Ruth to get the job of redemption done. Again, the picture is of the Messiah. It’s Israel in ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’ being saved by her Messiah.

*****

  

“While people used to sing at weddings, ‘Wither thou goest I will go, where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people,’ not many realize that’s really a song about Ruth’s mother-in-law talking to her daughter-in-law about life after her husband’s passing.

“Ruth’s problem was she was a Moabitess. Deuteronomy 23:3 says, 'An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever.'

“Although Ruth believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, her people were to be separated by ten generations. Now Ruth wasn’t like Tamar; she wasn’t a wicked person bound by the sins of the flesh. She’s not like Rahab the harlot, the Gentile woman living in Jericho.

"Ruth is a Gentile woman who has literally cleaved herself (remember, the man or woman 'shall leave their father and mother and cleave unto each other') and married herself to the nation Israel, and yet the law says, ‘You’re condemned.’

“There’s an old saying: ‘The law of God condemns the best of us and the grace of God saves the worst of us.’ Well, if the law condemns Ruth, the Moabitess, how can she fit into the genealogy of Matthew 1? She gets in by her husband, Boaz.

*****

“Boaz is Ruth and Naomi’s near kinsman, so Naomi tells Ruth, ‘You need to go and tell him who you are and present yourself to him and lay claim on him as one in need, knowing he can be your redeemer.’

“As Ruth 3 tells it, ‘And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.
[3] Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.
[4] And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.’

“There’s Boaz winnowing barley. Matthew 3 talks about the Lord Jesus Christ 'whose fan is in His hand and He will thoroughly purge His floor.' He’ll take the wheat and gather it into the garner. He'll take the Believers and burn up the chafe with unquenchable fire. You have a picture of that scene in Ruth 3.

“Verse 8 says, ‘And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.’ Midnight represents the tribulation as the dark hour of Jacob’s trouble. With the feet, there’s Israel in Revelation 12, identified as the woman that’s fled out into the wilderness, needing the redeemer.

“And Boaz said, ‘Who art thou?’ Notice she doesn’t try to cover up who she is: ‘I am Ruth thy handmaid. I’m Ruth the Moabitess.’ She acknowledges just who she is but adds, ‘I’m also your kin. I also desire to be a part of your family. And you can make it happen!’ And she lays claim on him as her kinsman redeemer and he responds.

*****

“Verse 11 is a wonderful statement. He says, ' I'll do everything you need done.’ In essence what he tells Ruth to do is, ‘You just sit down, trust me and I’ll go do everything that needs to be done to provide your redemption and rest.’

“You remember the Lord Jesus Christ hanging on the Cross of Calvary and He says, ‘It’s finished’? All you and I need to do is rest in what He’s done. That’s what Ruth has to do.

“I John 14 says, ‘And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.’ He became one of us; became ‘our near Kinsman.’ And while others may be kin to you, there literally may be closer than kin to you.

“You can’t redeem yourself and no one can redeem you because they just can’t—somebody who can’t redeem themselves can’t help you! That’s why religion won’t work! That’s why the prayers of the dead saints don’t do! That’s why you have to have a Kinsman Redeemer like Boaz, and that’s who the Lord Jesus Christ is. As the man Christ Jesus He’s our near kinsman and yet He’s God, thus able.

“In Luke 1, when Gabriel talks to Mary, he says that ‘the power of the highest shall overshadow thee and that holy thing which will be created in you will be called the son of the highest.’

“I know sometime people complain about that wording in the King James, saying, ‘Well, He’s not a thing; He’s a person!’ Well, I know that! They knew that! It says ‘holy thing’ because it’s emphasizing not the person, but the nature—the nature of who He is.

“And the contrast is in Isaiah 64:6 when it says, ‘But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.’ In our nature, we’re unclean. In His nature, He’s sinless, harmless, separate from sinners, pure without sin, able to be your Redeemer.

*****

“Ruth 1:9 says, ‘The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.’

“That’s been one of those jokes--Naomi obviously thought for a woman to find rest was to get married. The idea that a married woman is going to rest is kind of interesting but the rest here is not that kind of a thing; it’s the shelter.

“It’s the provision that God provides for a wife in a marriage relationship, and Israel under the law, and in the governmental system they had, it was a tremendous position. A woman who was unmarried had to more or less fend for herself, but being married she had a covering and a provider.

“Naomi is looking for rest for Ruth. If Ruth gets rest then so does Naomi, and that’s the real quest. Ruth’s been a Bible-believer and she’s been one who has found shelter under the wings of the Lord God of Israel.

“One of the things the Kinsman Redeemer had an obligation to do was to redeem the lost inheritance; the property of a family. Keep it in the tribe. Another was to raise up a posterity to a fallen brother.

“In Scripture, a threshing floor represents judgment, so what Ruth’s literally going to do is go down to the place of judgment, the threshing floor, during the time of winnowing. The harvest is over and now it’s time to separate the chafe from the wheat. That’s what the tribulation is about for Israel, by the way.

“Ruth is at the threshing floor but she doesn’t find judgment. She finds love; she finds her redeemer. Hosea 2: 14-16: ‘Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
[15] And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
[16] And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.’

*****

“Picturewise, Ruth is in that day when the Lord is ready at the threshing floor to bring salvation to His people. What Naomi told Ruth is to go get ready to be a bride. Ruth came to Boaz and said, ‘I’m not trying to make a scene here; this is just betwixt you and me, spread your skirt over me, enter into a covenant of marriage with me.’ Why? ‘Because you’re my kinsman.’

“Now, that was an act of bravery, but mostly an act of faith. She’s asking him just to claim her and it’s a legal claim. You see, what Boaz had been looking for was a Bible-believer, too. When you read verse 10, can you just see how he’s kind of happy about what’s going on? He’s rejoicing and what he’s rejoicing in is that she wasn’t just looking for a young husband or a bunch of money.

“One of the obstacles between the two was Boaz was evidently much older than her but she wasn’t looking for a good time and a sugar-daddy. She was looking for a Bible-believer and he was too.

“Zephaniah 3:16-17 says, [16] In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
[17] The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

“That’s a passage we could spend the rest of evening looking at--how the Lord rejoices over the Believing Remnant in Israel in 'the last day.' God’s going to be thrilled and rejoicing as He sees His plan and purpose fulfilled with Israel. You remember the guy on the A-Team: ‘I love it when a plan comes together.’ That’s God’s attitude.

“Isaiah 62:5 says, [5] For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.’

"That’s what Boaz is doing right there. He’s rejoicing over a bride.

Ruth 3:11 says, [11] And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

"Notice He’s going to do all that she needs done and He’s going to do it all by Himself. Ruth rested all that night at the feet of Boaz, resting in the fact he would do what needed to be done and promised to do. Now that’s where real rest is. I don’t know how many nights of sleep she’d had like that before, but I imagine this was a good night of sleep for her as she rested in her Kinsman’s promise.”

Timing is everything with God

While the genealogy of Joseph is in Matthew 1, the genealogy of Mary is in Luke. The genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ begins in Luke 3:23: [23] And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.

“Joseph married Mary and they had a bunch of other kids and Jesus is the first-born of the family, so in the eyes of people it looked like he was Joseph’s son,” says Jordan. “In fact, there’s a place in Luke 4 where they said, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’

“Notice there are 77 names in the genealogy in Luke and they go all the way back to Adam. That’s significant for a couple of reasons, but the thing I want you to see is that those 77 names, at the appointed time Jesus is born of Mary . . . Galatians 4:4 says, ‘[4] But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.’

“There was a point in time God had preplanned the conception and the birth of Jesus and 280 days after the conception was the birth. That’s why God used that pagan ruler Caesar Augustus— He literally manipulated a godless, unbelieving devil-worshipping ruler to accomplish the political things in the earth in order that Jesus be born, not in Nazareth, where his mom and Joseph live, but in Bethlehem where Micah, 700 years before this, said Christ would be born.

“Part of the wonders of the birth of Christ, as natural as the surroundings were, was that there were supernatural things going on in the background all the time where God’s orchestrating, not just the timing, but the place, and using all kind of people who have no idea they’re being used.

“In order to have his birth here at the right time, 77 generations before, things had to be put into place. Now, that means this was not an afterthought on God’s part by any means.

*****

“Jeremiah 32 is the 777^th chapter in the Bible. By the way, this stuff will only come true in a King James Bible. Jeremiah is going to be given a sign by God and communicate a sign about the return of Israel to her land.

“Just like there are 77 generations in Luke 3, now we’re in the 777^th chapter of the Bible and you’ll see the connection in a minute.

“Jeremiah 32 reports, ‘And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
[10] And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.
[11] So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open:
[12] And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
[13] And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
[14] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.

“So He makes a written document. We would say, ‘I made out the deed to the land, had it signed and notarized and then sealed up.’ So I took the evidence of the purchase. I’ve got a title deed that I bought the land.

“He’s got two copies. One is sealed where you can’t get to it and the other is open for you to read. Israel’s fixing to go off into that 5^th Course of captivity, be taken out of the land, not just for 70 years, but for generations to come.

"But before God sent them out in Jeremiah, He said, ‘I’m going to give you a token. I don’t want you leave the land without any hope. I want you to know I’m going to bring you back in.’

“Jeremiah 30:1 says [1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
[2] Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
[3] For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
[4] And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

“Over 203 times, the Bible identifies God as the Lord God of Israel. There’s no other nation, no other religion, no other group of people on the planet in all of history that the God of the Bible ever said, ‘I’m their God, I’m their God, I’m their God, I’m their God.’

  

“God says, ‘Write the words on a piece of paper, scribe them and put them in a book.’ So God writes down some words and puts it in ‘the book of the purchase,’ as He calls in Jeremiah 32. I love that. God has scribed a title deed.

“You’ll see this book again in Revelation 5 when Jesus comes and unseals the sealed book. But what’s happening here in Jeremiah is you’re getting the title deed to the land and God’s saying, ‘I’m going to come back and scribe it in a book, put it into my book, and your land's going to be there.’

“He wrote all those words in a book and said, ‘I want you to have a hope. You’ve got one copy that’s sealed until the Second Coming of Christ and one that’s unsealed.’

*****

“Again, you’ve got two books. First coming and Second Coming. There’s the preservation of it. Now, this is one of those mind-blowing things--verse 14 says to take the ‘evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.’

“As soon as you see that phrase ‘earthen vessel,’ you think of II Corinthians 4:7: [7] But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

“Who’s the earthen vessel for Jeremiah? Where did God put His word? Go to Jeremiah 18 and He goes to the potter’s house and the potter makes the vessel and the vessel is the nation Israel. He says, ‘I’m the potter; you’re the clay.’

“So God entrusts His Word to the nation Israel, but you know what He’s done in the dispensation of grace? He’s entrusted that word to US. Why? So it can be preserved.

“One of the mechanisms God has used all through human history, all through His dealings with man--one of the designs of preservation--is to use His people. Not an institution, not an organization, not a big-fangled . . . 

"Rome says, ‘Well, without the church you wouldn’t have the Bible.’ No, without the Bible you wouldn’t have the church.' If you have the Bible, you’d never have any kind of monstrosity like the Roman church, Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and abominations of the earth.

*****

“Exodus 20 is the 70^th chapter in the Bible. Seventy is a multiple of seven and seven is the number of perfection in the Bible. You know what happens in Exodus 20? God gives Israel and the world the Ten Commandments. The 70^th chapter begins, [1] And God spake all these words, saying.

“He didn’t say God GAVE this message, this idea. It says God spake some w-o-r-d-s. You notice we read in Jeremiah 30 and 32 that He says to ‘write down these w-o-r-d-s.’ You’re writing down words on a page that God spoke.

“If you count the words in Exodus 20:1, there are seven. God is interested in the perfection of His Word. All of these words.

“Revelation 21:5 says, [5] And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

“The same thing’s going on all the way to the end of your Bible. That’s why you come over to Revelation 22:18, and I know people like to say, ‘Well, that’s just the Book of Revelation,’ but listen, if you read your Bible, and you study your Bible by reading it, ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration,’ and Revelation is part of a Book that goes all the way back to the Book of Genesis.

"In fact, most of the things that happen in Revelation found their beginning in Genesis. But God’s interested in the perfection of His words all the way through His Bible, so that when you get to the end of His Bible, as Revelation 22:18 says, [18] For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.

“You see that? There’s some w-o-r-d-s written down in a BOOK. That’s why we are ‘the people of a Book.’ That verse is the conclusion of an attitude that begins at the beginning! All the way through God’s Word, that’s the way God feels about His Word!

*****

“Listen, if you could take that title deed God gave Israel to the land that’s sealed today and Jesus will open one day . . . if you could change that title deed, if that evidence of the purchase was ever lost, the ‘god of this world’ would take over dominion in heaven and earth and Satan would get the heaven and earth that he desires, and be like the Most High and have it as his own.

“All that has to happen is ONE w-o-r-d from God. ‘I have spoken all these words.’ You better have a Bible where ALL the words in it are words God wants in it! That’s a Bible Believer’s attitude, and the only way you’re going to do that is to have a King James Bible.

“God’s Word is important, and when you see that genealogy in Luke 3, and you see the events in Luke 2, timing is everything with God, and one of the things you learn from that genealogy in Luke 3 is that the birth of the Lord Jesus--His conception, His birth, His coming--the events of His life and death and so forth; these things were not an afterthought on the part of God.

“People say, ‘Well, what happened was that God got caught by surprise.’ No, He didn’t. He had it ALL planned, and when the fullness of time--the right point in time--came, He sent forth His son. You have to understand that absolutely none of this (Christ’s birth, death, resurrection) caught God by surprise.

“Here’s a strange verse. Revelation 13:8 says, [8] And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

“So how long had Jesus Christ been slain? I Peter 1 says from the foundation of the world. Well, you know He wasn’t literally slain from the foundation of the world because He wasn’t born until 4 B.C., or whatever they say it was.

“Before God put the world into operation, laying the foundation thereof, He knew when, where and how His Son was going to die. It wasn’t an afterthought.

“I Peter 1:18-20 says, [18] Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
[19] But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
[20] Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

“God planned this thing. He foreordained it. Now, when God foreordains something, He preplans and states that it’s going to happen.”

The one everybody's singing about

One of the great messages of Christmas is that Jesus Christ’s life DID NOT begin with the babe in the manger. Mary, the virgin, gave birth to His humanity but His person as God had been there ALL along. Before the beginning ever began, God the Father and God the Son were in a personal, face-to-face, intimate relationship loving one another.

As John 1:18 says, [18] No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Preacher Richard Jordan explains, “When it says ‘no man hath seen God at any time,’ John’s talking about God the Father. How are you going to have God revealed to you? It’s going to be by God the Son. He’s the spokesman of the godhead. He is the Word, capital ‘w’ for a proper name.

“That verse means that every time God appeared in the Old Testament, who was it? It wasn’t the Father; it was the Son. There are places where people in Old Testament saw God—Moses, for example. But who He was seeing was God the Son. Why? Because God the Son is the revealer. He’s the Word. He’s the one who COMMUNICATES to us from the godhead.

“Someone once said the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who ‘brings God out from behind the curtain.’ That’s what that word ‘exegy’ means. You take the godhead out from obscurity and put them on stage and put the lights on them. That’s what Christ does.

*****

“In John 20 is one of the most marvelous statements in the Scripture about the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The passage says:

[24] But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

[26] And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

[27] Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

[28] And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

[29] Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

“Thomas is not going to believe unless he can see. They’re in the room, the doors shut. It doesn’t say ‘for fear of the Jews’ like it did back in verse 19, when they were assembled because of being afraid.

"He told them ‘Peace’ back then and that peace had taken care of the fear but here they are still in that room and Christ repeats the miracle from before by appearing again in their midst, doing it for Thomas’ benefit. Thomas is the doubter.

“Now, that statement by Thomas, recognizing him as 'My Lord and my God,’ is one of the great statements about who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Here’s somebody who knew Him, was conscious of who He was, was able to identify Him when he saw Him.

"Thomas looks at Jesus; he’d seen Him dead, he understood His death had to do with the Crosswork, he understood He’d been nailed and had the spear in His side. He understood death and said, ‘Before I’m going to believe that He’s alive, I’m going to have to see the physical evidence to the fact.’

*****

“What you’ve got here is another one of these tremendous eyewitness testimonies based on personal knowledge that Jesus Christ is resurrected. What Thomas is saying is, ‘He’s the resurrected one. He’s Jehovah, my Lord, and the resurrected Savior.’

“Like I said, that’s one of the great deity statements in all of the Bible. The new bibles often leave out terminology that exalts the Lord. It’s fascinating in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John how often the new versions just leave out the title ‘Lord.’ People don’t think anything of it but that’s a terrible thing to do. Oftentimes they’ll take the verses that describe His deity and water them down.

“But here’s one that nobody’s ever messed with. The Book of John does that all the way through. Verse 30 of that same passage in John 24 says, [30] And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.’ The Book of John is written to convince people to believe, as verse 29 says.

“That’s who Peter talks about in I Peter 1 when he writes, ‘Whom having not seen yet have ye loved.’ Hebrews 11 talks about Moses ‘seeing him who’s invisible.’

“In other words, faith resting in the truth of God’s Word is where faith comes; eyewitness accounts aren’t always that reliable. Faith in a reliable, trustworthy report—a book, a message—is where faith has its real foundation.

*****

“I talked to a Jehovah’s Witness once, and of course, they don’t believe in the deity of Christ. They believe He’s an angel; a created being.

“That verse in Colossians 1 where Paul says that ‘all things were created BY him,’ their bible says ‘all OTHER things were created by him.’ In other words, God the Father creates the Son and he creates everything else. It’s called Arianism and it goes all the way back to the early days of church history and that’s the idea; that Jesus isn’t an equal member of the godhead, He’s a created god.

“This Jehovah’s Witness told me, ‘You know, I go around all the time asking people who believe in the deity of Christ to show me a verse of scripture that says He’s God and they don’t have verse for it.’ I thought, ‘Well, I’m glad you asked me that, because I’ve got half a dozen verses.’

“John 1:1 says, [1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. When it says ‘the Word was with God,’ it’s talking about how they had this face-to-face relationship, but that makes them two different people.

“There’s a thing in theology called ‘modalism.’ The mode in which God manifests Himself. He’s the same person manifesting Himself in three different modalities. But that’s NOT what the Bible teaches.

“The Bible teaches that in the beginning was the Word, the second person of the godhead, and the Word was with God the Father. They are a separate, distinct entity from one another with a face-to-face fellowship. When it says the word WAS God, that makes Him equal, co-substantial; co-equality of essence and rank. He always was who He is.

“John 1:3 says, 'All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.' That last part--‘without him was not any thing made’--is added in there so you can know that He’s not a created being. He’s not a creature. He’s the one that made everything that’s made.

*****

“There’s not any religion on the face of the earth that does or ever has had anybody like the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s not a philosophy, not a system of economics, or politics, or academia that has anything like Him. No religion.

“One of fascinating things about all this is humans are always talking about, ‘How do you know something’s true?’ There are a lot of evidences that God is--not just direct ones, but just common sense evidences that come along.

“I was reading a book where the guy made the point, ‘Where’s anybody who ever sang, ‘Oh how I love Buddha, oh how I love Buddha.’ Nobody sings, ‘Allah paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain; Allah washed it white as snow.’

“Do you know there are thousands of songs written about one person, the Lord Jesus Christ? Love songs. Do you know that’s the kind of songs people write? I mean, whether they’re hillbilly songs, rock songs, contemporary music, people write songs about what they love; what they value and esteem, what captures their heart.

“The last thing John says in the Book of John is, ‘And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.’

“The songwriter says, ‘Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.’

“How in the world do you explain the fact that no religion in the world has anybody writing love songs about their religion and how much it’s done for them and then along here comes the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 69 says He’s going to be the song of drunkards. Even drunks write songs about Him.

*****

“You get out there in the world and listen to the songs. You know the Sinatra lyric, ‘Chicago, Chicago, the town that Billy Sunday could not shut down.’ You know that line? Why? They’re bragging about the fact that Billy Sunday went all over America preaching the gospel and getting people saved and yet he couldn’t . . .

“In northwest Alabama, there’s a little town called Reform. The Billy Sunday of the South was a man named Sam Jones. He did in the South what Billy Sunday did in the Midwest and East. Jones went into that town and it was a mecca of gambling and the liquor trade.

“He preached the gospel for about three months and people got saved left and right and the newspaper accounts of it are that by the time Jones got through with that revival . . . They said if you wanted to cuss you did it under your breath. All the liquor establishments were closed down. All the bars were closed down. All the gambling houses were closed down. The city council voted to change the name of the town to Reform!

"What is that?! That’s the power of a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:28 says, [28] Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

“Who was it on the Cross shedding His blood? Christ. But whose blood was that? Who really was that on the Cross? It was God. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. It was God’s blood that flowed through Emmanuel’s veins.

“Just about everything you can think of, you can think of a gospel song or hymn that takes any experience in life and relates it to a love affair with the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s the Word; He’s the one who brings God into every aspect and facet and experience of our life.

“I John 4:7 is a fascinating verse of scripture: [7] Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

“If you’re going to love people, you’re going to have to know God. And if you don’t know God, you’re not going to know how to love people. You go out into the world we live in and it’s filled with strife, envy, hatred, violence, crime, on and on.

“People say, ‘If we could just take that away and let us have peace.’ You know the only thing that will satisfy that? ‘Love one another.’ It’s the only source to get rid of war, all this opposition.

“People think if you just have an egalitarian society where everything’s equal--love everybody, accept everybody, let everything be okay. Don’t call evil ‘evil’ or good ‘good,’ and that way you get rid of all the conflicts. And if you can get rid of conflicts you can get rid of war, right? Wrong.

“Look at what God says: ‘[2] And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Paul writes in Romans 3:25, [25] Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

“Love is associated with God coming down into our humanity and sacrificing Himself for our sin. ‘He put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.’ Love has to do with dealing with SIN.”

Jesus: 'Abide in me, and I in you'

Psalm 37 advises, “[1] Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
[2] For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
[3] Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
[4] Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
[5] Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

“How do you trust in the Lord; commit your way to the Lord? First, you’ve got to know the Lord and know His mind,” explains Preacher Richard Jordan. “How are you going to trust Him if you don’t know Him? How can you trust Him if you don’t know what to trust Him about?

“Verse 4 says to ‘delight thyself in the Lord.’ That means you need to know some things about the Lord to be delighted about. People make all this stuff up; they say they talk to the Lord and He talks to them. They make a God in their own mind and delight in their own God.

“James 4:3 says, ‘They ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.’ That’s what religion does! Religion is just designed to satisfy the lust of your flesh. And it will create a God who will do that for you.

“But the way you do what’s in Psalm 37, and this is a tremendous psalm, is in verse 1: ‘Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. fret not iniquity.’

*****

“If you ever wanted to see some people who had reason to worry and the antidote for it, it’s this Believing Remnant in the tribulation looking out and seeing evil prosper. What are they to do?

“Proverbs 3:6 says, ‘In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.’

“Jesus says, ‘If you abide in me, focus on who I am and value me more than anything else and let your mind be controlled by my word, you know what will happen? You’ll have the knowledge to ask the right things that ought to be accomplished.’

“By the way, do you remember the old adage about prayer? A-S-K. ‘Ask, seek, knock.’  If you go back and read Matthew 7:7 (‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you’), the people Christ’s talking to in the context are fruitful believers. That’s on the Sermon on the Mount.

“John 15:8 says, ‘Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.’ When you are bearing fruit, the way you bear fruit is you abide in Him, you draw your resources from Him and you have your thinking regulated by His Word. If you do that, you’re going to bear fruit; the outward expression of that inner life.

*****

“Jesus Christ says in John 15:4, ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.’

“In verse 7, He says it a little differently: ‘If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.’

“That helps you define verse 4 when He says, ‘Abide in me, and I in you.’ ‘You abide in me, you keep your heart focused on me and you be occupied with me,’ Christ says in preparing the apostles to go through ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble.’

“To abide in something is to stay there. Constantly. You don’t leave. This is home. You’re going to dwell there. You’re going to be there not just occasionally, not sporadically, not fitfully, but this is where your heart’s going to be OCCUPIED.

“ ‘And if my word abides in you.’ There’s those two issues here. ‘Your heart’s going to be occupied with me, keep your eyes on me, look to Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith,’ it says in Hebrews, ‘but also have your life regulated by the Scripture.’

“They’re to be focused on who Christ is and what He’s provided for them. They’re to take their stand and just rest in who God’s made them and the provisions God’s going to equip them with in Christ and then let their thinking and their actions be regulated by what His word has to say.

*****

“By constantly, habitually communing with God through His Word until it becomes the substance of their inner being—that’s exactly what Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36 tell them is going to take place.

“He’s going to take His law and write it in their hearts and that law that He writes in their hearts is going to cause them—there’s going to be an internal compulsion that comes from the Word written in their heart that causes them to keep His commandment; that internal empowering. He’s talking about, ‘That’s the provision and that’s where you want to be.’ ”

(new article tomorrow)