The Role of Sanctification in the Gospel and in the Purpose of God, Part 1

REFRESHING WATERS RENEWAL #26

 

The Role of Sanctification in the Gospel and the Purpose of God

Part 1

 

Quotes from the Holy Brethren, Noted and Recorded by Jonathan Blakely

 

 

INTRODUCTION TO THE RENEWAL

Brother Jason Hutchcraft

• God has a special blessing in store for those who sacrifice for Him.
• The Renewal (meeting) is about the nature and content of the gospel.
• The gospel is the main thing. There really is no other message we have to preach.
• If we don’t preach the gospel then we are not Christians.  Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world.”
• From one aspect the gospel is a very simple message, but from another aspect it is a very deep well and we have only begun to see some of its involvements.
• We are not here to complain and judge, but we are here to draw attention to what has been neglected by that which calls itself the church.
• The men that speak here have been asked to speak because they have insight into the gospel.
• We want to have as many different presentations of the gospel as we can.
• A testimony is a personal rehearsal of what God is doing in a person’s life.
• Take charge of your physical constitution this week, in order that you may give attendance to what is being declared.
• The Renewal (meeting) is like a shot of adrenaline, like waters to the thirsty soul.

 

BROTHER GENE HUTCHCRAFT

 “A Qualification for being sanctified & prepared for the Master’s use”

• The gospel declares the imposition of God’s will upon the earth.
• God is not going to work according to OUR agenda!
• God’s grace and truth is a primary work of our Savior.
• There is no other foundation that has been laid (Christ) and we will NOT be separated from it!
• A “commission” is a mission with God.
• God’s grace is not just imparted to save us and snatch us from the fire; the grace of God gets us into position to walk the straight and narrow way.
• The world opposes God’s ways.
• Those who walk in the ways of the world cannot depend on God’s grace to remain on them.
• Our bodies have a law in them that’s against us, as Paul declared in Romans 7.
• “The law of sin and death” confines us to the “here and now”.  Therefore, we have to keep pressing forward in these things that God has given us.
• When we get to heaven there will be no competition. All there will be of one accord.
• It’s reasonable that we yield our whole selves to God.
• It doesn’t matter what a person preaches to people if they haven’t denied themselves!
• Sanctification is an ongoing process. The work we are doing now is preparatory.
• The righteousness we have is not political righteousness, it’s GOD’S righteousness!
• The peace of God will be of preeminent value on the Day of Judgment.
•  God plants holy considerations in us and then WE go and plant them in His vineyard.
• ALL will eventually conform to the Lord’s agenda!
• God received Christ when He gave up His spirit, and He will receive us as well.

 

BROTHER BOYCE MOUTON

 “Saints Sanctified while they work out their own Salvation”

• One of the benefits of speaking to a biblically minded audience is that what I say can have free course in their lives.
• It was a sad day when the Law was given. 
• Why would you go to the synagogue when next door (in the church) “the joy of the Lord is your strength”?
• If there was nothing wrong with the first covenant there would have never been second one.
• Eating without washing your hands isn’t what messes you up, it’s the heart!
• There is a big difference between sinning ignorantly and sinning deliberately.
• You didn’t have to tell Jesus what was in man. He already knew what was in man!
• Moses put life and death before the people and said, “Choose life” and they DIDN’T!
• I don’t believe Jesus gave me an evil and deceitful heart.
• There’s a difference between my BROTHER and somebody else.
• With a new heart comes a new perspective.
• When the Holy Spirit is inside you the devil can’t stop you!
• When you’re born again you need a certain environment for the new life in Christ to grow and be nurtured in.
• We’re in a worldwide fellowship.  There are brethren of like precious faith all over the world.
• You don’t have to sin and fall away. You can be faithful unto death!
• The angels are here now, and their purpose is to minister to you, as the heirs of salvation.

 

BROTHER PAUL McCULFOR

 “Sanctifying the Lord in your hearts”

• I recommend you tune up your mind and think on what is said in the Scripture.
• When we sanctify God in our heart we stop focusing on our own problems and are prepared to testify of God’s greatness.
• God doesn’t need to be made holy or have sin cleansed from His life.
• We do NOT make God holy.
• The Lord’s person isn’t in any way changed when we sanctify Him in our hearts.  When we sanctify the Lord we reverence Him as being holy.  Sanctifying the Lord is BEING holy.
• Sanctifying the name of God is holding it up to the highest degree in our hearts.
• We regard God as the ultimate power.  We set God apart as the one that we fear.
• God must be in our love, our minds, and our actions.
• Sanctifying the Lord is a command.
• When you’re in suffering the real heart is revealed.
• The Lord’s authority is above every man’s.
• Why weren’t the three Hebrew children afraid? Because they knew their God!
• David, even when in suffering, knew God was holy.
• Jesus sanctified the Lord and put His will above His own.
• When men had a high view of God the things of this world didn’t faze them anymore.
• If you have life from God how can you NOT show it to others around you?
• What the Lord gives to us will spill over to those around us.
• When you see who God really is, it shows.
• Sanctifying isn’t just for your sake; it’s for sanctifying the Lord too!

 

BROTHER DANIEL BRUECK

 “Purging of the conscience prefigured by blood purifying the flesh”

• Christ’s blood is purging us.
• The purging of the conscience is absolutely necessary.
• You have to have a purged conscience to effectively minister to God.
• Jesus is providing the most crucial service to God, and we are not entering into that work because of a purged conscience.
• Not only is (new) birth started, it continues on in Christ.
• God’s on the same page with you and you with Him.
• If God has developed something in you, we are ready to receive that thing from you!
• A conscience today, as the Lord and Holy Spirit continue working, will be different than before.
• All the parts of man need to be changed, but they all have to be changed in the right direction.
• The Holy Spirit implements the work of God.
• Your will can’t override your conscience.  Your conscience can’t ignore your hearts affection.
• The gospel is your life support system.
• The inward man must be at peace and then everything outward flows from that.
• Your conscience may say you’re okay when doing what displeases God. That needs to be purged out.
• Any work not underwritten by faith is dead and needs to be purged out.
• The memory of sin has a defiling effect upon those who commit it.
• Forgiveness precedes service.  You must first be forgiven before you can be of service to God.
• If anyone desires to be of service to God they must first submit to a purging of the conscience from sin.
• In our sanctification we are constantly remembering the sacrifice Christ made for our sin.
• We stand in need of the blood of Christ for our cleansing from the defilement of the flesh.
• We must each avail ourselves of our advocate in Heaven.

 

 

BROTHER TYLER JAMES BOYD

 “Jesus gave Himself for the church to sanctify it and cleanse it”

• The Church will not fail, come short, be overcome or be conquered.  It will be without spot and blameless before Him at His coming.
• When Christ puts his hand to a work, it will not fail.
• It is a great source of confidence, comfort and encouragement to know that Christ loves His Church.
• Jesus is fully involved in what He is doing for His Church.
• All of what Christ is doing now in Heaven is to prepare for Himself a glorious Church.
• Jesus being the captain of our salvation means that He will bring us all through, all the way to the finish line.
• We have great dependence upon Christ, in fact, without Him we can do nothing.
• Every member of the body of Christ fully depends upon the head of the body, which is Christ.
• Our sanctification and cleansing comes at a price.
• Our involvement in our salvation is to come into the work that Christ is doing and has done.
• Christ gave himself and by His death the great work of Salvation has been initiated.
• He gave himself with great expectation that His Glorious Church might be presented spotless unto the Father.
• Separation is implied within Sanctification.
• We are a people of God’s own possession.
• Those who are sanctified are God’s people.
• The saints are not just one type of many types of God’s people in the world.  All of His people are sanctified and prepared by God.
• Jesus took that which was filthy and useless and made it clean and useful.
• Things that are dead are not improved in that condition, dead things do not get better.  For improvement to be made they must be born again.
• When the Lord speaks a word, with that word comes power.  The result of that word spoken comes activity.
• Whatever is conceived by the word of God will have the same life that begat it.  We have been born again of the living word of God.
• God is saving us by words.
• We hinge our hope upon His promises.
• Jesus paid too great a cost, invested too many resources, and gave too much of himself to make an average Church an acceptable offering unto Him.  Nothing less than a Glorious Church, having no spot or blemish will be acceptable to Him and for Him.

 

BROTHER JAMES ARNOLD

Testimony

• Being in the church every time the doors are opened does not guarantee salvation, but it helped me understand spiritual things.
• As a child I had nightmares of Christ coming and me not being ready. As I grew up I knew I needed to be baptized into Christ.
• I didn’t want to face the Judgment not ready.
• For years I lived a life of fear, but God intervened.
• I remember when I started hearing spiritual things, and it sounded so good.
• The gospel is about GOD. I used to think it was about me.
• When I was baptized in Christ’s death I was no longer a slave.
• Jesus is what salvation is all about.
• I praise God for the salvation that He has given me.
• Since I was baptized into Christ I didn’t have any more nightmares.
• Fear no longer rules my life.
• I can ponder the coming of Christ and not be terrified.

 

SISTER EMILY ARNOLD

Testimony

• I’m in a much better state than I was last year, physically and spiritually.
• It’s hard to look back on your life and see the entanglement you were in, but by looking back we can see the work that God has done in you.
• God definitely has a plan for me.
• I can see that God’s hand was on me when I was faithless.
• Sin is depressing.
• The truth, when I heard it, was like water on my dehydrated soul.
• For me, to hear that you don’t have to sin anymore was life changing.
• I have found true freedom in Christ.
• God has faithfully brought me to this place of sanctification and transformation, and I know He will continue to work in me.

 

BROTHER JEREMY WILLIAMS

 “Jesus came to do the will of God, and this will sanctifies His people”

• Have you ever been rejected? It hurts! But I’d rather be rejected by this world than by God!
• God isn’t scratching His head. He know exactly what He’s doing!
• If we’re going to be in the presence of God, we need to be sanctified!
• How close can we get on our own?
• God showed us (in Israel) how close we could get on our own, and it was never close enough.
• God has a reason for everything.
• There is nothing that God does that doesn’t have a point.
• We exist for God.
• The end game is for us to be with our God.
• Because of sin God required sacrifice.
• Men needed to know that they were not accepted.
• Walking around not knowing you’re not accepted by God is worse than knowing you’re condemned.
• We’ll never be able to please our God on our own.
• Men had to be MADE clean.
• Sin cannot be in God’s presence.
• Here’s the good news, God is for us!
• Being sanctified doesn’t just change the way you act, your mind is changed as well.
• Your actions are changed because your mind is changed.
• Sin makes men proud, thinking they are good enough.
• There are no other religions that have a Savior or Jesus Christ.
• In Christ Jesus we ARE good enough!
• Who humbled themselves more than Christ Jesus?
• What really matters in this world other than pleasing God?
• Nothing could sanctify us until the body of Christ was sacrificed.
• Christ has sanctified men. The question is do we believe it?
• You don’t want to go anywhere else when you get blessed by God.
• In Christ Jesus we want to go further than what the law said.
• We struggle sometimes, but we don’t have to stay in the struggle.
• We can find pleasure in the presence of our God like never before.
• We don’t have to go another day without our God.
• We can reject everything the world has to offer and accept everything the Lord has to offer.
• We don’t have to wonder if God is pleased with us anymore. He IS pleased with us in Christ Jesus.
• When born again our desires match up with God’s desires.
• You think it’s a mistake that you’re here today?
• Men have to know that God accepts them!
• We don’t have to be part of a man made religion.
• We want to continue to please God and not worry about what men think.
• What does God think? That is the right question!
• God can and WILL work in His people.
• If we’re going to be rejected, let’s be rejected by men.
• You can’t live at a distance.
• If you want to get close to God you have to be sanctified.
• It helps to know you’re accepted.
• We don’t want to faint right before we get to the finish line, and we don’t have to.
• Without Christ we have nothing. With Christ we have everything.
• Christ changes all areas of our lives.

 

BROTHER MIKE ZAUCHA

 “Jesus sanctified Himself that we might be sanctified”

• There is a direct assault from the wicked one against the Lord and His anointed one.
• God has determined from the beginning the forming of a people for Himself.
• Because of sin all men are looked upon by God as an unholy thing.
• The gospel declares the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• All who are not built on the foundation (of Christ) are coming down.
• God has devised a means to accomplish His eternal purpose, and Christ is that means that he has devised.
• Those who are set apart from God are likened unto God.
• God’s people think and speak like God.
• Salvation is the result of a divine initiative.
• The foundation of sanctification is Christ Himself.
• Those who climb up another way other than the way Christ has ordained will be forever cast off.
• The gospel declares the devised means of God and its accomplishments.
• God brings men into fellowship with the body and blood of Christ.
• God placing us into Christ is the divine operation.
• Christ is the provision for sanctification.
• God has set apart His Son uniquely.
• Jesus was called from the womb of God’s eternal purpose.
• Jesus submitted Himself fully to His Father’s calling.
• The fullness of walking together in agreement is found in the Father and the Son.
• Jesus is not determined to make Himself holy, for He is the Holy One of God.
• Jesus has declared that He is the one.
• The work of Christ is according to the will of God.
• It’s glorious that we can hear about our Lord here in the year 2015.
• Jesus addicted Himself to the ministry of the saints.

 

BROTHER TOM PRICE

Testimony

• I can tell you that God has changed my heart and my mind.
• God promises us trials and tribulations, but God will be by your side and you will by His.
• I continue to stand on God’s promises.
• I want all of you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Don’t ever doubt the effect that you’re having others.
• All of God’s children will live to serve the Lord.
• God has given all of you unique gifts to touch someone’s life.
• Listen to what God says. Be in the quiet with Him every day.
• Use the word that God gives you.
• Put your faith out there and believe.
• Don’t second guess what God tells you to do, just do it.
• Put your faith in Jesus and everything will be fine.

 

BROTHER ROBERT COBB

 “God has chosen His people through sanctification”

• The angels don’t question the validity of God.
• What good is it for God to have all His characteristics and nobody know them?
• Do you know God? You’re going to know Him a lot better.
• We are preparing to know God better.
• All the works of God from the beginning are really one work.
• We are becoming part of the BIG plan.
• We are one with the one who made everything.
• You were made in the image of God…no wonder God can talk to you the way that He does!
• Angelic beings can look at you and see things that they can’t see anywhere else.
• God’s never really been without a people.
• “Beloved of the Lord” is a good status.
• Has God set His love on you?
• The things I have in the earth have a shelf life.
• There is no person called by Christ Jesus that isn’t called to sanctification and belief of the truth.
• Are you being sanctified by the Spirit? Happy are ye!
• I don’t want a simplified gospel. I want the gospel as God have it to us.
• Do we really expect God to bless us if we don’t lay down our lives for the brethren?
• I’m saved because God wants me saved!
• God doesn’t choose people to be spectators.
• God’s Spirit doesn’t lead anyone to sin.
• If I sin I’m acting outside the will of God.
• If Jesus casts you out, I’d say that’s pretty critical.
• Jesus can work out of you everything that God hates.
• God can be pleased with you. Are you pleased with God?
• I don’t think you can prove that a mere profession of faith confirms salvation.
• The Holy Spirit produces an environment where sanctification and holiness is possible.
• If you mortify the deeds of the body you’re a son of God!
• I know the old me, and I need grace to get over the old me because it was pretty bad.
• If I die with Jesus then I can raise from the dead too.
• We’re not robots. God has to work in you.
• The Holy Spirit has some work to do in you.
• The Holy Spirit isn’t working ON you, He’s working IN you.
• The Holy Spirit knows where God is going to put you in heaven, and He’s getting you ready to fit into that position.
• When we get to heaven we’re not going to be a bunch of oddballs.
• God can make you fit in.
• If I’m going through what I’m going through, God must have something really special in store for me.
• In the Kingdom of God there really isn’t any room for opinion.
• If Jesus is in you He’ll teach you how to say, “Not my will…”.
• Does anyone really believe someone is going to be saved apart from Jesus?
• The false Jesus is not a suffering Jesus, rather he is always laughing because everything is funny to him.
• If Jesus had to learn obedience then how DARE anyone create a doctrine that causes disobedience to Christ!
• Sanctification has many aspects.
• Those who don’t really love God are going to be purged out.
• It’s what JESUS did that saved you!
• Salvation is of the Lord, but it isn’t worked out apart from you.
• Be faithful with the measure (of faith) that you’re given.
• Every you repented God wrote it down in the book.
• There’s no sin, old man, or disappointment in heaven.
• Sanctification gets us ready to hear, “Well done good and faithful servant”.

Prophecies of Christ in Isaiah

Prophecies of Christ in Isaiah

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18). –Speaking of the thoroughness of the sufferings of Christ to remedy the sin issue.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD” (Isa. 2:2-5). –The redemption that is in Christ is declared to be abundantly sufficient to recover both Jew and Gentile from their state of lostness because of sin, and to draw them forever into the Presence of God.

“And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” (Isa. 2:17-22).

“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed” (Isa. 6:1-10).

“Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Mt. 13:13-15).

“Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him” (Jn. 12:39-41).

“And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it” (Acts 28:25-28).

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14).

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Mt. 1:23).

“Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion” (Isa. 8:18). 

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me” (Heb. 2:10-13).

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isa. 9:2).

“And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Mt. 4:13-16)

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isa. 9:6-7).

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God” (Isa. 10:20-21).

“Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha” (Rom. 9:27-29).

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse [the father of David], and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins” (Isa. 11:1-5).

“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious” (Isa. 11:10).

 

“And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust” (Rom.15:12).

“And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee” (Isa. 12:1-6).

 

“And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isa. 25:6-9).

 

“In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust” (Isa. 26:1-5).

 

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa. 28:16).

 

“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men” (Isa. 29:13).

 

“Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mt. 15:7-9).

 

“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” (Mk. 7:6).

 

“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly” (Isa. 32:1-4).

 

“And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever” (Isa. 32:17).

 

“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isa. 35:3-10).

 

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” (Isa. 40:1-9).

 

“As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Lk. 3:4).

 

“And this is the record of John [the Baptist], when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose” (Jn. 1:19-27).

 

“Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house” (Isa. 42:1-7).

 

Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust” (Mt. 12:14-21).

 

“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isa. 43:25).

 

“Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isa. 49:1-6).

 

“The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed” (Isa. 50:4-7).

 

“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa. 53:1-12).

 

"When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Mt. 8:16-17).

 

“But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed” (Jn. 12:37-38).

 

“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:26-39).

 

“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?” (Rom. 10:16).

 

“Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:3-7).

 

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made” (Isa. 57:15-16).

 

“So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever” (Isa. 59:19-21).

 

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isa. 60:1-3).

 

“The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified” (Isa. 60:19-21).

 

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations” (Isa. 61:1-4).

 

"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Lk. 4:16-21).

 

“For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God” (Isa. 62:1-3).

 

“Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken” (Isa. 62:11-12).

 

“For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved”

(Isa. 64:4-5).

 

"I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name” (Isa. 65:1).

 

“But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people” (Rom. 10:20-21).

 

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying” (Isa. 65:17-19).

 

“Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word” (Isa. 66:1-2).

 

“For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mt. 3:3). –Quoting from Isaiah chapter 40 with regard to John the Baptist (the forerunner of Christ)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mountain Top Magazine Statement of Purpose

Mountain Top Magazine Statement of Purpose 

It is our desire to preach Jesus. We want to see Him high and lifted up. Our purpose is to declare the Son of God, the salvation of God, and the ways of God through the word of God. The purpose of this magazine is to preach the gospel through writing. 

We have chosen the name "Mountain Top Magazine" for spiritual reasons, not topographical reasons. (We live by the Delaware beaches and our biggest mountain is actually a sand dune.) We desire to share with others that which we have seen and heard while on the "Mountain Top" with God. By dwelling in heavenly places and walking about Mount Zion, God will show His people many precious things. This magazine will serve as a report of those things which He has shown us. And that which we have received from the Lord, we declare unto you. 

Email us: pwoods330@gmail.com. or Mail: 12147 Rockswitch St. Milton, DE 19968

The Resurrection of the Dead, Comments on sermon

• We want to be ready to move right into our new bodies and hear the confirmation that we are ready and compatible to enter.  Brother Robert Cobb
• Sanctification is a very real process that enhances our hope along the way.  Brother Robert Cobb
• Sowing in hope makes for a situation where we can say that our bodies and our desire are in line with each other.  Brother Pat Woods
• This life is either suiting us to our new bodies or making us incompatible with it.  Brother Aaron Hutchcraft
• When we are living here we will always have greater things to look forward to that what we have here.  Brother Silas Hutchcraft
• Being raised from the dead is going to solve all your problems instantly.  Brother Given Blakely
• With a command from God comes the strength to perform it.  Brother Judah Hutchcraft
• Our hope is stabilized as we believe in and remind one another of the resurrection of the dead.  Brother Justin Cobb
• If we live sober lives we will always have hope.  Brother Benjamin Blakely
• If you believe in the resurrection of the dead you will be dominated by the hope of it.  Brother Robert Cobb
• One seed goes into the ground, but we expect to receive much more from the harvest.  Those who plant their dead in the hope of the resurrection are expecting to receive a great increase in the day of the resurrection.  Sister Barb Hutchcraft
• Remind people who you encourage to suffer for Christ what they are suffering for. Proclaim the end of their suffering. --Jonathan Blakely 
• Consume your thinking with the resurrection. --Jonathan Blakely 
• Don’t get used to things that will pass away and get old. --Jonathan Blakely 
• Keep in mind that we are not being raised to die again.  The resurrection of the dead we are hoping in is a resurrection unto eternity. --Jonathan Blakely 
• Everything temporal stops at the resurrection. --Jonathan Blakely 
  
  

The Resurrection of the Dead

• One of the reasons we are to be sanctified is because we are preparing to inhabit our new resurrection bodies.
• Suffering with Christ precedes being glorified together with Him.
• If there were no resurrection of the dead it would make no sense to give up this life here.
• We do all that we do because of the hope of the resurrection.
• Suffering for Christ doesn’t make sense if there is no resurrection of the dead.
• This life is not all there is!
• Those who dive into sin are either ignorant to God or they have rejected the provision God has for us in Christ Jesus. 
• Christians live in hope of the resurrection.
• Believers in Christ can look forward to having a new body.
• All the dead are going to be raised but only those who are in Christ can look forward to, or have hope in that resurrection.  All those who are without Christ will not look forward but rather it will be a point of dread and a torment to them.
• The resurrection of the dead has already commenced in Jesus’ resurrection.
• To be ignorant of the resurrection of the dead is to have no hope in this life.
• Believers cannot live without hope.
• Living for pleasure is really just a cover for those who are filled with despair because of sin.  
• We are living in Hope, not in fear of the end days and the Day of Judgment.
• Hope is the key to living correctly.
• It is an entirely other matter to be confronting unbelief from those within the Church.  Such a situation requires a more “head on” sort of an approach seeing that this is a serious matter and must be quickly dealt with.
• There are some questions that are asked in unbelief and are meant to trick, these should not be answered as though they were asked in sincerity. 
• There are some truths not open to interpretation, these must just be believed, period. 
• Jesus expected His disciples to believe.
• Understanding is traced to the heart.  If the heart is right, the mind will follow.
• We are limited only by our affections and wants.
• Some people do not understand because they do not want to understand.
• Nature has the fingerprints of God all over it.
• Even people that do not know the bible should be able to look at the creation and determine that there is a God.
• If God can turn a caterpillar into a butterfly then surely He can make us into new creations as well.
• If Mother Nature is powerful and mysterious then what does that teach us about her creator?
• When it is pitted against it, nature is not in our control.  What does that tell us about the power of the one who created all things? 
• When a farmer sows a seed he does so in expectation of receiving a harvest.  Similarly, the body that dies and is buried is buried in hope of the resurrection.
• This mortal body is not going to be resurrected still having all of its weaknesses.
• God has already determined what our new bodies will be, but He knows what we will be and He has told us that we will be like Christ Jesus.
• Whatever God gives us will perfectly satisfy the longing and desires that the Spirit gives us.
• Man was made with a body and God means to redeem our body, He has secured for us a new resurrection Body, unlike the one we have now, this one will be perfectly suited to heavenly habitation. 
• In Christ we become a whole new kind of person.
• Our bodies are not just for looks, they are for utility.
• Right now we are frustrated by having a new spirit in an old body, but the new bodies we hope for will be perfectly suited to dwelling in heavenly places and to doing the work we will be given to do.  
  --Jason Hutchcraft – “The Resurrection of the Dead”

A Better Country

A BETTER COUNTRY

By Given O. Blakely

"But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city." (Heb. 11:16).

In Scripture "country" denotes the place of citizenship; the locale where we are at home. It also speaks of a habitation with which we are compatible. Thus Scripture speaks of men belonging to a specific city, and having their "own country" (I Kgs. 22:36). Jeremiah spoke of those who wanted to forsake Babylon and return to "their own country" (Jer. 51:9). When the Lord Jesus "dwelt among us," the place where He was raised was called "His own country" (Mt. 13:54; Jn. 4:44). When God created man, He made him with a desire to belong – to fit in a specific environment. Although this desire has been corrupted because of sin, it is fully answered in the Lord Jesus Christ. In salvation, God is making us to fit into the realm in which He Himself resides. That process commences with justification, and is brought to its intended culmination in glorification. It is then that we will be fully adapted for a "heavenly" country. The redemption that is in Christ Jesus also, by faith, produces a longing for that blessed environment, and a corresponding dissatisfaction with this present evil world.

Faith, in our heart, essentially uproots us from this world, and from every country in it. When once a person believes God, a sense of NOT belonging to this world settles upon the soul. There comes a realization that we have been created in Christ Jesus for a better realm. Now, while we remain in the flesh, what is fervently desired cannot be supplied by this world and its resources. Those who are in Jesus at once become misfits in "this present evil world." The only way to avoid this perception is to cease to walk by faith. Of course, should this occur, we no longer fit into the domain of holiness, for we cannot essentially be citizens of this world and the world to come at the same time.

This fundamental condition of not fitting into this world, and longing for a heavenly country causes the religious chatter about health and wealth and prosperity in this world sound like so much nonsense. No matter how eloquent the perpetrators of these misconceptions are, and regardless of their cunning, yet dishonest handling of Scripture, the person who is living by faith is looking for "a better country." Further, everything related to health, wealth, prosperity, etc., relates to this world, not "the world to come." Regardless of how much you gain of this world, or how seemingly perfect your body is, all of it will eventually have to be left behind. None of it is compatible with heaven, and all of it has the taint of sin upon it. What a disadvantage such preachers have brought to Christian people. When the grand gathering of all men before the throne of judgment takes place, there will not be a single vestige of the things of this present world present. In an instant, the message of these health and wealthers will have been rendered obsolete – not able to survive the fire that will destroy the world (II Pet. 3:10-12). If they manage to make it through the fire themselves (I Cor. 3:15), they will have to learn a new message, for what they preached in this world will be nothing more than offensive babel in that one. To prepare for that appointed gathering, it is on the part wisdom to abandon the proclamation of everything that will not survive the end of the world.

A classic example of this can be found in Abraham. Although God promised him the land of Canaan for an "everlasting possession" (Gen. 17:8), yet when he arrived there, his faith cried out for more. The Spirit says it this way, "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, AS IN A STRANGE COUNTRY, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God" (Heb. 11:9-10). The great heart of the patriarch seemed to sense that he had been destined for a greater land than Canaan. As expansive as the land was, there were people there with whom Abraham could not mesh. There were famines, hostile people, and  sorrows. Even while he traversed in the promised land, because he was living by faith, he was all the while seeking "a better country."

Faith has associated us with heaven, and our real citizenship is there. As it is written, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil. 3:20, NKJV). Faith cannot be content with the paltry and defiled resources of this present evil world. It is preparing us for a better place. What are riches, careers, popularity, and fleeting enjoyments to the person who has the eagle eye of faith? The one who enjoys fellowship with the God of heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ (I Jn. 1:3; I Cor. 1:9), cannot be filled with the dust of this world. Its wells are not deep enough for him, and its goods are too prone to rust to please the heart. Riches can "fly away" (Prov. 23:5), and the person who is living by faith and walking in the Spirit cannot be attracted to such things. The individual; who possesses eternal life has a primal longing for eternal things, not temporal ones. As elementary as that may appear, what is being preached and taught these days has emitted a spiritual fog that hides such realities from the people.

In this world, we are "strangers and pilgrims" (I Pet. 2:11; Heb. 11:13). We do not fit into it. In fact, it chaffs against our spirits, and its manners militate against our faith. We may be in the world, but we are not of the world (Jn. 15:19) – not of its order or kind. We just do not fit well into it, and we know it. In fact, we are categorically told that we have not been made in Christ for the body we presently occupy, or the present world in which we find ourselves. In a grand development of this subject, Paul reminds us of that our earthly house, the human body, is scheduled to be "dissolved," or done away. It is then that we shall move into a new body, referred to as our "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. In our present bodies, "we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven." Our present bodies are tabernacles, o frail tents, in which "we groan, being burdened." But it is not because we simply want to get out of this present body; we want to get into our new body – "clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." Paul then states the case with staggering clarity, affirming that this whole arrangement is a Divine intention, and has been arranged on purpose. "Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit" (II Cor. 5:1-5). In other words, salvation is fitting us to live in an immortal body. Tell me, then, how much sense does it make to get people all wrapped up in life in this world, while we are in a corrupt and dying body.

Because our hearts have been uprooted from this realm, we cannot be satisfied with its offerings. Our hearts are set on a "better" place! It is as true of those in Christ as it was of the saints of old; "But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city" (Heb. 11:16). God is still "not ashamed" to be identified with those who "desire a better country!" They are His kind of people, and He will indeed bless them with blessing. As for those who accent life in this world, and feel at home here, I will leave it to you to obtain some rational persuasion of how God must view them.

The heavenly country is better because it is eternal. It is better because there "the wicked cease from troubling and the weary be at rest" (Job 3:17). In that fair land there is "no more curse" (Rev. 22:3). The total absence of trouble and turmoil is depicted by the phrase "no more sea" (Rev. 21:1). Everything brought in my sin is totally absent there – everything!

There will be no adversary in that heavenly country! When Abraham arrived in the promised land, "the Canaanite was then in the land" (Gen 12:6). When Joshua led the children of Israel into the promised land, it was occupied by "seven nations greater and mightier" than themselves (Deut. 7:1). But when we arrive in the "better country" we now desire, no such occupants will be found. We will diligently consider their place, and it will not be found! (Ps. 37:10). In every way, it is a "better country."

 Truly, it is a "better country!" We will fit in there! We will be at home there. There we will have peace and tranquility, world without end.

PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for giving us a hope that is an anchor for the soul, both steadfast and sure.