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The following Scripture passages are offered to aid beginning fellowships. The readings and commentary for this week are more in line with what has become usual; for the following will most likely be familiar observations. The concept behind this Sabbath’s selection begin a series about discipleship Possible songs include the following hymns: Weekly ReadingsFor the Sabbath of November 25, 2006
The person conducting the Sabbath service should
open services with two or three hymns, or psalms, followed by an opening prayer
acknowledging that two or three (or more) are gathered together in Christ
Jesus’ name, and inviting the Lord to be with them. The
person conducting the service should read or assign to be read Hebrews chapter
2. Commentary: Of each generation since a remnant of the Church
left spiritual Babylon in the 16th-Century (ca 1525 CE)—this remnant
determined through its practice of adult [or Believer] baptism, with its
leaving of Babylon discerned by its non-participation in the governance of this
world—only a remnant of the remnant continued the spiritual or mental journey
on toward the heavenly city of Jerusalem into its succeeding generation. Most
of the early remnant [or for later generations, remnant of a remnant] journeyed
only far enough to cleanse hearts before settling down to build for themselves
spiritual houses. These spiritual houses remain with disciples to this day:
e.g., the house of Menno Simons, the denomination now known as Mennonites.
Thus, the generations born into these spiritual houses, once physical journeys
of faith were no longer undertaken, have journeyed nowhere for two and three
and four hundred years. And unless a journey by faith equivalent of Abraham’s
journey from Ur of the Chaldeas to the Promised Land of Canaan is undertaken,
hearts are not cleansed and not circumcised (Rom 4:11-12), and the would-be
disciple remains spiritually as the rich young ruler who asked Jesus what he
must do to inherit eternal life was (Luke 18:18). For the young person who has
grown to physical maturity in a household of Believers, no amount of professing
that Jesus is Lord and believing that the Father raised Jesus from the dead
constitutes a journey of faith comparable to the journey Abraham made. Understand what the writer of Hebrews says:
disciples must pay close attention to what the original Apostles heard from
Christ Jesus Himself (Heb 2:1), not close attention to what some Church
theologian said centuries afterward. The God of these later theologians is the
prince of this world. Yes, this is correct! The message declared by angels
proved reliable. Every transgression or disobedience received or will receive a
just retribution (v. 2). And this
just retribution is death: the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). The old self within every disciple must die
for its disobedience, to which it was unwillingly consigned (Rom 11:32).
Likewise, the tent of flesh in which this old
self dwelt must also die because of the disobedience that resides in its
members (Rom 7:23-25). Grace does not protect the old self or the tent of flesh in which this old self dwells. The old self is
a bondservant to disobedience; i.e., sin (1 John 3:4). It is not free to keep
the laws of God. Sin has dominion over the old
self (cf. Eph 2:2-3; Rom 6:14).
Indeed, this old self cannot keep the
commandments of God and is actually hostile to God and the laws of God (Rom
8:7)—and every disciple can instantly know in a moment of introspection whether
he or she has been spiritually circumcised. If the disciple yearns to keep the
laws of God [to keep the commandments], all of them, the disciple has assurance
of having been born of Spirit and spiritually circumcised; for the old self hates, yes, hates because it is
the servant of lawlessness, the commandments of God. The born of Spirit
disciple, when spiritually circumcised, desires to keep the commandments and to
do those things that are pleasing to God. Love for this spiritually circumcised
born of Spirit disciple isn’t some touchy-feely concept, but the conscious
heartfelt desire to keep the commandments that describe how to love God and to
love neighbor. Thus, the person, physically circumcised or uncircumcised, who
by faith keeps the precepts of the law demonstrates his or her spiritual
circumcision regardless of whether the disciple has or has not been baptized. The above is a somewhat unexplained concept: the
pattern for human circumcision forms the reality for the circumcision of the
sons of God. Spiritual birth [i.e., being born of Spirit] does not equate to
spiritual circumcision as has been previously assumed. Understand this
distinction which spiritually elongates what it means to have the laws of God
written on hearts and minds of disciples. Whereas it has previously been
understood that receipt of the Holy Spirit [Pneuma
’Agion] constituted both being born of Spirit and spiritual circumcision, the two actions of God are not one
compressed action, but two actions often separated by an extended length of
time—in the timeless heavenly realm only are these two actions compressed into
one continuous action. The visible things of this world reveal the
invisible things of God (Rom 1:20), and the physical things of this world
precede the spiritual things that happen in this world (1 Cor 15:46). Thus, a
human infant is born as a descendant of the first Adam without being consulted
by his or her father—the egg of the mother will not produce a child without an
action taken by the infant’s father; therefore, life is bestowed by the human
father as a type of the heavenly Father giving spiritual life to human beings.
Every living person is as an ovum [egg] in the ovaries of a woman. The person
is spiritually lifeless until age-lasting life is given by God the Father
through a second birth, a real birth in the invisible supra-dimensional
heavenly realm, to the spiritual ovum … metaphors and analogies ultimately
breakdown because one thing is not another thing, and indeed, cannot be the
other thing. The spiritual birth process strains the metaphor of human birth
through the woman being the Church. The analogy of spiritual birth being like
human birth does not, at the individual level, reach into the womb of the
Church to begin with the union of sperm and egg in the uterus, because both the
Father and the Son must give life (John 5:21) to the disciple before this son
of God crosses dimensions. Collectively, the Church is the last Eve. But
individual sons of God do not develop spiritual maturity within the womb of a
divided through denominationalism Church. The Christian Church that constitutes the last Eve
is not any one denomination, or even one collective of denominations. The last
Eve is not The Philadelphia Church or
Binitarian Christianity or even Sabbatarian Christianity which includes
Unitarian, Binitarian, and Trinitarian fellowships. It isn’t the Roman Church
and her errant daughters; nor is it the Arian Church in its many forms. The
last Eve includes all denominations, with one division that forms two sons
occurring within her womb, this division being between disciples who keep the
commandments by faith [the beloved son] and disciples who continue in their
lawlessness after being born of Spirit. Thus, being inside the womb of the last
Eve places a born of Spirit disciple living his or her life as a “Christian”
here on earth. The earth becomes the womb of the last Eve, which is not a human
organization but a spiritual woman that presently exists in the
supra-dimensional heavenly realm as the Body of Christ Jesus. And when this
last Eve delivers these two sons [one loved, one hated] that presently struggle
within her womb, these two sons will be separated from this last Eve through
spiritual liberation; through being empowered by, or filled with the Holy
Spirit. The Lord of Hosts who struck the Shepherd (cf. Zech 13:7; Matt 26:31) will turn His hand against these two
sons of the last Eve; He will deliver them into the hand of the man of
perdition (cf. Zech 13:8; Dan 7:25; 2
Thess 2:3-12). But Christ Jesus will send the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26) in
full measure so that when disciples are separated from the last Eve and are no
longer under the mantle of Grace, they will be liberated from indwelling sin
and death that presently resides in their fleshly members as natural Israel was
liberated from physical bondage to Pharaoh. The last Eve gives birth—separation—to the two sons
that are presently in her womb when the seven endtime years of tribulation
begin. The Son of Man will then be revealed, both Head and Body (Luke 17:30).
The Body of this Son of Man will no longer be covered by the garment of Christ
Jesus’ righteousness—there will be no more Grace, for it will not be needed
once disciples are empowered by the Holy Spirit. The disciple who desires to
walk uprightly before God will be able to do so when empowered by the divine
Breath of God. The disciple who returns to sin will have committed blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit, and this blasphemy will not be forgiven … there will
be no reason for a disciple to sin other than the disciple loves this world and
the things of the flesh more than he or she loves God. Thus, Zion or the last
Eve gives birth to two sons—a spiritual Cain and a spiritual Abel; an Esau and
a Jacob—when disciples are liberated from indwelling disobedience through being
filled by Spirit. Until then, because of the indwelling of sin in the members of
the tents of flesh in which born of Spirit sons of God dwell, disciples are
“covered” by Grace. The mantle of Grace, now, functions as the womb of the last
Eve. Thus, the woman that is the Christian Church doesn’t conceive sons of God,
but nurtures these sons under the mantle of Christ Jesus’ righteousness until
such time as she unwillingly gives “birth” or separation to these sons. So the
metaphor of human birth functions at two, and three levels: first, the Father
gives “birth” to His sons by giving them the earnest of the Holy Spirit while
these sons dwell in tents of flesh. This is real birth and life in the heavenly
realm just as the giving of earnest money when purchasing real estate is the
giving of real money that is counted toward the purchase price. Then the last
Eve gives “birth” to these sons of God when these sons are empowered by the
Holy Spirit, thereby filling the disciples with Spirit so that there is no room
for sin within the tents of flesh in which sons of God dwell. Finally, Christ Jesus
gives “birth” to these already alive sons of God when He gives life to whom He
will (John 5:21) through the tent of perishable flesh putting on immortality or
imperishability. The Father began the process of giving “birth” to
the descendants of the first Adam when He drew whom He wanted as disciples for
Christ Jesus from the world (John 6:44, 65) prior to Calvary: these original
disciples received the Holy Spirit or birth from above when Jesus breathed on
ten of them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit [Pneuma ’Agion or Breath
Holy]” (John 20:22). Since then, the Father has drawn from the kingdom of this
world or spiritual Babylon those whom He would have as part of the harvest of
Firstfruits. He will continue to draw from this world those whom He wants as
Firstfruits until the last Eve gives “birth” to the two sons presently in her
womb; i.e., presently covered by Grace. The last Eve or spiritual Zion (Isa 66:7-8) gives
“birth” when the seven endtime years of tribulation begin. In this initial
birth, she will bring forth two sons, one hated even while covered by Grace,
one loved though deceitful because of the indwelling of sin. And except for a
remnant (Rev 12:17), both of these sons will die during the first three and a
half years of the seven endtime years. The hated son will die spiritually by
committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—the death of this firstborn son, a
spiritual Esau, will be the great falling away (2 Thess 2:3) when, on a
specific day [220 days into the seven endtime years], this son rebels against
God through unbelief, manifest by this son attempting to enter God’s rest on
the following day, the 8th-day. (During the first half of the seven
endtime years, observance of the Sabbath will “mark” who is of God as the
tattoo of the Cross [Chi xi stigma] will “mark” those who are of the
Antichrist during the last three and a half years.) Except for the remnant that keep the commandments
and have the spirit of prophecy (cf.
Rev 12:17; Rev 19:10), all of the beloved son now in the womb of the last Eve
will die physically during the first three and a half years of the Tribulation
as righteous Abel died long ago. Thus, halfway through the seven endtime years,
the hated son will be physically alive but spiritually dead, and the beloved
son will be physically dead but spiritually alive; so the last Eve will bring
forth another son, a spiritual Seth, who only has to endure to the end to be
saved (Matt 24:13)—and the birth announcement of this third son is the good
news [gospel] that must be proclaimed to the world as a witness to all nations
before the end of the age comes (v.
14) … the gospel that must be proclaimed to all nations isn’t the third angel’s message (Rev 14:9-11)
as Seventh Day Adventists contend, nor it is the good news of the soon coming
kingdom of God as Herbert Armstrong and his splintered fellowships contend. The
gospel that must be proclaimed is, All
who endure to the end shall be saved. This is a very plain, absolutely
unadorned message that will be delivered to the third part of humanity (Zech
13:9) that today doesn’t have any interest in Christianity, but that will be
born empowered by the Holy Spirit when the Spirit of God is poured out upon all
flesh (Joel 2:28). When the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of the
Father and His Christ (cf. Rev 11:15;
Dan 7:9-14), Christ Jesus will baptize this world in Spirit (Matt 3:11),
thereby changing even the predatory natures of lions, bears, and wolves (Isa
11:6-9). Human nature will change for the better, becoming the nature of Christ
Jesus, just as quickly as King Nebuchadnezzar’s nature changed from that of a
man to that of a beast in a moment. But this third part of humanity will not be
under Grace, so any sin that this third part takes into itself will cause the
spiritual death of the infant son of God, the reason for the proclamation of
this good news to all nations. Spiritual birth from the Father imparts real
spiritual life into a tent of flesh, life that must war against indwelling sin,
the reason why Grace is absolutely necessary for the infant son of God will
lose some battles to sin. Spiritual birth through empowerment by the Holy
Spirit removes the mantle of Christ Jesus’ righteousness, thereby revealing the
Body of the Son of Man as the Head is now revealed. This spiritual birth was
foreshadowed by ancient Israel’s liberation from physical bondage to Pharaoh;
this spiritual birth is liberation from indwelling sin and death, liberation
that comes at a Second Passover when the lives of men are again given for the
ransom of Israel (Isa 43:3-4). Spiritual birth from the Son is Jesus giving life
to whom He will (again, John 5:21), and this spiritual birth causes the mortal
flesh to put on immortality. The glorified disciple will then be able to walk
through the fire separating the dimensions without perishing—the flaming sword
that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen 3:24) was a
type of the fire separating the dimensions. Jesus, however, has already said
that He will not give life to teachers of lawlessness, regardless of the mighty
works they have done in His name (Matt 7:21-23). Thus, the teachers of the
hated son, spiritual Esau, are condemned by their lawlessness to the lake of
fire before their judgments are revealed upon Christ Jesus’ return (1 Cor 4:5). Why would anyone teach disciples to be lawless when
such teachers already have their judgments revealed while they still live? To answer the above question brings the subject
back to spiritual circumcision: spiritual birth from the Father—being drawn from
the world through receipt of the Holy Spirit—comes without permission to those
who are born of Spirit. The person, one day a son of disobedience and perfectly
content being a part of this world and the bondservant of the prince of this
world, receives without notice or warning a second birth that requires this son
of disobedience to inwardly kill who he or she is and to become this new
creature that is a son of God. Frankly, this is actually asking quite a lot of
the person. And to make it possible for the infant son of God to dwell in the
tent of flesh, the old self is
suddenly spiritually crucified as Christ was physically crucified—crucifixion
doesn’t kill instantly, but kills slowly through suffocation. So the crucified old self, if a strong man, can live for
a long while after the spiritual son of God is born into the same tent of
flesh. And the longer the old self
lives, the more likely he or she is to corrupt the infant son of God,
especially when this corruption is assisted by a teacher of lawlessness. Of all peoples on earth, God choose the son
promised to the patriarch Abraham as His cultivar. And this physical cultivar
Isaac was physically circumcised on the 8th-day following birth.
Likewise, the sons of the promised son were not circumcised prior to birth, but
following birth. Therefore, spiritual circumcision does not precede spiritual
birth, but follows being born of Spirit … in the second covenant mediated by
Moses (Deu 29-31), spiritual circumcision was promised to natural Israel if the
nation turned to God and by faith began to keep His commandments while exiled
in a far land. God is not a respecter of persons: the Apostle Paul says that
the uncircumcised person who keeps the precepts of the law will have his or her
uncircumcision counted as circumcision (Rom 2:26). Thus, the action by Israel
that precedes spiritual circumcision is keeping the precepts of the law by
faith. Therefore, when a person who has been born of Spirit begins to keep the
precepts of the law, the person is spiritually as a Hebrew infant was when
eight days old: this person will be spiritually circumcised. Note: a physically mature Israelite was not
circumcised when mature, but when eight days old. Likewise, a person whom the
Father draws from this world and to whom the Father gives His divine Breath,
thereby making this person a newly born son of God, is as a Hebrew infant on
the day of his birth. This person is in human terms less than eight days old
until this person mentally journeys from the land of his nativity to spiritual
Judea where he will begin to keep the precepts of the law of God—this journey
cleanses the heart so that the heart can be spiritually circumcised. Hence,
when the heart has been cleansed, the person will be keeping the commandments.
God promises to this person, under the terms of the second covenant, spiritual
circumcision (Deu 30:6) and life in Judea. And the person born of Spirit who
keeps the commandments is spiritually as a human infant is physically when
eight days old. The above should humble every teacher of Israel. Disciples who have not yet begun to keep the
precepts of the law are either not born of Spirit (usually the case) or are of
less than eight days in age. Either way, they have no business teaching anybody
anything about God; for they are either too immature, or they are not a
Believer … unfortunately, there is one more category into which Christ places
disciples born of Spirit: sons of destruction who have been called as Judas
Iscariot was drawn from this world by the Father for the expressed purpose of
betraying Christ (John 17:12). Spiritually righteous Abel will be slain by his
brother—and disciples will be born of Spirit to become vessels of wrath
intended for destruction, vessels who will slay their righteous brothers. If a person has been born of Spirit, the person
will be made by Christ Jesus into a vessel for honored used in the house of
God, or a vessel of wrath to be endured for a season. No other category exists
for someone drawn from this world as part of the harvest of Firstfruits. And
every vessel intended for honored use will keep the precepts of the law. To say
otherwise marks the person who disagrees as a teacher of lawlessness, unknown
to Christ Jesus regardless of the works he or she does in the name of Jesus. If someone has been born of Spirit for a considered
length of time and still does not keep the precepts of the law—usually apparent
by the day upon which the person attempts to enter God’s rest—the assumption
has to be made that the person is a vessel of wrath to be endured for a while.
The Apostle Paul writes Timothy and says that if this person cleanses himself
from what is dishonorable (2 Tim 2:21), he will be a vessel for honorable use.
Most often, though, the person on his or her day of salvation chose death
rather than life (Deu 30:15) and now cannot repent from those things that are
dishonorable, including worshiping on the 8th-day. Thus, this person
is a vessel of destruction, made to be broken when the house of God is
revealed. This person chose to be made into a spiritual bull or goat to be
sacrificed as physical bulls and goats were sacrificed when Solomon dedicated
the physical temple. If it remains possible for a long time disciple
born of Spirit to turn from worshiping on the 8th-day, or to turn
from other dishonorable practices, then the person will become a vessel for
honored usage. Exactly how difficult this is can be seen by how few are able to
begin keeping the precepts of the law if they do not begin when newly born of
Spirit. Spiritual circumcision occurs to spiritual infants, and the person who
has become content being a spiritual infant of less than eight days old isn’t
likely to change after even a short while has passed. The spiritual maturation
process has been thwarted; the person will be a perpetual infant prepared for
destruction … compare the mental processing of a cow with the mental processing
of a newly born human infant; there is some basis for comparison. Thus, the
disciple whose spiritual processing of the things of God remains beastlike even
after a few years in the Church will, most likely, be sacrificed as a vessel of
wrath, devoted to destruction, when the judgment of Firstfruits is revealed.
Growing in Grace and knowledge begins with cleansing the heart and spiritual
circumcision. It doesn’t begin with continued lawlessness and bondage to sin. The person who neglects to, by faith, keep the
precepts of the law neglects salvation (Heb 2:3); for if God cast rebelling
angels into outer darkness because of their transgressions, how should
disciples think to escape a similar fate when they willfully transgress the
commandments of God? Again, the person who has not been born of Spirit is not
free to keep the commandments of God, but must serve disobedience to which he
or she has been consigned. It is only the person that has been born of Spirit
who is truly free to keep the precepts of the law. Thus, when this person
chooses not to do so, this person neglects salvation. This person neglects to
make a spiritual journey as Abraham made a physical journey. The Logos
as Theos, whom David knew as Yah, did not enter His creation as His
Son, His only, to die so that the descendants of Abraham could continue in the
disobedience to which they had been consigned when Adam was driven from the
garden of God. He came to liberate these descendants of the patriarch so that
they could keep the commandments, which none of the Pharisees did or could do
(John 7:19). He did not come to liberate disciples from the law, but from sin
and death summed up in one word: disobedience. All of humankind sinned; no one was without sin
prior to the coming of the Logos as
His only Son. Thus, all were under penalty of death. All had died, or would die
because of the indwelling of sin in their mortal members, this indwelling sin
defining who they were and what they would become. The man Jesus of Nazareth,
however, was born not of Adam but of Yah.
He was not born consigned to sin as its bondservant, but was born free to keep
the commandments uttered by His literal father from atop Mount Sinai prior to
when the divine Breath of God the Father descended upon Him as a visible dove,
making Him the spiritual Son of the Most High. Literally, Jesus was born free
to keep the commandments, something no person since the first Adam could do—and
He kept the commandments throughout His years on earth. He had to be made sin
through taking on the sins of Israel before death had any power over Him. Pause and consider the ramifications of that
concept: until Jesus took on the sins of Israel as the reality of the two goats
chosen as the sin offering for Israel on Yom
Kipporim, He could not die; He could not be killed. He would not drown. No
one could slay Him with stones or a sword. He was absolutely unworthy of death;
so He had to voluntarily die—and to die, He had to be made sin. Because Jesus died by voluntarily taking on the
sins of Israel, the nation of Israel was finally freed from being bondservants
to disobedience. The nation of Israel was suddenly free to keep the
commandments … Israel wasn’t liberated from keeping the commandments, but from
death that came from breaking the commandments. Israel no longer had to break
the commandments through being bondservants to disobedience, what the Apostle
Paul writes in his epistle to the Romans. The reader should now read Romans
chapter 6 and 7. Commentary: “For sin will have no dominion over you” (Rom
6:14) means literally what the words seem to represent: the person whom the
Father has drawn from the world to be part of the early harvest of Firstfruits
has, from the moment the new creature was born of Spirit within the tent of
flesh, been set free from bondage to sin and death. The person, finally, is
free to keep the commandments of God. But this is not what ministers of Satan—and there
are many more false apostles, deceitful workmen who have disguised themselves
as apostles of Christ, than genuine servants of righteousness—have taught
disciples whom the Father has drawn from this world. Rather, these false
teachers have taught infant sons of God that they were freed from keeping the
laws of God; thus, these spiritual infants journeyed nowhere. They did not
cleanse their hearts by faith, and they never had their hearts circumcised.
They were given real life in the heavenly realm, and for the most part, they
squandered this life through transforming themselves into vessels of wrath, the
spiritual reality of the thousands of bulls and goats sacrificed when Solomon’s
temple was dedicated. The disciple is mentally set free from sin when the
new creature is born of Spirit when the Father draws the disciple from the
world, but the tent of flesh in which this infant son of God dwells remains
subject to sin and death. Thus, the new creature born of Spirit, born free to
keep the commandments of God, must rule over the tent of flesh in which this
infant son of God dwells. Paul writes, “Let not sin therefore reign in your
mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions” (Rom 6:12), for the indwelling
sin in the disciple’s mortal body can reign over the infant son of God,
especially when this indwelling sin is reinforced by false apostles, ministers
of Satan himself. Paul writes, “Do you not know that if you present
yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one whom you
obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to
life” (Rom 6:16). Grace isn’t permission to sin, but is Christ covering sin
through His righteousness for the infant son of God who has presented himself
to God by making his members instruments for righteousness. Grace is Christ
covering the sins of the person born of Spirit who strives to perfectly keep
the precepts of the law, but is unable to do so because the tent of flesh in
which this infant son of God dwells also still houses indwelling sin. And all
who teach that Grace frees disciples from having to strive to keep the precepts
of the law is a false minister, a teacher of lawlessness, a servant of Satan. It is in the short period of time represented by
the eight days between when a Hebrew infant was born of woman and when this
male was physically circumcised that each disciple’s day of salvation occurs …
on the infant son of God’s day of salvation, this son of God will choose life
or death. This son of God will choose to mentally journey to Judea where he
will live as a spiritual Judean, or this son of God will stay close to home,
venturing no farther than the Church services of his nativity. To journey to
Judea is to choose life, for this journey will be the spiritual equivalent of
the physical journey Abraham made while still uncircumcised. To stay close to
home is to choose death, regardless of how close home is to heavenly Jerusalem. The disciple who by faith journeys from the mental
landscape of his or her nativity toward the heavenly city of Jerusalem—even if
this disciple doesn’t arrive in the heavenly city during his or her physical
lifetime—will cleanse the heart and receive spiritual circumcision. Thus, the
Greek who quit living as a Greek [i.e., practicing sexual immorality, offering
meats to idols, eating meats strangled and eating blood] has made a mental
journey from the landscape of his or her nativity toward the heavenly city of
Jerusalem, a journey of sufficient distance to cleanse the heart (Acts 15:7-11)
so that it can be circumcised. Likewise, the Native American who begins to live
as, say, a Tlingit Jew (as one Alaskan woman was asked by tribal members) has
mentally journeyed far enough to cleanse the heart even if this person doesn’t
arrive at the foundation the Apostle Paul laid in the heavenly city. And the
same can be said for any person leaving an aboriginal mental landscape by faith
and beginning the long mental trek to spiritual Judea. But the disciple who begins no journey during the
short period of time represented by the eight days chooses death by failing to
begin when commanded to go. This born of Spirit son of God—today covered by
Grace, but covered as the hated son of spiritual Isaac—retains the spiritual
processing capability equivalent to a human infant’s mental processing
capability in the first eight days of life. And this infant son of God that has
chosen death by failing to begin a journey of faith will never spiritually
mature beyond this infant status; for this son of God will be made into a
vessel of wrath that must be endured until sacrificed as ancient Israel
sacrificed bulls and goats at the dedication of the living temple, the house of
God built with living stones, each shaped offsite through the circumcision of
hearts and minds. It had been assumed that spiritual circumcision
came with receipt of the Holy Spirit, but this is not the case: spiritual
circumcision follows the cleansing of the hearts by faith. Spiritual
circumcision, like physical circumcision for the children of Israel born in the
wilderness (Josh 5:2-7), occurs after the infant son of God crosses the
spiritual Jordan River and enters into God’s rest on the seventh day (cf. Heb 3:16-4:11; Ps 95:10-11; Num
14:11-41). No one can enter God’s rest on the following day. Spiritual circumcision
doesn’t occur in the wilderness of Sin, but only in the Promised Land. As disciples approach the time of year when more of
the population’s thoughts turn toward Christ Jesus through the poorly taught
story of His birth, disciples need to understand that Caleb was of Esau, the
hated son. Yet it is only Joshua and Caleb of the men numbered in the census
taken when Israel left Egypt who enter into God’s rest—Joshua and Caleb,
together, represent the remnant (Rev 12:17) that will lead the third part of
humanity into the kingdom of God as the great harvest of Firstfruits. But Caleb
had about him a different spirit (Num 14:24), one that caused him to first
leave the land of his nativity and journey to Egypt where he lived with the
Israelites, then leave Egypt and by faith believe that God would deliver to
Israel what He had promised (Num 13:30). A few disciples who are today of the hated son
spiritual Esau will be like Caleb. Let those few turn from what is dishonorable
and become vessels intended for honored usage by keeping the precepts of the
law. They have been liberated from bondage to disobedience so that they can,
truly, keep the commandments. To
not even attempt to keep the commandments is today blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit. It is this blasphemy that foreshadows the blasphemy of the great
falling away 220 days into the seven endtime years of tribulation. It is this
blasphemy that was foreshadowed by Israel refusing to enter the promise land
when commanded to go, and attempting to enter on the following day. It is no
wonder that the firstborn son of spiritual Isaac is hated by God. The person
conducting the Sabbath service should close services with two hymns, or psalms,
followed by a prayer asking God’s dismissal.
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