God delights in being One who reveals Himself

"The thing that can give you the humility of mind grace produces is to take a moment and think about all the wonderful privileges God's given you in your life," advises Jordan. 

"We literally have this personal, intimate, real, genuine, authentic relationship with God the Father that allows us to relate to Him on exactly the same basis that Jesus Christ does.

"He doesn't relate to you in His godheadness; omniscient, omnipotent, the Holy Other, the Transcendent One. He comes and relates to you, not in all the essences He has, but in His person. He isn't just all those other things; He's also life and love; He's personal, relational.

"Every member of the godhead, they spontaneously and forever live for the good and the benefit of the other members. They're always looking out for the others in the godhead. That's God's life and it's that kind of relationship that you and I in Christ now have and that's what the Holy Spirit's job is . . .

"One of my favorite verses in Ephesians is Ephesians 2:18: [18] For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

"It's the function and the work of the Holy Spirit to take you, and by that WORK of the Holy Spirit, lead you into that intimate relationship with the Father that Jesus Christ has provided for you. That's a wonderful, fantastic kind of relationship."

What breaks endless cycle of vanity?

The only religion God ever established He gave to the nation Israel through the hand of Moses. Called the law of Moses, the Bible calls it pure religion because it came straight from the hand of the Creator.

"By the time of the Lord Jesus they had corrupted it and Paul called it 'the Jews' religion,' " reminds Jordan. "They had turned it into their manmade religion. Mark 7: [6] He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. [7] Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctines the commandments of men.[8] For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men,

"You see what they've done? They've taken what God said and laid it aside and taken up tradition that they've imposed on it. Verse 13: [13] Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

"You can take tradition and impose it on what God says and when you do that, verse 7 says 'in vain do they worship me.' The worship is empty, valueless, it's just futile living.

"When we talk in Ephesians 6 about parenting, you can have a futile, vain parenting or you can have a spirit-filled parenting. You can have a vain, futile, worthless, empty living or you can have a living that's designed the way your Creator designed you to live.

*****

"That issue of vanity in your Bible is a very important topic and it's important to think about today. Paul writes in I Corinthians 5:

[17] And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
[18] Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
[19] If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

"Solomon was the wisest man and yet there came a point in Solomon's life where, instead of depending on God's wisdom, he said, 'I'm going to go find out wisdom on my own.'

"He laid aside the commandment of God and sought wisdom through his own experience and the result of that is the Book of Ecclesiastes. This book is written almost a thousand years before the time of Christ.

"All of the great philosophers of the ancient world who have shaped world history--the Greeks, Romans, the Athenians--you can find every one of their philosophies expressed in Ecclesiastes. It's the strangest thing in the world.

"You know what they did? They simply took the wisdom of God, didn't give credit to it, and repeated it. Solomon in Ecclesiastes examined ALL of the thinking that men go through. He condensed it down into one book. He said, 'Here's all the vain thinking people operate on.'

"All of the philosophers of the world lay aside God's Word, reject it and take up human viewpoint. Isn't that what Romans 1 said? They said, 'We don't want God's revelation.' You know what that leaves you with? A goose egg. It leaves you with your noodle trying to figure things out and you can't do it. You become vain, empty, worthless in your imaginations. You begin to develop all these wise ideas that come out of nothing, emptiness.

" 'We are of all men most miserable.' In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says that one thing, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we shall die.

"And when you're dead, you're dead like a dog. It's over with. That's what the philosophy of the world is and, if there isn't hope in Jesus Christ, if there isn't something beyond right now, then you're just living a vain, miserable, worthless life. Because all there is ahead for you is the hole in the ground. Tomorrow's just a Bronx Cheer. You see how important the resurrection is?

"Psalm 39: [5] Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. [6] Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

"You young folks don't get that but older folks will tell you that's true. You say, 'Where'd it go so fast?!' 'Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.'

"The best you have is nothing. You won't win friends and influence people with that message.

"I just picked out some of these real encouraging verses in Ecclesiastes. In Adam, because of man's fall, man in his best state is just a pile of dust, a puff of wind; he's a dream, he's a shadow, he's a pillar of smoke, he's a worm, he's just this curiosity. In his best state he's just an empty shell.

"Ecclesiastes 5: 15: [15] As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

"The message is, 'Naked you come in, naked you go out.' You know what life is? One generation's born, it passes away and you know what it takes with it? It leaves it all behind. Well, what was I doing when I was doing what I was doing? No matter what I accomplished in life--fame, fortune, money, education, prestige--you know what happens? I die and it's gone. I've got nothing that lasts. It's just an illusion. I thought I had something but I didn't.

"When he says that, he's talking about this. Ecclesiastes 1: [1] The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

[2] Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
[3] What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
[4] One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

[5] The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

"What are you getting out of everything you're doing in your life every day? Some of you are just starting out in life--you're still going to school. Some of you are raising your family.

"He says, 'What profit hath a man?' Verse 4 is what happens. You know what vanity is? One generation is born, they die, the next generation is born and they die, and the next generation is born and they die, and nothing changes. The earth is just still here. You try to build a legacy, have a family line, but you're not there; you're in a hole in the ground.

*****

"I love that verse in Acts 13 where it says David, the great king and bard of Israel, served his generation and 'fell on sleep.' You know what that means? He did all the things he did and, poof, he dies. If dying was the end of things, what did he have? Nothing. It was meaningless.

"Look at Ecclesiastes 8:14: [14] There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

"You know how that happens; you've seen that. Here's a wicked guy and it looks like he's blessed and he gets ahead. Here's another guy doing what's right and he's taking it in the neck all the time. What is that? It doesn't seem fair.

"People say, 'Well, if I was God, that's not what I would let happen.' That's the randomness of the curse. Listen, the curse of sin that causes vanity in the earth is a random thing. That randomness he's talking about here is how life operates in a fallen world. We live in a creation GOVERNED by that curse of sin.

"Jesus Christ took sin's curse and paid the price for it and redeemed me. Bought me out of the hock shop of sin and put me in His righteousness. He redeemed me so over there in the future He could come back and take possession of this possession He bought.

"The thing that changes the cycle of vanity, the cycle of the curse--the thing that changes that cycle of one generation comes and passes and another generation comes and passes, is the resurrection! It's the resurrection of Jesus Christ and your participation in it.

"I hope you follow what I'm trying to tell you. Listen, all that vanity out there in the world, that's all there is out in the world, and if it wasn't for the resurrection, all that stuff that was just the cycle of a sin-cursed world, good, bad or indifferent, that time and chance bring into your life . . . I mean, think about what your investing into your life and what are you going to have at the end?

" 'If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.' What you believe makes a difference. You've seen people reach the pinnacle of their chosen pursuit. Money, fame, education, religion, family. They reach out and have it all and find it an empty suit. In the finances of the world, the thrill is in the pursuit, not in the gaining of the prize. You know what that is? That's the illusion.

"Verse 20: [20] But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

"Generations that come and pass isn't true for us because of the resurrection. It's the resurrection of Christ that breaks that cycle. [21] For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

"Apart from Christ's resurrection and our participation in it, there's no escape from vanity. In Acts 2, Peter's first message was, 'You with wicked hands crucified Him and God raised Him up.' Why? To sit on David's throne. God had a purpose for Him and He didn't just die; God raised Him up and Israel's going to get all her promises based upon that.

"In Paul's first message, he talks about you know what? Christ died and then God raised Him up. Acts 13: [34] And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.

[35] Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
[36] For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
[37] But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.

"He's raised `no more to see corruption.' His death completely put away sin. In Hebrews 9, it says, [27] And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: [28] So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

Guidebook on unsaved's unthankfulness

"In the Bible we learn the entire world is saturated with pride and we know why and we know why it hardens," explained Preacher Alex Kurz in his Thanksgiving message. "The mind becomes implacable and it's hardened in pride. It's difficult to penetrate it with light and truth and understanding; they have no means of access.

"Satan is a king over all 'the children of pride,' says the Bible. The unsaved humanity is a mirror image of their father the devil and he is the reigning authority over all his children. Pride courses through their veins and because of that pride, there is this ungrateful response to the things of God. They're not thankful.

"Satan has this proudful ambition to usurp what is rightfully God's; what belongs rightfully to the Creator, and ever since Genesis 3, unsaved humanity falls right into the lap of that prideful desire to achieve, to ascend, to make a name for one's self. Did he not offer to Eve, 'Ye shall be as gods'? He's saying to her, 'You see, you don't have to be inferior, you don't have to play second fiddle; you deserve better.' 

"The same individuals who are lifted up in self-adoration, self-love (Paul says they are lovers of their own selves), they're boasters, a bunch of braggarts. They're haughty, and not only that, they're proud.

"When you study what pride is, and surely we could go to a dictionary, pride simply is a preoccupation with self. There is this excessive desire to be the attention, to be appreciated and adored. There's this unhealthy desire to be admired by others.

"When you find pride in the Bible, you find this lustful desire to be the center of attention. What often happens as a result is you will see a proudful person begin to look at others with contempt. That haughty spirit of puffed up arrogance will lead one to begin to look down on others. There is this false sense of conceited superiority that leads toward looking at others as being inferior.

"Pride, by Bible definition, is extremely deadly, extremely dangerous, and there is this link between pride and unthankfulness. In Romans 1, right off the bat, as the Apostle Paul indicts humanity, [21] Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. [22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, when they knew god they glorified him not as God.

"In their attitude of unthankfulness and ingratitude they rely upon their haughty sense of professing wisdom. Notice, neither were they thankful, but they became vain in their imaginations. They replaced that spirit of thankfulness. They displaced any gratitude that should have been expressed because of the creative power and wisdom of Almighty God, and what they did is they suppressed any attitude of thanksgiving with vain imaginations.

"II Corinthians 10:5 says, [5] Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

"The idea here is that humanity--they presume, they assume they know what's happening. They assume they know what's going on. They assume they know how man came into existence. They assume they know how God thinks in some ways as well.

"Paul says meekness is the capacity to bring into subjection every thought to the obedience of Christ. It's not so much bringing my thoughts so that I'm always obeying Christ, but rather, just like Jesus Christ in meekness chose to obey His Father. Meekness is not weakness. Rather, it's the ability to restrain power, ability, strength. To restrain one's prerogatives. He chose not to exercise His royal rights and prerogatives as an equal co-member of the godhead. He chose to restrict His divine abilities.

"Jeremiah 49:16: [16] Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

"Pride deceives and convinces you of something that just simply isn't true. It distorts reality. By the way, the idea of vain imaginations--again, Paul, when he talks about the imagination and every high thing, it's talking about prideful understanding and wisdom. So when you think about the deception, it's all imaginary! A proudful person convinces themselves, 'I am right; you're wrong.' Pride convinces that person of things that just simply are not true.

"Psalm 73:6 says, 'Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.' Pride is bondage; it makes you a slave. it's like a chain of enslavement.

Proverbs 13:10: [10] Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

Proverbs 16:[5] Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

[6] By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
[7] When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
[8] Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
[9] A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

"Proverbs 6:16-17: [16] These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: [17] A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

"By the way, that's No. 1 on the list. The No. 1 abomination is a proud look. When it says a proud look, it's not suggesting that somebody looks proud, or has the appearance of pride. It's talking about a pride-filled person who evaluates and sees everything or everyone as being beneath them, as being inferior; as being unworthy.

"It's not a, 'Look, man, he dresses proudly,' or, 'He looks proud,' but rather it's the way he evaluates, the way he perceives. The proud look is the way he interprets his surroundings. Again, there is that twisted sense of superiority of the one who has the proud look. He views things through the lens of that empty, vain, imaginative, haughty pride that would lift himself in exaltation against the knowledge of God; against what God is saying and against all that God is doing."

Because Satan hates 'mud men' so much?

This summer, Ohio Preacher David Reid gave a YouTube study (Columbus Bible Church channel) entitled, "Living in Unusual Times":

"Satan hates the Body of Christ. Think through this with me because this is absolutely fascinating. If we hide 'the mystery,' and I ask you, what does the Bible say about how God is going to reconcile the heavens?

"When Satan and his minions rebelled, that's roughly a third of heaven. What does God do? He can destroy them but then there's a void in heaven; that heavenly government's destroyed.

"There's nowhere in Scripture where Satan and his minions get a second chance. They're going to end up in hell.

"Without 'the mystery,' what's the answer to how God's going to reconcile the heavens? It was a secret. God forms the Body of Christ. Our rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ are described as crowns. A crown is a position of governmental authority. It's a position of responsibility. Who are we replacing? Satan and his minions, the principalities and powers, the spiritual wickedness in high places, 

"Right now this very minute, Satan and his minions remain in those positions, but the Body of Christ is one day taking those positions formally occupied by them. It's happening! 

"Romans 16:20 says, 'And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.'  Isn't that something? Satan's going to be bruised under our feet. He's going to spend all eternity in the lake of fire. He's going to be tormented there. The dictionary meaning of the word torment is torture.

"How do you think Satan feels about this? Do you think he's happy about it? Do you think he resents you with every fiber of his being? What a humiliation. God's going to kick him out and replace them with these people made out of mud. We were formed of the dust of the earth. Your body is largely water. That's what God's using to displace Satan and his minions in the heavens.

"Let's just accept it for what it is. Satan hates the Body of Christ with a burning passion. He can do nothing to your spiritual body. When you get caught up at the Rapture, you have a spiritual body he can't harm. There's not a thing he can do to you then, so you know what he's doing right now? Satan wants to cause the most harm he can; he wants to cause the Body of Christ as much pain and suffering and problems as he can.

"So is this world going to make sense? Satan is 'the god of this world.' This world is going to be run in a way that is corrupt, evil, wicked and it's going to be oriented in a way that has hatred toward the Body of Christ.

"And you know what? He can make your life awkward or uncomfortable or unpleasant for a teeny little moment. That's it. You win, you win, you win. He's going to enjoy this moment of causing trouble, but it is a very brief window and that power will be taken from him."

******

Here's a comparison study of Pastor Richard Jordan's on Genesis and the Book of Revelation:

"Adam studies the creatures and gives names to every one of them in the earth. In Revelation, you see the Lord Jesus Christ giving a new name to the saints. 

"Adam and Eve are deceived by Satan and fall into sin and in Revelation, you see the deception of Satan where the nations of the earth are deceived by him and fall. Adam is defeated by Satan, but in Revelation, Christ defeats Satan. Paul says He's going to bruise Satan under our heel shortly.

"Adam fell and he became naked. In Revelation, when the saints are redeemed they're not naked; they're clad with the white raiment that's called the reward for the righteousness of the saints over there.

"Before you get your glorified body, what do you have on while you're up there in heaven? Paul in II Corinthians 5 calls it being naked; being a soul without a body. The old body's in the grave and the new body hasn't come. What we'll be clothed in is a garment of light, as Adam and Eve were before their fall. Perhaps maybe we'll be like those robes over there in Revelation. 

*****

"In Genesis, you see the early development of religion, of art, science, culture as they're conceived by sinful descendants of Adam with the design of filling up man's mind to take him away from God.

"In Revelation, you see man's art and his religion, his science, in all of their splendor, but you see them judged and destroyed by God in Revelation 18.

"In Genesis, God sends a flood to destroy a wicked and adulterous, evil generation. In Revelation, you see that Satan sends a flood to destroy a chosen generation, an elect generation. In Genesis, the earth is deluged by water and in Revelation the earth is consumed by fire when Christ comes back.

"There's a company that passes through the Flood in safety in Genesis, finally finding rest and worship out there on the top of Mt. Ararat. When you look at Revelation, you see a company pass through the tribulation in safety; a little remnant finally finding rest and worship up on Mt. Zion. It's that 144,000 in Revelation 14.

"In Genesis, you see a guy by the name of Nimrod; the great rebel, the king. He becomes founder of the ancient kingdom of Babylon, the seat of infamy and apostasy--the seat of the original rebellion against God and the original development of idolatry.

"In Revelation, you see the ultimate fulfillment in the person of the Antichrist, that great rebel and king who becomes the revivor of Babylon--MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

"In Revelation, the nations are gathered, not scattered. In Genesis, you see Sodom and Gomorrah, the center of corruption. In Revelation, you see Sodom and Gomorrah as titles for the city of Jerusalem because of her spiritual declension and apostasy.

"You see the nation Israel in Genesis and all of history crystallized around the nation Israel. All the history of the world and man is focused right on Abraham and his descendants. In Revelation, everything again crystallizes around the people of Israel.

"There's a warfare in Genesis 14 against Abraham's family and it's overthrown and destroyed in a beautiful type of the Second Coming. In Revelation, there's a war against Abraham's people again and it, too, is overthrown. Look at Revelation 12 and 13.

"One of the wonderful touching things in Genesis 24 is Abraham sends out his servant to seek a bride for his son Isaac. It's a marvelous type of what God will do in reality, and you'll see it in Revelation where a bride is sought and found there for God's Son.

"There are two messengers in Genesis who go acting for God on behalf of His people seeking to get Lot out of Sodom. Fascinatingly, in Revelation 11 there are two messengers who go acting for God on behalf of His people seeking to get His people out of the city of Jerusalem that He calls Sodom and Gomorrah! Israel's Redeemer is prophesied in Genesis to spring forth from the tribe of Judah. Revelation is the place He's called the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

"You see the same thing with regard to the serpent. In Genesis, the serpent deceives man. In Revelation, it says he deceives the nations no more. In Genesis, the serpent's dominion began and in Revelation it ceases."

God's peace key to life

Since returning from a short trip to Chicago in August (my dentist installed a permanent crown), I haven't been out of town AT ALL!!!! For me, this is something that hasn't happened since forever! Now that I live in Ohio, I don't even have trips to Ohio for holidays to look forward to. Anyone who knows me knows I'm the rambling odyssey road-trip queen of the asphalt!

Thankfully, my sister-in-law, an extreme hiker who was actually deep in the Sierra National Forest when the historic Creek Fire broke out Labor Day Weekend and had to be led out by firefighters to safety, has invited me along on a 26-mile group hike at Sheltowee Trace Trail in southern Kentucky/northern Tennessee.

We leave at noon today. It involves two nights of camping in a tent, something I've only done twice in my life and the last time was soon after 9/11 when I was on a business trip in San Francisco and a college friend in Hayward took me camping at Big Sur.

Safe to say it will be a challenge for me to finish the hike, let alone sleep on hard cold earth through it.. I have a new Bible study to post on Monday for sure. In the meantime:

Last night, a YouTube video randomly popped up about a 105-year-old Scottish woman celebrating her 105th birthday. The tag line read, "What she credits her longevity to." You watch for 5 minutes before you hear her give her one-word answer: "Peace." The camera pans her little nursing home room to reveal an open Bible on a table. She goes on to give the gospel and encourage others to enjoy the health gift of forgiving and understanding God's forgiveness.

An online story reveals that Jessie Jordan's life (she died in 2011) was "marked with a profound Christian faith and she really lived that faith. Her faith brought her peace, and she recognized how precious peace of heart is in life. Even in her advanced age, she easily recited a handful of Bible verses."

An article at Toronto.com informs:

" 'Yes, I've always been active and always eaten my porridge,' " she said in between receiving birthday wishes from friends.

"An avid swimmer, she began the sport at 14 and continued swimming, in fact she didn't stop until just a few years ago. She taught her children how to swim and was an instructor at the YMCA.

"Jordan was born in Scotland on Oct. 4, 1905. Seeking an adventure, the 16 year old decided to come to Canada. She wasn't planning on staying, she just wanted a boat ride. She arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland after 22 days at sea and from there took a train to Toronto where she met her husband Charlie and settled in what is now North York.

"In addition to swimming, Jordan knitted, enjoys poetry and attended church regularly. She also likes hockey and can remember the winning goal in the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and Russia. She can't quite recall the player though."

*****

When Ruth Hilliard of Northhampton County, N.C. turned 106 years old in 2019, the national Christian media picked up on it. On TV, radio and in Christian publications, the career school teacher and Sunday School teacher readily credited her longevity to faith in God. News spots pointed out that while Hilliard’s vision "is not as good as it once was, she still recites Christian scripture on a regular basis."

Ruth named Psalm 91: 14-16 as her favorite Bible passage: [14] Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
[15] He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
[16] With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

*****

“When you renew your mind daily with Scripture, it transforms you; it has to do with focusing on who God’s made you in Christ," says Jordan. "When you do that, here’s what happens--I Thessalonians 2:13 says, [13] For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

“To be transformed, that is, there’s something inside of you which comes out. Jesus went up on the mount of transfiguration and who He was inside shined out of Him and that’s that word ‘transformed.’

“By the way, I’m always interested in that ‘to will is present but how to perform.’ How do you do this, Paul? Well, that’s what he said in Romans 7:18: 'For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.'

“He said, 'I want to do, to will is present with me, but I can’t figure out how to do it.' Then he gets over to chapter 12 and he says, ‘You know how you do it? Be not conformed.’ You’re transformed by the renewing of your mind.

“What is it about that? It’s the doctrine renewing, causing you to think like God thinks. The life of Christ is in that doctrine. Jesus said, ‘The words is speak unto you they are spirit and they are life.’

“Paul says in Ephesians 3:16, ‘That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.’

“Who wrote the Word of God? The Spirit of God. You know how the Spirit of God works? In the song, “Blessed Assurance,” it says, ‘Angels descending, bring from above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love,’ but we say, ‘We don’t believe that!’

“We don’t have any angels descending, bringing from above echoes of mercy. Where do you get the echoes of mercy, whispers of love? It’s in the Book sitting in front of you! You don’t have an angel descending, bringing you that. God the Holy Ghost wrote about it and preserved it through history and has got it sitting for you in your own language in your lap. You’re not living some experience; you’ve got it already!

“You see, you’ve got the information, and when you BELIEVE it, it becomes the energy and the life and the transforming power down in your soul that His life then works out through you.

“You go back to Romans 12:2 and you see the purpose for the renewed mind is that ‘we may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ The purpose of the renewed mind is so you can properly evaluate life and determine in the details of your life what it is God would have you to do.”

*****

“I don't think Believers appreciate near enough the fact that just by taking God at His Word--truly believing the Bible, dispensationally considered, contains absolutely everything God wants us to know about Him and our relationship to Him--lends real power. It's internal power that shatters anything the world has to offer.

"It's that ability God gives in the inner man, strengthened with might. It's an energy in your inner man to endure. That's spiritual power. There's something about that strength, that power that God gives. No great open physical displays and things that make everybody 'ooh' and 'ahh,' but that 'patient continuance in well doing.'

“He's saying not only can we know something about the breadth, length, depth and height of Jesus Christ's love for us, but we can truly know it and its power to work in us. The power is in the faith in it.

“Through knowing the measurements, dimensions and parameters of exactly what God is doing today, there's a maturing of the relationship that is extremely intimate and lends deep, deep communion.

"You can not just know about His tremendous love, but KNOW it, appreciate it, enter into it and find out how it passes knowledge. Just as it is in a momma's touch with a newborn baby, there's a love there and a communication there that passes any ability to understand and explain it.

"It's that kind of a bond, that kind of a connection. It's as though it were a mother's touch that reaches down and assuages the hurt and salves the wound and dispels the fear and gives untold strength and stability.

*****

“Paul writes in I Thessalonians 1:5, ‘For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in POWER, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.’

“He says in chapter 2, ‘For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.’

“Jesus says, ‘The flesh profiteth nothing,’ meaning all of OUR wisdom and OUR resources aren’t the issue.

“You got to start there! You never want to glory in yourself: ‘It isn’t me; it’s Him.’

“Jesus said, ‘The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life.' The need is, 'Not I but Christ.' You're to constantly be learning this at a different level; that's part of what maturity is all about.

"The words on the pages are the Words of the Spirit and when I believe that Word, and put my faith in it, it WORKS; it becomes energizing activity and life.

“Paul writes in II Thessalonians 3:1: ‘Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.’

“Paul’s saying, ‘I want the Word of the Lord to be set free; to run without obstacles, without needing to stop and be glorified.’

“When you glorify something, you demonstrate how valuable it is; how much of a treasure it is. How important it is.

“How would you glorify the Lord Jesus Christ? How do you demonstrate in your life that you cherish Him—His wisdom, His thinking--more than anybody else?”

Light of the world

Last Sunday morning, Ohio preacher David Reid (Columbus Bible Church), gave a study about the "Chronology of Satan." He suggested that listeners look up the lyrics to "I Write the Songs," most famously sung by Barry Manilow.

The song begins:

I've been alive forever
And I wrote the very first song
I put the words and the melodies together
I am music
And I write the songs

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

My home lies deep within you
And I've got my own place in your soul
Now when I look out through your eyes
I'm young again, even tho' I'm very old

If you go to Wikipedia, it says the writer of the 1975 hit song, Bruce Johnston, "stated that, for him, the "I" in the song is God,^[2] and that songs come from the spirit of creativity in everyone. He has said that the song is not about his Beach Boys bandmate Brian Wilson.^[6]

Manilow was initially reluctant to record the song, stating in his autobiography Sweet Life: "The problem with the song was that if you didn't listen carefully to the lyric, you would think that the singer was singing about himself. It could be misinterpreted as a monumental ego trip." 

******

One of the most common ploys of songwriters who are writing about their god Satan is to refer to his light aspects as Lucifer. The song, "You Light Up My Life," made famous by Debby Boone in 1977, is one easy example. Some others: "Blinded By the Light", "Light My Fire", "Beginning to See the Light" . . . you name it and it fits.

In Matthew 17, when Jesus Christ was glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration, it’s said the light shone out of Him.

“When the light shines down and bounces out to you, that’s reflected light," says Jordan. "The moon’s reflected light. The sun—that’s self-generated. That light comes from within it.

“In heaven, you and I literally are going to have inside of us, in who we are, the light of the glory of God shining out through us. It’s not going to be reflected off of us, it’s going to be who we are.

“But isn’t that who we are now? He’s given the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and deposited that in earthen vessels. And right now, we have it in that veiled form because of our lack of completion of our salvation. Out there in heaven, it’s going to be finished and that’s what God called you for.”

***** 

An old, old hymn goes, "Sun of my soul! Thou Savior dear, It is not night if thou be near; O may no earthborn cloud arise To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes."

Another old hymn: "There's sunshine in my soul today, More glorious and bright Than glows in any earthly skies, For Jesus is my light."

Song of Solomon 5:10 reads, "My Beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest of ten thousand."

Bible expositor Cora MacIlravey (circa 1916) explains, "As the bride continues her search, the flame of her zeal burns brighter; the faster she hastens through the streets to find Him, the more wonderful He appears to her soul. In her marvelous description of her Beloved, she mentions, first of all, the combined, though contrasted colors, 'white and red.' To a superficial reader, this might signify only beauty and health.

"Let us continually bear in mind that the daughters of Jerusalem did not ask for a description of her Beloved. They inquired in what He differed from, or was more than another beloved. They asked concerning the distinguishing features that belong to Him alone, and by which they may recognize Him, even in a multitude . . . These two colors, which the bride mentions first, make her Beloved different from, and more than every other beloved. They have the first place, and well they may when we know their meaning, for they are the most important of all.

"The meaning of the word 'white,' is dazzling, bright, illuminated by the sun, sunny.' Dazzling white, as the brightest sunlight. The meaning of the word, 'ruddy,' is 'red; to show blood.' "

*****

Also in 1916, this hymn, written by Mary Bernstecher, was published:

Send out a light as you go your way,
A beacon of hope when shadows are gray;
Send out a light that for Jesus will shine,
Proving to others God’s mercy divine.

Refrain

Send out a light, a radiant light,
That will pierce thro’ the gloom
Of someone’s dark night,
Send out a light, a bright beaming light,
Send out a light for Jesus.

Send out a light when your burdens press,
And show to the world that Jesus will bless;
Thro’ darkest sorrows and bitterest pain,
Send out a light—it will not shine in vain.

Refrain

Send out a light unto those who stray,
All heedless along destruction’s highway;
Point them to pathways of purer delight,
And let your life daily send out a light.

The hymn "Sunlight" (circa 1897):

I wandered in the shades of night,

1. Till Jesus came to me,
   And with the sunlight of His love
   Bid all my darkness flee.
   • Refrain:
     Sunlight, sunlight in my soul today,
     Sunlight, sunlight all along the way;
     Since the Savior found me, took away my sin,
     I have had the sunlight of His love within.
2. Though clouds may gather in the sky,
   And billows ’round me roll,
   However dark the world may be
   I’ve sunlight in my soul.
3. While walking in the light of God,
   I sweet communion find;
   I press with holy vigor on
   And leave the world behind.
4. I cross the wide, extended fields,
   I journey o’er the plain,
   And in the sunlight of His love
   I reap the golden grain.
5. Soon I shall see Him as He is,
   The Light that came to me;
   Behold the brightness of His face,
   Throughout eternity.

(new article tomorrow)

'EXACTLY like the Apostle Paul lived in'

"Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body." -- Hebrews 13:3

Through my church, Shorewood Bible Church, there are men around the country whose ministries take them inside nearby prisons.

At a Bible conference the other weekend in North Carolina, my pastor, Richard Jordan, spoke of a young man around 30 who was in a federal penitentiary out West. He had been saved about four years and graduated from my church's Grace School of the Bible.

Jordan recalled, "I got a letter from him recently telling me its the third time he's been beaten up and literally put into the prison infirmary by Muslims who want to stop him from preaching the gospel. They corner him and say, 'You need to recant, deny Jesus and confess Allah or we're going to beat you up.' He keeps saying, 'I won't do it,' and they keep beating him up.

"I asked him, 'Has the thought entered your mind, oh maybe the fourth time they're going to beat you up, that you could just say to yourself, I'm not going to lose my salvation if I say I'll deny Jesus?' He answered, 'How can I do that?' I said, 'Well, that's the right answer, but we've all got flesh, weaknesses where those thoughts come into the mind.'

"He said, 'You know, when I learned about the grace of God and how to rightly divide God's Word so it wasn't confusing . . . There was a time when it was so confusing that if those guys had approached me, then I would have given up, because it was so confusing I didn't know how to answer it for myself. Now, I have a clear understanding and when they come, I've got an answer.'

"That young man in the penitentiary doesn't really have much of an expectation of ever getting out, and yet in it, he has a ministry. It keeps him going: 'I'm doing it for the Lord Jesus Christ.' It was the same thing with Paul, who said, 'I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ.' That's who he's doing it for; he's not doing it for himself, for religious notoriety.

"How did Paul become the Apostle to the Gentiles? Romans 11:

11] I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
[12] Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
[13] For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
[14] If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.

"Paul begins Ephesians 3 with, [1] For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Notice it says he's a prisoner OF, not FOR Jesus Christ. He realized the reason he was a prisoner in Rome was because he was preaching the message of the gospel of the grace of God.

"He prays in Ephesians 6: [19] And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, [20] For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

"He knew why he was where he was because of who he was serving. Ephesians 3 continues, [2] If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to youward:

[3] How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
[4] Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

"How often do people read that passage and not even see what it says? Paul says, 'I just got a revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ, from God the Father to me, and that's how I got to be an apostle. I'm an apostle by the will of God. God is doing something that's different than what He did in time past. It's part of His secret program.'

"You know, [5] Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; [6] That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.

"The thing that strikes me more often than not when I think about this passage, when the Apostle Paul went out and preached Christ, he preached to a pagan world that had never heard of the Lord Jesus Christ. At least at the synagogue in Acts they knew who the Messiah was, because they knew the Scripture, but Paul went out and preached to completely unattached pagans.

"The world that has come upon us right now, and the reason things are happening the way they're happening right now in our culture, is that we're going into a world exactly like the Apostle Paul lived in.

"Our country, you know, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'

"Can you think of a verse that matches each of those? Sure. The social impact of the Protestant Reformation is the source of the underlying philosophy that produced the founding documents and the founding thinking of our country.

"That influence of the Protestant Reformation, that social impact and the social compacts produced because of that in a new world--the things that produced the foundation of all that, they're gone!

"I was watching David McCullough, a well-known American author who writes books on history, give a lecture on C-SPAN. It was in Ohio last year and he was talking about his book on the Wright Brothers. A lady stood up during the Q&A following his lecture and asked, 'Would you just give your opinion about the American education system; where we're at?'

"He answered, 'Let me give you an anecdote to explain what I think. Recently I gave a lecture at the University of Chicago. A lady in graduate school approached me and said, 'I just want you to know how much I appreciate your lecture. It was so fascinating to learn that the original 13 colonies were on the East Coast.'

"He said, 'You tell me how much that lady knows about what they thought if she didn't even know where they were?! And she's in graduate school. That means all of the education she'd had up to that point didn't even tell her how to locate on a map, much less understand the principles of thinking . . . Her schooling told her how to think; they taught her principles of economics but not the principles that come out of the founding of our country.' "

(new article tomorrow)

Changed and changing by our example

Speaking about his past, Paul testifies in Philippians 3:

[4] Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
[5] Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
[6] Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

"When Paul says he was circumcised the eighth day, he's saying, 'Listen, I'm not a proselyte; I'm not a Johnny-come-lately. I'm a blue-blood. I'm the authentic real thing.'

"Then he says he was of the tribe of Benjamin. You remember when Joseph was in Egypt and his brothers came and wanted food and he found out he had a brother he didn't know about named Benjamin?" says Jordan.

"He said, 'Don't come back without Benjamin. You can't have bread if you don't bring him.' There's no bread for Israel without Benjamin. That special little tribe and the southern kingdom is Judah and Benjamin. Benjamin stayed true and faithful to God's Word when the northern tribes apostasized.

"Paul said, 'I'm the real deal; I'm from a lineage of people who stood by the stuff. A Hebrew of the Hebrews.' He's a right-wing fundamentalist Bible-thumper.

"There's a guy who's got a podcast he entitles, 'Bible-thumping Wing Nut.' My boy had a neighbor once from Eastern Europe who told him and his wife one day, 'I don't want anything to do with these Bible Bumpers.' Her English was a little different.

"Paul's saying, 'I'm a Bible Bumper!' Paul had a heritage, a pedigree he could trust in; that he could fully rely on when he was Saul. By the way, that verse says he was also called Saul. Paul was not only called Saul, because Paul was not only of the stock of Israel, circumcised the eighth day, a Hebrew of the Hebrews--he was also a free-born Roman citizen.

"In Acts 16, they take him and beat him and Paul asks, 'Is it okay for you guys to beat a Roman citizen without any charges brought?' Scared the Roman soldier to death because he knew he made a bad deal. One of the centurions later comes to Paul and asks, 'How did you get your citizenship? I paid a great sum of money.' Paul says, 'I was free born.' You see, Tarsus was a free city to a Roman citizen. 

"If you think about it, if you want to take a person who's going to be an example for the Body of Christ, a Jew and a Gentile put together in one body, there's Saul, who's also called Paul.

"So Paul says, 'I know who I am. I know who I used to be. I know where I was and I've been saved out of all that religious identity and placed into a new ministry.'

"Jesus said to the 12 apostles, 'You 12 will sit upon 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.' That's why there were 12 apostles and not five or 30. One for each of the 12 tribes. The reason that it's one man for the one Body of Christ, who is both Jew and Gentile in one, is he's a perfect picture for what's going on.

*****

"The epistle starts, 'Paul, an apostle.' He's saying, 'This is who I am; this is what I'm doing.' I'm the representative of something God's doing that's different than anything He did prior to me.'

"An apostle is someone who's been sent. In Acts 9, something radically changed in the life of Saul of Tarsus. He was on his way with official legal documents to gather together the worshippers of the Messiah, put them in jail, torture them and execute them if necessary. He literally was the leading representative of Israel's rebellion against the Lord Jesus Christ and the 'little flock' and he had official status for that.

"When Paul says to Jesus, 'Who art thou, Lord?' after falling on his face and hearing a voice ask him, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest me?', I've thought about that verse for years. Paul believed in the God of Israel. He believed in Jehovah. He believed, 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.'

"He knew the God of the Bible was the God of gods. He knew the God of the Bible was the God of Israel. More than 200 times in your Bible, the God of the Bible says, 'I'm the Lord God of Israel.' Paul understood that, so when the heavens open up, BOOM! and a voice says, 'Saul, Saul,' he didn't think he was talking to Allah; he knew he was talking to Jehovah. When he asks, 'Who art thou, Lord?' I think he must have been thinking, 'Who art thou Lord, oh, please, don't say Jesus!'

"There's a fascinating little play on words in Philippians 3 that I think explains something back there in Acts 9. After talking about the confidence in the flesh he had, Paul says in Philippians 3:7: [7] But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 

"That word 'counted' is past tense. There's a point in time in the past where Paul made a decision that, 'All that stuff I was trusting wasn't valuable, and I trusted Christ instead.' That's what happened on the road to Damascus.

"In the next verse the word 'count' is in the present tense: [8] Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

"The decision Paul made to trust Christ alone on the road to Damascus, that same attitude was what he continued with all his ministry. People ask, 'When do you think Paul got saved?' and I think it was in verse 7 right there, when he counted all the things he could do and hold confidence in as 'loss for Christ.'

"He realized, 'I'm not going to trust my ability in what I'm doing; I'm going to trust Christ to be my righteousness, my acceptance, my identity.' And then he says, 'Yea doubtless I count all things . . . '

"He's saying, 'I just keep on with that attitude . . .' It's, 'I'm Paul. I'm the one who's met the Lord Jesus and has been radically changed because of it.' "

Suiting up in Him as our battle garb

Paul begins Galatians 5 with, [1] Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

"Liberty and freedom are those kinds of terms that maybe we lost a sense of even prior to the masks, the shut-downs and the mandates," said Kentucky Preacher Greg Resor last weekend at a Bible conference in North Carolina. "Because in the U.S. we've lived free for so many years . . . 

"The liberty Paul's talking about in the passage is totally different. There's a guy I talk to who has a prison ministry and I've often thought, 'If you can give a person in prison real liberty, in a place that they can't get out of because they're probably going to be there until they die, this liberty can set you free even though you're in prison!'

"That's an amazing thing to think about and that's one of the reasons Paul's able to say, 'Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ,' yet he's as free as you can be. That's why his circumstances at the time were not what he relied upon. It was the liberty he had because of who he was in Christ."

*****

Paul writes to the Ephesians, [11] Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

[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.
[13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
[14] Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Jordan explains, "When he describes those pieces of the armor, what he's really describing is things that are true about the Lord Jesus Christ. When he talks about the armor, you're literally putting on Christ; that's what's going on here in the passage.

"Isaiah 59 is where Paul gets the illustration from. Most of the time people say Paul's talking about the Roman soldier. I think he's thinking more about the Bible.

Isaiah 59: [15] Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.

[16] And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
[17] For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

"The 'he' there is Jehovah. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ is putting on the battle armor; He's a warrior dressing to go fight for Israel. 

"Notice it says He put on 'garments of vengeance for clothing'? Woah! That's what the armor is; you're dressed for a FIGHT, and what you're dressed in is the Lord Jesus Christ. What that armor's describing is who Jesus Christ is for you. When we put that armor on, we're literally dressing ourselves in the identity God's given us in Christ and we put that on into our life; we put it on by faith.

"Romans 5:2 says, [2] By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Ephesians 3:12: [12] In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

"You see, you don't fight in your own capacity; we fight in HIS capacity, in who He is. He's the one who maintains the message. He's the one who gives credibility to the message, not you. You were going to screw it up to start with. He never trusted you, never depended on you, never required you to do those things, because you weren't going to be able to.

"People say, 'Well, I messed up.' Listen, when you messed up, think about it--two thousand years ago Jesus Christ already knew about it and He died for it! And you think, 'Well, I messed up, maybe God's not going to love me anymore.' Well, 2,000 years ago He took care of it. It didn't surprise Him; didn't catch Him by surprise. That's a wonderful thing to know. But see we get too much interested in ourselves, really."

One is God's number

Since the election, I've heard two words come up over and over and over again with FOX News reporters/pundits and their clips of politicians/governmental figures pontificating: Unity and division.

The number of God is 1. It's the number of unity and the foundation for all other numbers because every other number is a multiple of one.

“No. 1 is a fundamental, foundational number, which makes sense that it would be God’s number," explains Jordan. "It first occurs in the text of Scripture in Genesis 1:9: ‘And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.’

“The waters He scattered out and now they’re gathered to one place. The idea with one is a gathering together in one place. In Deuteronomy 6:4—the great confession of Israel—Moses writes, ‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.’ ”

*****

“Now, you go to Genesis 2 and see No. 2 is a number of division. It’s interesting that it’s in Genesis 2 that Adam is divided. Genesis 1 says, ‘He created man and in the image of God created he.’

“Well, when did Adam become a ‘them’? In Genesis 2, God put Adam asleep, opened up his side, took out a rib and out of that rib He formed a separate person, Eve. Now there’s two.

“I’ve often thought about what it would have been like when Adam woke up from that sleep. I’ve never been anesthetized but once in my life and that’s when they did the radiation implants, and when I woke up from that I looked down at my feet and there stood a nurse with a Geiger counter. I said, ‘What are you doing?!’

“Well, when Adam woke up there stood Eve. I don’t know what you think he might have said—‘Whoa, where have you been all my life?!’

“And verse 24 describes what God did: ‘Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.’ We like to say, ‘Baby, I’m stuck on you.’ Do you see that word 'one' there? It’s about uniting together.

“If you really want to see it in action, come over to Genesis 11, because every uniting is not a good uniting.

“Genesis 11 says ‘the whole earth was of one language.’ Verse 6 says the ‘people are one and have one language.’ I read that chapter and I think, ‘Wow, that is so true! Man can accomplish and achieve anything he sets his mind on doing unless God intervenes, as He did here.’

“They had one world with one language, and in verse 4 they tried to create a one-world religion. It was globalism at its best.”

paul evil doer

 Paul writes in II Timothy 2:9, "Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound."

“He wasn’t an evil doer but he suffered trouble AS an evildoer," explains Jordan. "There were people who thought Paul was a crook. That’s why he says in I Thessalonians 2:10 says, ‘Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe.’

“Among the Believers, they knew better. The Romans, the world, the government would have said whatever. The ‘lewd fellows of baser sort’ could have said whatever they wanted to, accused him of sedition and all kind of riot.

“But the people who knew him, and can I tell you that’s one of things you learn . . . Paul says in I Thessalonians 5:12, ‘And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.’

“One of the reasons for that is you know who they are (you're putting the right people into the jobs), but the other thing is you know them so that when you hear things about them . . . ”

Eve: 'I have nothing to wear'

Just as Adam and Eve wore no garments before they “fell,” but were clothed in light, Lucifer was covered with “every precious stone”—sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, carbuncle and gold.

“This guy was the original jewel collector,” says Jordan. “Those stones had to do with that issue of light and prisms and multi-colored facets; he was a light-bearer.

“Clothing is an extremely important thing in the Bible. It’s designed to accomplish a purpose.

“Psalm 104 says, ‘Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
[2] Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain.’

“God is omnipresent but He can choose to manifest His presence in one geographical location and when He does that, He clothes Himself. He puts on a display of His character in honor and majesty.

“The purpose of the garment is to be a covering and God covers Himself with a garment of light. In Genesis 2, when God created man, He did a similar thing.

*****

“I Corinthians 11 says, ‘But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
[4] Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
[5] But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
[6] For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
[7] For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

“We’ll see this passage again (lI Timothy 2:11-12) that's so important to see the connections in all this: 

[11] Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
[12] But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.'

“The woman is to have her head covered and that doesn’t mean having a hat on in church. You go out into these religious communities and you see they’ve got these little white bonnets on. That’s not what a head covering is. It’s not some little symbolic thing.

“In the passage, the covering is not a cap or a hat. It has to do with her hair. Shorn means to shave. What do you shave? Your hair. If she doesn’t have her head covered, she’s like somebody who’s got her hair all cut off.

“Verses 14-15 says, ‘Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? [15] But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.’

*****

"Proverbs 7 refers to a 'woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart' who is 'loud and stubborn.'

“We read in Timothy that the godly woman is to learn in silence with all subjection and this is the opposite of that. Verse 13 says, ‘So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him.’ That’s the opposite of the ‘shamefacedness’ you read about in I Timothy 2:9.

“When it talks about the ‘attire of an harlot,’ it’s talking about this issue of nakedness--how much of your body should be shown and how much of it should be uncovered.

*****

“Every animal God created He gave them their own garment. They have some kind of covering involved in them—hair and fur and that kind of stuff.

“Adam and Eve, though, ‘were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed’ (Gen. 2:25). They didn’t have a natural ingrown covering.

“Notice that after they’ve eaten the forbidden fruit, though, they realized they didn’t have a covering. Adam says in Genesis 3: 10, ‘I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’

“They didn’t have a covering because they had sinned, which would tell you that before they sinned they had a covering and yet their body didn’t have a natural covering.

“What that worked out to be is God placed on man a covering that matched His covering and they literally were clothed in a garment of light.

“Genesis 1:27 says, ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.’

“What did that thing in Psalms say about the appearance of God? He clothed Himself with a garment of light, and when He made man, He didn’t give man a covering of his own; He gave man HIS covering.

“In Ezekiel 1 is a fascinating thing about this garment that He gave to man for a covering. Ezekiel sees the throne of God and reports in verse 27, ‘And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.’

“When Ezekiel sees the throne of God and the glory of God--that light that shines out of God--he says it has the ‘appearance of a bow in the day of rain.’ We call that a rainbow.

“When you see a rainbow, what do you see? You see the seven colors that make up the light spectrum. It’s light shining through water particles that refracts the light and breaks it up into its colors.

“Literally, when he saw the Lord, he saw the Lord dressed in a garment of many colors. You remember Jacob gave Joseph the ‘coat of many colors.’ What did it do? It showed him to be the beloved of his father, the apple of his eye; the especially loved son, talking about Joseph.

“Adam and Eve were to be the Lord’s regents in the earth so He gave them the same clothing as Him."

Subtilty to move you from simplicity

(Editor's note: Sorry for unexpected absence. New article later today. In meantime . . .)

Revelation 12:9 says, [9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

"You see those capitals? They're proper names," explains Jordan. "In Job, he talks about Satan in his origins being the dragon and Leviathan, that crooked serpent.

"It's important for you to always remember Satan is not just an evil force in the world; he's a personal entity. He's a mind. It's the 'wiles of the devil' (Ephesians 6).  He knows how to plot and strategize. He has a will. In Isaiah 14, five times he says, 'I will.' He has feelings. In Revelation 12, when he's cast out of heaven, it says he comes with great wrath.

"I Corinthians 2:6 says, [6] Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

"When he talks about the princes of this world, he's not talking about Nero and the Roman government. He's talking about the angelic creation.

"Verses 7-8 say, [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.

"That's how you know the princes there aren't the earthly princes because they wouldn't have cared about it. Rome didn't care about what Jesus was preaching; they were going to kill him anyway. The religious leaders wouldn't have cared. It was Satan and his host.

"My point is there were things God planned that they didn't know. God simply kept a secret to destroy everything Satan's wise plan was. He thought he was smart but he wasn't smart enough to figure out the plan God had that He didn't tell him about.

"Satan is not God, not equal with God. He's not omniscient; he's a pretender. He is a supernatural angelic being but he wants to make you think he's the God of this world.

*****

"In a passage that describes his career, Ezekiel 28:14 says, [14] Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

"You remember what the name Christ means? The anointed one. Satan was selected out by God to lead in His creation.

"Verse 17 says, [17] Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

"Notice he rebelled against God. He took his will and sinned. Verse 15: [15] Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

"When God made him, he was perfect until rebellion was found in him. With his deceptive plans to corrupt God's creation he became a crooked trickster.

"The essence of a trick is to make something appear to be true when it isn't, or to make something appear as if it isn't true when it is true. He tries to hide the truth and deceive you into thinking something else is real or vice versa.

"Isaiah 14:12 is the classic passage about the original intention of this character: [12] How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

"He sat down and plotted a plan of attack to take over the position of God Himself. When he was Lucifer (the name means light-bearer), Job says he had a 'high right arm' and he held up the light. As the anointed cherub over the throne of God, his job was to lead creation in the worship of the one who sat on the throne.

"That's why he was made beautiful and wiser than any other creature. God gave him those attributes so he'd be able to devise ingenious, brilliant, wonderful ways to reflect the glory of God and to see God's glory manifested in ever-new ways. Instead of doing the same thing over and over and over, he would have that creative spirit put in him.

"When he had that, though, what he did was focus it on himself. I've thought about this many times, Ezekiel says that around the throne of God is this light that's as the appearance of a rainbow.

"In the Bible, all the facets of creation and the glory of God manifested in creation are laid out in front of you, so the glory Lucifer is seeing is this fantastic demonstration of all the fascinating things God has placed in His creation.

"He's leading the choir. He was the original musician. Tabrets and pipes, musical instruments, are created in him. He literally was the heavenly choir director. You know why music is the universal language? Because creation was created to be led by a musician who turned bad.

"You think about how influential music is. There's a reason it's that way. God made creation that way, to harmonize around His truth. Lucifer takes it and uses it for himself.

"Here's this guy up here with all this beauty, this light coming out of him leading creation and he's looking down at God. Revelation 4 says the floor of God's throne room is like glass.

"Have you ever seen somebody walk down a city street, looking at themselves as they pass a store, doing what they call 'window-shopping'?

"In my thinking, here's Lucifer, this dazzling, beautiful creature, and he looks down and sees his own reflection. You know what he did? He fell in love with himself and thought, 'You know, I'm the one who ought to be on that throne!'

"He thought about it, and when you think about it and it aggravates you, you begin to brood and get mad. He developed a plan to put himself on that throne.

"When the verse says he 'did weaken the nations,' that's saying he went out and tried to destroy what God was doing in the earth.

"Verse 13-14: [13] For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
[14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

"That's a place in the universe where the angels go to give account of their stewardship. You remember in Job 1 when the angels of God appeared before the Lord and Satan came with them. Did you ever scratch your head and say, 'How'd he get in the heaven?' He wasn't in heaven; that's a planet in the universe in the second heavens where the angels come and give account of themselves and it's called 'the mount of the congregation,' because that's where they congregate!

"In Ephesians 5, it says how the heavenly host are gathered together and how God judges among the congregation of the mighty because they have an accountability to how they carry on the business of heaven. Lucifer said, 'I'm going to be the one they give account to; I want to be the guy they're subject to.'

" 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,' and notice, 'I will be LIKE the most high.' He didn't say, 'I'm going to BE the most high.' He said, 'I'm going to be like Him. I'm going to be so like Him that nobody is going to know the difference; they're all going to think I'm really Him.'

"When it says 'most high,' that's a title of God, the possessor of heaven and earth, the one who runs the WHOLE show. So Satan's goal is to deceive people into putting him into the place of Almighty God.

"He does it, not by being God, but by counterfeiting. You got to get that. That's the whole issue in the idolatry of the devil. He's the deceiver, the counterfeiter. He's going to throw a trick out there to separate you away from the truth and cause you to believe his lie.

"II Corinthians 11:2-3: [2] For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
[3] But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

"The tactics that the serpent uses to beguile, trick, cast a spell on her that leads her into error, Eve, through his subtilty . . . You see the trickster working here? 'So your minds would be corrupted from the simplicity that's in Christ.'

"Can I tell you that in your spiritual life, your Christian life, your daily life, one of the great ways you can evaluate things you hear, 'Does it honor or take me away from the simplicity that's in Christ?' If it adds works, and your resources, it isn't the simplicity.

"The simplicity in Christ is, 'He's enough. He's everything. He's all that I need. I'm blessed with all spiritual blessings in Him. I'm complete in Him. I don't need anything else to be complete, to be blessed, to have forgiveness and purpose and meaning and love. I have it all in Him.' Anything that moves you away from that simple truth is corrupting you."