Peter warns "they make merchandise of you": pillars part 10

2 Peter 2

 1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

 7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

 10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

 11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.

 12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

 13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

 14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

 15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

 17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

 18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

From genesis to revelation men inspired by the Spirit of God have warned us of false prophets and their teachings. Peter also tells us that from the time Israel was a people false prophets have rose up and that it would be the same in the church.

Peter has told us at the end of the first chapter that the prophecy that is inspired of the Spirit of YHWH is not for private interpretation but to all men.

 When Moses said I have set before you life and death, blessings and cursing: therefor choose life that thou and thy seed may live. Does this apply only to the Jew or to everyman who hears His testimony? Yeshua makes it clear it is to all men when He says the greatest command is to give over all you are in love to YHWH. Moses witnessing by the same Spirit says to love YHWH in order to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and statutes and judgments.

In contrast the false prophet says YHWH has a secret that only a select few can have part in, that there message is special for those who hear them shall receive Gods blessings. They convince others that true believers agree with their message and cause separations among the children of YHWH. They draw men to themselves as a source of revelation and life with promises of gods favor and by such denies the Lordship of YHWH in themselves and those who hear them.

More damnable than the separation of the brethren into factions and groups is the separation from grace they cause. They teach that one must build themselves up into the things of God, but like the workers at the tower of Babel who believed they would build into heaven, they shall be confounded and scattered. Trust in man, either the self or another produce the works of the flesh, and causes the grace of the Fathers life in and through us to be frustrated. If we trust in ourselves to make our life we at the same time reject YHWH as our maker and life.

Despite this Peter warns that many will follow their destructive and killing ways. By covetousness they make merchandise of those whom they have charmed. Their desire is to take possession of what YHWH has given to you and then by words that pretend to honor God and care about their followers they take for themselves.

Paul has told us that such men despite their talk of heaven and grace and life have their own belly for their gods. They desire money, recognition, the honor of men, along with other things that are of men. They declare themselves blessed of God but by earthly standards. They are followed by those who have given their hearts desire to believe gain is godliness.

Search the scripture and find a lying prophet is accepted by those who preferred a lie to the truth. There is a vast difference between wanting to be blessed and desiring to be made one with YHWH.

Our self must be crucified in Messiah, baptized into His death, the resurrection of life must be by the Spirit making us to live, by self being gone and the abiding of the Father and His Son by the Spirit making us one, a new creation. If we are an improved self we are not dead in Him, we still are trying to make life come about by the flesh, and YHWH shares His glory with no flesh.

YHWH does not bless some because they are doing better for Him than others; He is no respecter of persons. We receive from YHWH because we stop trying to obtain and trust His word that He has given. These blessings are available to everyman who will trust Him. The blessings of YHWH are not our possession they are His, we are not our possession we are His, but YHWH has given Himself to us so He is our possession.

In the parable of the prodigal son the older brother stands outside the house offended at what His Father has given to his brother who neither had labored for his father nor been obedient. When his father comes to him asking why he is angry he tells him of his labor and how his father did not give to him. He finds himself rebuked that all the father had was his already simply to be possessed without earning it by labour.

Those who return to a life generated by man will and effort are like a dog who has purged himself of illness but by his unclean nature he returns to lap it up once more.

 

Peter's testimony: pillars part 9

2 Peter 1: 10-20

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

 11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

 12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

 13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

 14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.

 15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

 16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

 17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

 19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

 

Some of the most powerful lessons in the scripture are given by those whom the Spirit is witnessing to that their time on earth is drawing to a close.

 Moses in Deuteronomy is imploring Israel again and again to abandon all trust in their own strength and rely fully on YHWH as their maker when He knows soon he will not be with them.

 Yeshua in the Gospel of John teaching, praying for, and reassuring by promises that when it seems He has been taken from us, when our expectations of what our life as His disciple will consist of are so devastated that we are left in sorrow and doubt of our relationship with Him that our faith will not fail. The result of what we see as a loss will have the result of our old life will die in Him but by His breath YHWH will share with us His life making us one. As the scripture says He gives beauty for ashes and joy for tears.

Pauls warning that when he is gone the church will be splintered by self-serving apostasy but that we must test the Spirits, know the scripture and entrust ourselves to YHWH to the end we occupy till our Lord returns.

It is said that the apostle John in the last days of his life in saying that when he was gone there would be no one left who had been a firsthand witness to our Masters life. It is said that over and over He would say little children love each other.

So it is with Peter that as he tells us that soon He will put off this earthly life in the same way that Yeshua had told him he would the thing most important to his heart to leave with us is to experience by our living the divine nature that is in us by faith in Messiah.

He does not give us a teaching or a warning but as He had several years before told a lame man “silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I to thee; in the name of Yeshua rise up and walk.”(Acts3:6) This event at the beginning of the work of YHWH done in Peter and his second epistle make for perfect bookends of the life of the prince of the apostles.

For in the detail given of the healing of this man’s physical body as Peters ministry began we see a perfect comparison for the things Peter shares with us now to stir our heart as that ministry is ending.

There was a man lame from his mother’s womb…The infirmities of our heart has been with us from the womb; the nature of Adams self-serving flesh has been passed through every generation. The nature of the self is seen in the actions of the most innocent of infants. Has it ever been recorded that an infant decided to be hungry for a few hours because their mother was exhausted. This is the separation of the self and separation is death.

An infant cannot sin because sin is to transgress a command but at the time a child is old enough to hide what they have done sin is present. This is the condition of every man.

We may come to some understanding of right and wrong or of desire and empathy but righteousness and compassion escape us like smoke held in our hand for at our core we are lame from our mother’s womb.

As with this man who was brought to the temple and expected to receive alms from those who passed him our churches are filled with Christians who attend church week after week hoping that someone will give them something that will help them cling to life. The thought of actually being able to walk in righteousness is far away from their minds they instead have relegated themselves to endure the failure forgiveness cycle that they see as their fate.

Peter speaks to all such believers and proclaims you have been made partakers of the divine nature as such rise up by faith in His life in you and that which was made a weakness in you from the womb will receive strength.

Peter has good reason to assure you that when you let go of trust in yourself to succeed or fail and instead place all trust in His Spirit to make you live and live in and through you.

He has seen with His own eyes the glory of YHWH shining forth from the Lord. It is not a story he has heard or been convinced of but with his own eyes he saw this thing. When Peter had elevated Yeshua to an equality with Moses and Elijah; YHWH Himself spoke to him from Heaven and commanded that Yeshua was His Son and to listen to Him.

Peter then concludes that this utterance from YHWH was not for those who heard it alone but that the things YHWH speaks is for all men.

Peters life in Messiah:pillars part 8

2 Peter 1

 

1Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

 

2Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

 

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

 

4Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

 

5And *beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

 

6And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

 

7And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

 

8For if these things be in you, and abound , they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 

The first verse of second Peter is pretty common as epistles go; it tells us who he is what his ministry is and that he received that ministry from by faith through the Father and Son.

 

The second verse itself while stating the great truth that our grace and peace are multiplied by us ever coming to know the Father and His Son better is still common; at least as epistle intros go.

 

Do you remember how I have said Peter states big concepts in small ways with a matter of fact attitude that if we are not careful can be missed? Well get ready for verse three.

 

Peter tells us that God has given us by His divine power all things that pertain to life and godliness. When we consider that He is life and godliness is a noun form of something which God has claimed as devoted to Himself.

The Father has by the means of His Son provided us with life. Moses described a way of living in relation to God and man and concluded that what he had set down was way of life to those who lived in the way described in the law. Those who lived in a way that was opposed to what the law described are in the way of death.

The children of Israel by the same pride that Adam had fallen by thought they could generate this life by their own power and might. This blindness of trust in the flesh of Adam blinded them to what Moses had proclaimed to them “Hear o Israel YHWH( a personal name denoting relationship) is our Elohim (YHWH in the role of creator showing it was YHWH who is to will and do in us to form and make us) YHWH is one (Human math says 1+1=2, 2 is > 1, YHWH’s math says 1+1= 1, 1 is > all, Your Father does not add himself to you, nor add you to Him but instead joins you to Him and Him to you) and thou shalt love YHWH your Elohim with all thine heart and with all thy soul,and with all thy might (love is not an emotion it involves all the emotions anger, joy, desire, repulsion, etc. Love is a decision of commitment. So it is we cannot reserve any piece of ourselves for ourselves or we remain separate and not one with Him) and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart (only by the hand of YHWH forming you can you become the life described in the law but He cannot be your maker if you are determined to be your maker in any part of your being.)

The reaction of Israel to this offer and promise is “we will do all these things”. If we go this route of making our lives try to resemble what the law describes we will find that the law is a mirror reflecting back at us the death and sin at the core of our being.

When this is seen men react in two different ways some become broken and by fear of the Lord throw themselves at the feet of YHWH for mercy and find there the hope of His promised salvation. The other reaction is to run deeper into darkness; to convince them that they are acceptable to The Father by a standard of their own choosing. This number includes the religious hypocrite for sure. However the lost are the biggest hypocrites of all making their own standard of what good is then violating it when it suites them all the while saying they know God approves of them and no one has the right to say otherwise including YHWH. Yeshua proclaimed that He came that we might have life and life more abundantly. When we place this statement alongside other proclamations He has made of He did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill the law, that He is the way the truth and the life, and that He and the Father would come in and abide within those who would trust in Him then an understanding begins to form in us.

The writings of Moses are a witness of Yeshua and so the law is not now or ever our enemy but the self-generated life of our old man was and is opposed to the law it is this old self-generated life of the old man which was nailed to the cross for us in Messiah. That by that death we might become partakers of the divine life of the Father living in us.

As our faith remains in the redemption of YHWH the old man’s self is baptized into Messiah’s death and we are raised up with His life generated in us. The love of YHWH in us is not produced by us but it is the Fathers promise that as we trust Him as our maker He is bringing us to a love (a decision of commitment) that consumes all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength.

The heart of man is deceitfully wicked (twisted) and as such much of the time it fools us into thinking we are leaning completely on the Master when in truth we are trying to bring things to pass. So it is that our Father is a revealer of the heart and His Word is able to divide between soul and Spirit even unto the marrow.

Fear not only believe If our heart condemn us YHWH is greater than our heart and the power over all flesh has been given to Yeshua, we trust that He is able to keep that which we have committed to Him until that day when corruption puts on incorruption.

We in the modern church see the end of our faith as being a provision of worldly goods or a miraculous show of power or a powerful and effective ministry of the work of the Father, but Peter draws a different conclusion of how our diligence to trust and rely on only the Master will manifest.

1)      Virtue also called righteousness from faith to faith is the righteousness of Messiah revealed in us, seek ye first the sovereignty of YHWH your Elohim and His righteousness

2)      His righteousness living in and through us not generated by our self but by His Spirit will bring us into a oneness of knowing Him. Not merely learning about Him but to experience His life as our life.

3)      By Him living through us as us we will no longer be driven by the lust of things for we have been joined to the maker and owner of all things and we know He withholds no good thing from us and as such we have no reason to store up for our self

4)      As those things that the old man stored up within us as treasures are spoiled by the Father as His Spirit shows us they were delusion, deception, and vexation of soul we develop peaceful patience by assurance that the Father is forming both us and our brethren into His image

5)      This patience makes us truly a person belonging to God as we have released our desire for creating our own life in this world and the next.

6)      The beam being out of our own eye we now can see clearly that our brother is in need of the Father and we desire to be a witness and vessel of the Fathers life

7)      This desire becomes compassion to the degree that by our love for the Father we have a love with no bounds for our brother as was seen in Yeshua that even our life we will lay down for our brother’s well-being.

In verse eight Peter concludes if these thing are found in you then you have passed from simply having the life of the Father in you to the abundant life of The Father flowing out from you like living water to the end that our Master is the firstborn of many brethren.

 

 

 

Will a man rob God?

Malachi 3:6-15

 6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

 7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.

 13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

 14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?

 15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

Nehemiah 13:10-12

 10 And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field.

 11 Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place.

 12 Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries.

Deuteronomy 8: 11-20

 11 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

 12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

 13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

 14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

 15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

 16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

 17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

 18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

 19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

 20 As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.

Psalm 24:1

 The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Psalm 50:7-14

 7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.

 8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.

 9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.

 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

 11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

 13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

 14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

Haggai 2: 8-9

 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.

 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.

Mark 12:15-17

 15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.

 16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.

 17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.

1 Corinthians 4:7

 7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

 Colossians 1:16-21

8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

Hebrews 2:6-13

 6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him?

 7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:

 8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

 10 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.

 11 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,

 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

 13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

 

There is a teaching in the modern church which I refer to as sowing and reaping. The basic tenant is tied into not only the law of the tithe but also above and beyond the support of men’s ministries with money but is it a correct teaching. The scriptures that deal with sowing and reaping are not financial lessons but lessons about the truth and life living in us.

If our foundation is Messiah we are the possession of YHWH but still we must consider how we build our day to day living on that foundation for all things are tried as with fire. Those things of YHWHs making such as gold and silver and precious stones are either unharmed or made pure by fire. If the things built there are of man’s making from the temporary things such as wood and hay the same fire will burn them back down to the very foundation. If our life and living are the building of YHWH we will dwell in beauty and peace but if it is a work of our own making we will see destruction and loss.

I once heard a man preach that He could find money in any scripture but the scripture is a description and promise of YHWHs life not men’s self-gain. This does not mean the bible does not speak about money it does but not as gain.

Often it is said that the Old Testament saints and some say new also owed YHWH ten percent of their increase. This is the 180 degree thinking of the carnal man. All we are and all we have belong to Him the tenth was for the care of priesthood who lived by the offerings to the temple. The other ninety percent still belonged to YHWH but was for the men to steward over to provide for family, or the poor in the land; therefor to claim it as being one’s own is to rob YHWH of not only ninety percent of your increase but also to rob Him of yourself. You are either His or yours but never both for no man can have two masters.

If we understand these things then we can see that the question of if we are to give ten percent under new covenant is the wrong question based on a wrong foundation of personal possession. A more accurate question is in what way are we to steward over what YHWH brings into our hands.

We submit ourselves to YHWH first trusting Him to work in us to provide for both us and whomever He brings into our life. So it is by direction of the Spirit that our giving is to be directed.

That said the Spirit is YHWH and YHWH does not change. If you say you are not lead to give into others ministry work, especially neither those who minister to you personally nor you say does He lead you to give to those believers who lack then you testify against yourself that He is not living in and through you.

The first followers of the way we are told in acts considered all things in common. Do we think they were communist with all men working for the common good? No for there is none good but YHWH and we are the vessel by which He works. They had come to understand by the Spirit that YHWH is one and as He is in the Son so He and the Son are in us.

Therefore we are one with each other. If my brother has a need and I close my compassion to him I set myself as his enemy, as my brethren’s enemy, as Messiahs enemy, as the Fathers enemy, and by such I cut myself off from life and suffer death.

A desire to gain for self is not a desire for Messiah and a fear of lack is not faith in Him.

Peter's plan for promotion: pillars part 7

1 Peter 5

 

1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

 2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

 3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.

 4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

 5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

 10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

 11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

 12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.

 13 The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

 14 Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

 

Peter at the close of his first epistle gives instruction to the elders of the body. An elder is not judged as the world judges by age but instead by spiritual maturity. Peter gives two basic qualities for elders that they are witnesses to the sufferings of Messiah and that they are partakers of the glory to come.

We think of the fivefold ministry when we think of elders but every believer is a minister of the work of YHWH. Peter gives no such limitation; the apostle John divides believers into three categories regardless of their ministry gifts little children, young men, and fathers, Paul has said we may have a thousand instructors but few fathers, and James has said that elders will pray a prayer of faith. The qualifications of elders remain the same regardless of the ministry YHWH works through one. They must be a witness by lifestyle of the death of the old man accomplished in our Messiah at the cross and in like manner the glory of the life of YHWH living in them must be evident.

Being a leader and elder in the church is not like being a school teacher where a degree and learning facts and figures make you qualified to teach others. We may feel the call of YHWH to the work He has determined for us but still the way is a living way and must be lived in us before we can help others know how to live. We do not build our arc as Noah did for one hundred years nor do we learn our duties for seventeen to thirty seven years as the Levitical priest did before performing his service.

Consider that scripture tells us Moses knew he was to deliver Israel at age forty but not until age eighty did YHWH send him. In the same way our Master knew at age twelve that YHWH was His Father but was thirty before His ministry began. Also the apostle Paul is directly called by Yeshua but it is several years later before YHWH speaks to the elders of Antioch to separate out Paul and Barnabas.

I once many years ago met a man who was not a minister of any sort but as I spoke to him with he thumbed through his old bible from verse to verse from beginning to end; both encouraging me and ever so gently correcting me. I could sense the life of YHWH in this man.

Peter instructs the elders as he himself was told when they have converted from carnal trust of the self to the life of trusting the Spirit to live in us to feed the sheep. Not by a sense of duty but as fathers from love; not for carnal gain but a desire to see the life of YHWH established in others, not as masters but as those who see to those who belong to their master by being a living example of our masters life.

Peter moves on to those who are younger in the faith to submit to the elders as the elders know we submit to each other with humbleness. Humbleness is having no consideration of one’s own rights or needs or desires for provision or notice; for the self is pride. We know that YHWH has given us all things through His Son to the purpose that we might have that which is needful for our brother to have and trusting YHWH to work that which is needful for us.

If we are to be honored let it be by YHWH if we are to minister let it be by His life working in us. As Yeshua has taught us all glory and honor and faith must be given to YHWH and He will show His authority and glory and life through us.

So we cast all that we are and all that He has promised for and to us for we know that it is His good pleasure to care for us.

Your adversary seeks to destroy you by self-seeking and those things which are of men, including you, stand strong in your trust in the Messiah and the life of the Father you have been redeemed into.

Know that your Lord will allow you to see the end of believing in man as it is unbelief in YHWH, but He shall also deliver you from every snare of the flesh and establish and strengthen you in Himself.

Peters call to battle: pillars part 6

Peter 4 King James Version (KJV)

 

 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:  Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:  Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.  For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging.  As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

 

 

Peter has concluded that to be free we must submit to YHWH alone and by that submission as He works in us and our brethren and the kingdoms of men we are free to submit our lives to all men in order to perform the will of YHWH. If our submission means we must suffer the penalties of wrong though we have done that which is right we know that our Master has suffered before us; the just suffering the penalty of the unjust.

The suffering itself may serve the purpose of YHWH but it is not our focus only a result. The focus is to place a complete and total trust, reliance, dependence, and expectancy in our Father living through us and working through us to perform His will. The self must be completely abandoned if we are to have this life living in us to the end that YHWHs will is done.

Adams temptation was to obtain for himself. When he gave himself over to that desire he died and became a murderer of every child born of the seed within him. Our Messiah himself in His four recorded temptations refused to act to obtain for himself. In the wilderness we see in the stone and bread Yeshua refuses to act of Himself to make provision for His needs (body). In the pinnacle of the temple we see His rejection of trying to receive recognition and honor of who He is by His own actions (soul). In the offer of the kingdoms of the earth we see Him refuse to obtain that for which He was born by His own actions (spirit). The fourth temptation in the garden was one temptation but in three waves.

The leaders of Israel and the disciples might not have understood what the prophets had written of Messiahs suffering and abuse. No man may fully grasp the abusive deathly result of and consequence of their own sin. Yeshua knew the scripture and He knew all men; thereby He fully understood the suffering He was being asked to endure. Still the temptation of self-preservation (life) could find no place in Him. He lived the Fathers will and had worked the Fathers works and so He would suffer and die in the same manner fully submitted to the Father living in Him.

Peter encourages us to arm ourselves with our mind set to these same things. It was this mind set by which Messiah delivered us from sin and death and it is the only way in which we can walk in what He has provided. Paul in telling us to put on the whole armor of YHWH breaks apart several areas in which we place our complete trust in what YHWH has worked through Messiah; Peter in His simple fashion simply tells us to arm ourselves but the meaning is the same.

We are in a war, Yeshua is our seven star general and the Master of the army of the Heavens. In His manifestation He has filled His brethren and all of heaven with violence; in the way a battlefield general incites His troops for war. The violent take the battle by force.

The violence of Yeshua is not against men but against the sin and death to which men are in bondage. As such all who have been made His brethren have taken this same fight both within themselves and in those to whom they are sent. The weapons of this warfare are not carnal but through the Spirit and this fight is not of force but of faith. The reason these things are true is because there is only one true God. He is the only power and authority, the only maker and generator, the only beginning and end, it is Him that is the only life and love and good all else is only a pretender and murderer and deceiver.

YHWH by faith places us in His life by that same life which was in His son our Messiah. In the same way that Yeshua was dead to His self and alive to YHWH so we ourselves must be crucified in Him that the same Spirit working by love that has no self-interest may make us alive with the life of YHWH himself.

This agape type love looking only to YHWH and men is the life shared in us and it is the deliverance to every sin that exist. Our death in Messiah of the self with the subsequent living of the Spirit from us makes us cease from sin. If we see sin in our life then we know that there is still trust in self within us but have full confidence that as we trust Him to make us trust Him the weapons of our warfare are mighty through YHWHs life to the pulling down of strongholds and that at His presence all things bow to His authority.

As we receive this grace of YHWH living in us let us also share it with our brethren for we have the same life living in us and are one.

Our master said He never said or did anything that He had not seen of our Father so as His disciples let us be like Him and speak and work only those things He has made to be living within us.

So if we find in our life suffering for sin let us be happy for we fellowship in the suffering that Messiah has suffered for us and knowing that the result of that suffering is death of the sinful ways and a glory of the Living God raising us up from the grave. If we suffer in this life for His life living through us then count it an exceeding joy for we have fellowship with our Messiah in that by his suffering though He was innocent He provided for the salvation of those in guilt.

Yeshua said take the beam from your own eye that you might see clearly to remove the splinter from thy brother. So we see that we cannot remove the individual sin we see from our brother if we do not remove the death from ourselves. Peter says the same when He says judgment must start at the house of YHWH whose house you are.

The Spirit through Paul says I know in whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to keep that which I have committed until that day. Through Peter the same Spirit says let us who are put to the death of our self in Messiah by YHWH’s will entrust our souls to YHWH that He shall keep them and do that which is right through them for He is a faithful Creator.

The potter and the clay

 

Isaiah 64:8

 But now, O LORD, thou [art] our father; we [are] the clay, and thou our potter; and we all [are] the work of thy hand.

Genesis 2:7

 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Isaiah 29:16

Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

Romans 9:20-22

 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed [it], Why hast thou made me thus? 

2 Timothy 2:20

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.

 

 

 

Considering YHWH as our potter and us as the clay can make clear to us that it is YHWH who forms and shapes us. Yet if we only consider the relationship of the potter and clay as it is formed into a vessel of the potters choosing we will miss much of the understanding that can be found in this allegory given us from YHWH.

The relationship between potter and clay begins long before the potter makes a vessel.

1)      The first thing a potter does is to choose a suitable piece of earth. “…God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul” when Adam fell he lost the breath of life in him and became only animated clay. When he had children the also where of the earth, animated clay. The earth does not choose the potter, it does not volunteer, and it performs no work. It is the potter who looking upon the earth finds that which by His own labor will become usable clay.

2)      The potter then digs out and removes the earth from the earth around it and places it in his own vessel. When YHWH draws us out of the earth and gives us faith to be in His vessel of His Son, Yeshua His Messiah, we do not vary in appearance and substance from the rest of the earth. Yet we are very different for we have entered a relationship with the Master Potter.

3)      The potter now takes the earth in his vessel and begins to add water mixing the water into the earth until it becomes about the consistency of thick soup. Water in the scripture is often used to symbolize both the word and the Spirit; which is reasonable since Yeshua said the words I speak are Spirit and truth. So it is that YHWH teaches us His word and reveals His truth until we become filled and saturated by it. Yet still the stones and sticks and dead foliage and debris make us unsuitable as clay. This thinned version of earth is called a slip and it is a necessity for the next step to occur.

4)      The potter will now be able to screen away those things that are unsuitable as the clay he is working to form. Yeshua tells us we are sanctified by the washing of the word. He gives us His word that we will give Him those parts of us that we can by the light of His word see are not usable in us. Our self-produced ways, thoughts, desires, and actions all crucified in Him that we may live unto our Father. Step three and four may be repeated with a smaller and smaller screen if the potter feels it is needed

5)      The potter will now set the clay to the side and allow it to set until it matures to his desired consistency. We as conscience clay may at many points in this work of the potter in us not understand why we are not yet a vessel or even usable clay. This setting aside is often the most vexing part of the potter’s process for the clay. With many of us as John warned us may feel condemned in our heart but as John also promises us YHWH is greater than our heart.

6)      The potter now begins to form the vessel that has been in his mind and heart to make since he first set out to find the earth. The scripture tells us that in a great house are many vessels some for honor and some for dishonor. To some this is perplexing because why would YHWH make a vessel of dishonor? The short answer for His own needs. In way of explanation I have a lot of vessels in my own house; some my wife has displayed in a cabinet for those who see them to see their beauty, others are used to eat from and prepare food, others for household uses and to accomplish certain task, still others such as a toilet or a bathtub have an important function but I have as yet to ask someone to come and admire my toilet. Consider for a moment though which vessel is most needed by me and those of dishonor are the most needful for my house to function as I desire.

7)      When the vessel is finished it must be strengthened to the end that it keep its shape and therefore its usefulness. Many times in steps one through six we feel persecuted and as if we are in trials the purpose for those things is to remove the earthly things from us and make us usable. The persecutions that attend to step seven are not to remove from us but because of what we have been formed to contain…His righteousness, His inheritance, His living word, His love, His life, in short Him.

When the Spirit drew me to look into the full relationship between the potter and the clay I was greatly blessed and encouraged. It was in my heart this morning to share these things with you so I do so with expectancy that it will do the same for you.