“Two Blind men - menorah publications...4 “Two Blind men ...” As “The Hand of Jesus”touched and healed the eyes of the blind, so too, The Spirit of Holinessopens the eyes

“Two Blind men ...”

By Robert. B & Katie Dalton.© Menorah Publications.Australia 2018.

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* Points of distinction and emphasis, are used by our authorship solely tobring light to our dialogue.

* Unless otherwise indicated, all Scriptural references appearing arequotations from the King James Bible ...computer software, E Sword version 10.2.1 © 2013 by Rick Meyers.www.e-sword.net

First Edition (August, 2018.)

Copyright © 2018. Kenya, Africa. Australia & New Zealand,by Robert.B & Katie Dalton.Apart from the purpose of private study or review forarchive retrieval, no part may be reproduced without theexpressed and written permission of the authors (and/ or)their agents for “Menorah Publications.”

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Table of contents.

- “Two Blind men ...”

- “Faith, not presumption ...”

- “The man blinded by greed, Zacchaeus ...”

- “The Robe of Righteousness ...”

- “The Cloak of Maliciousness, you choose!”

- “Flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone!”

“The Father” of “The Groom,”requests your presence ...”

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“Two Blind men ...”

As “The Hand of Jesus” touched and

healed the eyes of the blind, so too, The Spirit ofHoliness opens the eyes of those that suffer

blindness toward, “The Revelation of God inHis Word.”

“The Greatest of all,” in meekness revealsinsights that are previously hidden to all but babes.

Matthew 11 Verse 25 “At that time Jesus answered andsaid, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth,

because thou hast hid these thingsfrom the wise and prudent, and hastrevealed them unto babes.”

John 16 Verse 25 “These things have I spoken unto you

in proverbs: but the time cometh, when Ishall no more speak unto you inproverbs, but I shall shew you plainlyof The Father.”

He encourages us still, to come as,

“Little children.”

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Matthew 18 Verse 3 “And said, Verily I say unto you,

Except ye be converted, and becomeas little children, ye shall not enter intoThe Kingdom of Heaven.”

Luke Chapters 18 and 19 tell thestory of two men both sufferingblindness! One born blind frombirth, a man from Jericho, Bar-Timaeus, son of Timaeus. The other,Zacchaeus, also from Jericho, thechief tax collector.

Luke 19 Verse (1b)“ ... the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.”

Zacchaeus, was blinded by hisgreed for money and wealth, so much so,that he stole from those who he gathered taxes!

Publicans, or tax collectors, were sodespised that they weren’t evenwelcome to worship in The Temple:

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Luke 16 Verses 10-15 “He that is faithful inthat which is least is faithful also inmuch: and he that is unjust in the leastis unjust also in much.”(11) “If therefore ye have not been faithful in theunrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust thetrue riches?” (12) “And if ye have not been faithful in thatwhich is another man’s, who shall give you that which is

your own?” (13) “No servant can serve twomasters: for either he will hate theone, and love the other; or else hewill hold to the one, and despise theother. Ye cannot serve God andmammon.” (14) “And the Pharisees also, whowere covetous, heard all these things: and they deridedHim.” (15) “And He said unto them, Ye are they which

justify yourselves before men; but God knowethyour hearts: for that which is highlyesteemed among men is abominationin the sight of God.”

A little latter, Jesus unfolds a dialogue in regard totwo men who went up to The Temple to pray. One aReligious Pharisee, and the other; ironically a Publican:

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Luke 18 Verses 10-14 “Two men went up into thetemple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other apublican.” (11) “The Pharisee stood and prayed thuswith himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as othermen are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as thispublican.” (12) “I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of allthat I possess.” (13) “And the publican, standing afar off,would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but

smote upon his breast, saying, God be mercifulto me a sinner.” (14) “I tell you, this man wentdown to his house justified rather than the other: forevery one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and hethat humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Before Jesus had even entered thevillage, He had an encounter withanother man, a man who was “bornblind,”

“Bartimaeus.”

There is much to be gained bythe gift of sight, How many of us liveour lives and “see, without reallyseeing?”

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Mark 4 Verse 12 “That seeing they may see,and not perceive; and hearing theymay hear, and not understand; lest atany time they should be converted,and their sins should be forgiventhem.”

Sometimes, the obvious standsright in front of us and yet we fail tosee.

“It’s a terrible thing to have eyesand yet NOT SEE!”

Those moments when “sight” comes, what I

choose to call, “God moments.” Moments to betreasured always, precious gems of Love,

“Revelatory insight:”

So much so, that even the physically blinded eye

can see beyond the scope of “normalsight!”

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John 20 Verse 29(b) “ ... because thou hast seen Me,

thou hast believed: blessed are they thathave not seen, and yet have believed.”

Obviously, there is much to begained by The Gift of sight, but weneed to take into account of the othersenses that had been sharpedbeyond the normal to compensatefor the absence of the “sense ofsight.”

Let’s continue, and look at the first of these blind

men, the one called Bartimaeus,

Luke 18 Verses 35-43 “And it came to pass, that as He

was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blindman sat by the way side begging:”(36) “And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked whatit meant.” (37) “And they told him, that Jesus ofNazareth passeth by.” (38) “And he cried, saying,

Jesus, Thou Son of David, havemercy on me.” (39) “And they which went beforerebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried

so much the more, Thou Son of David,have mercy on me.”

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(40) “And Jesus stood, and commanded him to bebrought unto him: and when he was come near, Heasked him,”

(41) “Saying, What wilt thou that I shall dounto thee? And he said, Lord, that I mayreceive my sight.”(42) “And Jesus said unto him, Receive thysight: thy Faith hath saved thee.”(43) “And immediately he receivedhis sight, and followed him,glorifying God: and all the people,when they saw it, gave praise untoGod.”

1 Corinthians 2 Verse 14 “But the natural man receivethnot the things of The Spirit of God: for they arefoolishness unto him: neither can he know them,because they are spiritually discerned.”

Blind Bartimaeus reached out for

“The Master’s Touch” it is my firm conviction,

that The Presence of The Lord JesusChrist in our midst “always” over-rides what “the natural mindperceives!”

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After all, the miracle of all miracles, is the fact that

The Lord Jesus Christ “changes the heart ofthe inner man toward Himself and ourFather God:”

Ezekiel 36 Verse 26 “A new heart also will Igive you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and Iwill take away the stony heart out ofyour flesh, and I will give you an heartof flesh.”

He does this by inwardlytransforming hearts which are as coldas stone toward Him and replacing the“hardheartedness, with a heart that istender toward Him!”

I do not believe in “Blind Faith,” but I do

believe in a heart that is so touched by “TheGift of Faith” that it is transformed byan inward miracle to become tendertoward God our Creator.

The Word of God must be mixed with “Faith” inorder to profit those that hear it.

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Hebrews 4 Verse 2 “For unto us was The Gospel

preached, as well as unto them: but The Wordpreached did not profit them, not beingmixed with Faith in them that heard it.”

There is a law that assigns itself, toward answered

prayer and petition, and that, is “The Law ofFaith” the principle that revolves around the

responses of “asking,” “seeking” and“knocking!” Understanding God’sWord, in order to act upon that “givenWord” is the perception of knowledge.”

Our minds should be used as “eyes to see,”rather than we becoming vessels to “deposited,stored facts.”

Ephesians 1 Verses 17-19 “That the God of our LordJesus Christ, The Father of Glory, may give unto youThe Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in The Knowledge

of Him:” (18) “The eyes of yourunderstanding being enlightened; that yemay know what is The Hope of His calling, and what theriches of The Glory of His inheritance in the saints,”(19) “And what is the exceeding greatness of His Powerto us-ward who believe, according to the working of Hismighty power,”

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A.W.Tozer stated, The man or woman who has been

taught in “The School of The Spirit” will be a

“seer, rather than a scholar!”“The difference is that the scholarsees, but the seer, sees through!”

The Lord Jesus Christ, is “TheBread of Heaven,” He is, “The Bread ofLife,” but it is only as The Holy Spiritreveals Him that the hunger of the soulis satisfied.

Luke 18 Verses 35-37 “And it came to pass, that as Hewas come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by

the way side begging:” (36) “And hearing themultitude pass by, he asked what itmeant.” (37) “And they told him, thatJesus of Nazareth passeth by.”

Jesus entered Jericho, Bartimaeus

recognized “the footsteps” of “The King inthe crowd.” Blindness cannot hinderthe perception of “hearing” which issensitized to compensate for the lackof sight.

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“ ... Jesus, Thou Son of David,have mercy on me ...”

The line of royalty to David as kingwas sparked in the heart of a blindman whose inner-most being searched and yearnedfor,

“The King of all Kings:”

“ ... Thou Son of David,have mercy on me.”

All was darkness before Jesus walked by, then the

spark in “the heart” burst into light,

“The Son of The Most High” was here!!!

2 Chronicles 16 Verse 9 “For The Eyes ofThe LORD run to and fro throughoutthe whole earth, to shew Himselfstrong in the behalf of them whoseheart is perfect toward Him ...”

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Bartimaeus persists despite theverbal abuse and hindrances to hisreaching out for Jesus.

Luke 18 Verse 39(a) “And they which wentbefore rebuked him, that he shouldhold his peace: but he cried so muchthe more, ...”

“ ... he cried so much the more, ...”

Bartimaeus’ words are caught bythe listening ear of,

“The Shepherd of God.”

The ears of The Master are alwaysinclined toward His lost wounded andhurting sheep.

Those that have stayed and thosethat are born with hindrances to the lifethey should be able and have everyright to enjoy!

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Luke 18 Verse 39 “And they which wentbefore rebuked him, that he shouldhold his peace: but he cried so muchthe more, Thou Son of David, havemercy on me.”

Isaiah 29 Verses 18-20 “And in that day shall the deaf

hear the words of the book, and the eyes ofthe blind shall see out of obscurity,and out of darkness.” (19) “The meek alsoshall increase their joy in The LORD, and the pooramong men shall rejoice in The Holy One of Israel.”(20) “For the terrible one is brought to nought, and thescorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity arecut off:”

It is a sad thing when the crowdhinder the oppressed and even in theirignorance threaten the blind and thebeggars!

They seem to be saying in theirarrogance, “Just who does this blindbeggar think that he is to call out inthe Presence of this Majesty?”

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Many recognize “The Majesty,”but they miss the point of,

His Presence in their midst!!!

“ ... he cried so much the more, ...”

How often does The Lord put to silence those who

are the “man-pleasers” those who readily run

with the crowd?

The Lord has a way of turning“the malice” back onto those that are“malicious” and exalt themselvesabove those that cry for help!

Matthew 5 Verses 6-8 “Blessed are theywhich do hunger and thirst afterrighteousness: for they shall be filled.”(7) “Blessed are the merciful: for theyshall obtain mercy.”(8) “Blessed are the pure in heart: forthey shall see God.”

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Now, Jesus sends those thatcommanded the man to be silent tobe bought to Him!

Mark 10 Verses 49-50 “And Jesus stood still,and commanded him to be called.And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good

comfort, rise; He calleth thee.” (50) “And he,casting away his garment, rose, andcame to Jesus.”

Bartimaeus; rose without hesitation,throws off the cloak, the verygarment that identified him beforethe crowd as a beggar.

Bartimaeus the beggar knew thathe wouldn’t be returning to pick itup again! Blindness and begging weredeclared in the fabric of the cloak.

Bartimaeus would not be deterredby either “the cloak,” or “the crowd!”

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This was no blind leap of Faith, thiswas stepping out in “declaration” of thecommand of The Master.

Luke 18 Verses (40) “And Jesus stood, and commandedhim to be brought unto Him: and when he was comenear, He asked him,” (41) “Saying, What wilt thou that I

shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I mayreceive my sight.” (42) “And Jesus said unto

him, Receive thy sight: thy Faith hathsaved thee.” (43) “And immediately hereceived his sight, and followedHim, glorifying God: and all thepeople, when they saw it, gavepraise unto God.”

Mark 10 Verse 52(b) “ ... And immediatelyhe received his sight, and followedJesus in The way.”

Faith decided, never to return fromwhere He came from, but to follow Himno matter where, even to the very footof “The Cross:”

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Luke 4 Verses 17(b)-21 “ ... And when he had openedthe book, He found the place where it was written,”

(18) “The Spirit of The Lord is upon Me,because He hath Anointed Me topreach The Gospel to the poor; Hehath sent Me to heal thebrokenhearted, to preachdeliverance to the captives, andrecovering of sight to the blind, toset at liberty them that are bruised,”(19) “To preach the acceptable year ofThe Lord.” (20) “And He closed the book, and hegave it again to the minister, and sat down. And theeyes of all them that were in the synagogue werefastened on Him.” (21) “And He began to say unto them,

This day is this scriptureFulfilled in your ears.”

“Faith clings to Jesus, no matterwhat!” There is a determination thatrises about the religion of other men,it’s called, “Relationship!”

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The mission of Jesus focused on,

“ ... This day is this scriptureFulfilled in your ears.”

“The Spirit of The Lord ... ““ ... is upon Me,...”“ ... because He hath Anointed Me”“ ... to preach The Gospel tothe poor; ...”“He hath sent Me to heal the

brokenhearted, ...”“ ... to preach deliverance to thecaptives, ...”“ ... and recovering of sight

to the blind, ...”“... to set at liberty them

that are bruised,”Verse 19 “To preach the acceptable yearof The Lord.”

We are under “The Rule and Reign ofChrist,” we are no longer captive to the world orenslaved by its demands.

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We have “Throne Rights,”

- The right to “Worship The Father inSpirit and in Truth.”

- The right to “Ask,” “Seek” and“Knock.”

- The right to “pray without ceasing,”“talking” and communicating with TheFather, The Son and The Spirit of God.

- The world now has a front row seat toYOU, “Loving on God!”

- When you don’t know what to do, doit for God!

- People may not be reading TheBible, but know for a fact, that theyare reading YOU!

Scripture has much to say aboutboth “seeing,” “hearing,” and“doing!”

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Though physically impaired by blindness,Bartimaeus saw the royalty in Jesus as He Who walkedin those streets, thronged by the excited crowd.

Crowds always seek for a sign ofthe one who is in their midst, theycannot help themselves.

Luke 11 Verse 16 “And others, tempting him, sought ofHim a sign from Heaven.”

Luke 11 Verses 28-29 “But He said, Yearather, blessed are they that hear TheWord of God, and keep it.”(29) “And when the people weregathered thick together, he began tosay, This is an evil generation: theyseek a sign; and there shall no sign begiven it, but the sign of Jonas theprophet.”

James 2 Verse 23 “And the scripture was fulfilledwhich saith, Abraham believed God, and it wasimputed unto him for Righteousness: and he wascalled,

“The Friend of God.”

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Abraham, was described as “Friend of God,”The Lord Jesus Himself, said,

John 15 Verses 14-15 “Ye are My friends,if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (15) “Henceforth Icall you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what

his Lord doeth: but I have called youfriends; for all things that I have heardof My Father I have made known untoyou.”

So there we have it, one testimony fromthe Old Testament era and one fromthe New.

So now we can see that it is not only possible tohave a vital relationship with our Creator.

We should be showing that weare Loving God for Who He is,

“Almighty GOD!!!”

We do show by our actions,

“Whose we are!”

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“Is my relationship with Christ asfriend and companion” Creator andcreated, do we walk together in,

“The Garden of the heart,”

or is my relationship based on fleeting moments ofreligious pretense?

Now that’s a good question I thought you’d like it!We read God’s Word, The Bible, but all the while,

His Word (He,) is reading us!

Hebrews 4 Verses 12-13 “For The Word of God isquick, and powerful, and sharper than anytwoedged sword, piercing even to the dividingasunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints andmarrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts andintents of the heart.” (13) “Neither is there anycreature that is not manifest in His sight: but all

things are naked and opened unto The Eyes ofHim with whom we have to do.”

Hebrews 12 Verses 1-3 “Wherefore seeing we alsoare compassed about with so great a cloud ofwitnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sinwhich doth so easily beset us, and let us run withpatience the race that is set before us,”

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(2) “Looking unto Jesus The Author and Finisher ofour Faith; who for the joy that was set before himendured the cross, despising the shame, and is setdown at The Right Hand of The Throne of God.”(3) “For consider Him that endured suchcontradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye bewearied and faint in your minds.”

2 Chronicles 16 Verse 9(a)

“For The eyes of The LORD run to and

fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himselfstrong in the behalf of them whoseheart is perfect toward Him ...”

Exodus 33 Verses 11-17

“And The LORD spake untoMoses face to face, as a manspeaketh unto his friend. And heturned again into the camp: but hisservant Joshua, the son of Nun, ayoung man, departed not out of thetabernacle.” (12) “And Moses said untoThe LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up thispeople: and thou hast not let me know whom thouwilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee byname, and thou hast also found Grace in My Sight.”

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(13) “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have foundGrace in Thy sight, shew me now thy way, that Imay know Thee, that I may find Grace in Thy sight:and consider that this nation is Thy people.”

(14) “And He said, My Presence shallgo with thee, and I will give theerest.” (15) “And he said unto him, If Thy Presencego not with me, carry us not up hence.”(16) “For wherein shall it be known here that I andthy people have found Grace in Thy Sight? is it notin that thou goest with us? So shall we beseparated, I and thy people, from all the people thatare upon the face of the earth.” (17) “And The LORDsaid unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast

spoken: for thou hast found Grace inMy Sight, and I know thee by name.”

Moses and Joshua both stood in The Presenceand companionship of The Lord. There was nodoubt that the heart of both men were toward The

Lord God Almighty. Moses “wanted” and

“asked” for more of God’s Presence, but

Joshua lingered in The Presence ofGod! God responds to those who are hungry for Him,hungry for,

“WHO HE IS … ALMIGHTY GOD!”

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Yet again, in Exodus 34 Verses 29-35, we see

Moses “Face to Face” with AlmightyGod and God’s Glory continued toradiate from the glowing face ofMoses.

Exodus 34 Verses 29-35 “And it came to pass,when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with thetwo tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he

came down from the mount, that Moses wistnot that the skin of his face shonewhile he talked with Him.”(30) “And when Aaron and all the children of Israel

saw Moses, behold, the skin of his faceshone; and they were afraid tocome nigh him.” (31) “And Moses called untothem; and Aaron and all the rulers of thecongregation returned unto him: and Moses talked

with them.” (32) “And afterward all thechildren of Israel came nigh: and hegave them in commandment all thatThe LORD had spoken with him inMount Sinai.” (33) “And till Moseshad done speaking with them, heput a vail on his face.”

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(34) “But when Moses went in beforeThe LORD to speak with Him, hetook the vail off, until he came out.And he came out, and spake untothe children of Israel that which hewas commanded.”(35) “And the children of Israel sawthe face of Moses, that the skin ofMoses’ face shone: and Moses putthe vail upon his face again, until hewent in to speak with Him.”

Turn with me now to,

Matthew 17 Verses 4-9 “Then answered Peter, andsaid unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: ifThou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; onefor Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.”

(5) “While he yet spake, behold, abright cloud overshadowed them:and behold a voice out of thecloud, which said, This is My BelovedSon, in whom I AM well pleased;hear ye Him.” (6) “And when the disciplesheard it, they fell on their face, and were soreafraid.”

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(7) “And Jesus came and touched them,and said, Arise, and be not afraid.”(8) “And when they had lifted up their eyes, theysaw no man, save Jesus only.”(9) “And as they came down from the mountain,

Jesus charged them, saying, Tell thevision to no man, until The Son ofman be risen again from the dead.”

In these verses, the countenance of both

Moses, Elijah and Jesus Himself all

radiated “The Shekinah Glory of God.”

So much so, that it threw Peterinto a “carnal tentmaking confusion.”All that Peter in his excitementwanted to do, was make “booth tents”for all!

The interesting part of the conversation wasthat Jesus told the disciples to,

“ … Tell the vision to no man, untilThe Son of man be risen again fromthe dead.”

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When you are in the companyand companionship of The LordJesus Christ, people “know” and

“respond” to it.

Either they are draw to HisPresence in YOU, or they rebel!Fact being, is that there isnothing unattractive about,

“The Beauty of His Holiness.”

He has power to draw people toHimself. It’s “The power of His Greatand Awesome Love for His Created.”

“God so Loved …”

1 John 4 Verses 15-21

“Whosoever shall confess that Jesusis The Son of God, God dwelleth inhim, and he in God.”

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(16) “And we have known and believedthe Love that God hath to us. God isLove; and he that dwelleth in Lovedwelleth in God, and God in him.”(17) “Herein is our Love made perfect, that we may have

boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is,so are we in this world.” (18) “There isno fear in Love; but Perfect Lovecasteth out fear: because fear hathtorment. He that feareth is notmade Perfect in Love.”(19) “We love Him, because He firstLoved us.” (20) “If a man say, I love God, and

hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he thatloveth not his brother whom hehath seen, how can he love Godwhom he hath not seen?”(21) “And this commandment have we from Him,That he who loveth God love his brother also.”

As the people stood up and took note that

Moses was in communion with The Lord. So too willthey stand up and take note with you!

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Acts 4 Verse 13(b) “ … they marvelled;and they took knowledge of them,that they had been with Jesus.”

Jesus walked right through the wall of

“the upper room” to reveal Himself to a doubting

sceptic called Thomas. So what makes any ofus think that the walls of our ownstubborn hearts would hinder accessto The King of all Glory?

Fact of the matter remains that The King of all Kingsand The Lord of all Lords, is a perfect gentleman.

He stands and Knocks and waits foryou to reply,

Revelation 3 Verse 20 “Behold, I stand at the door, andknock: if any man hear My Voice, and open the door, Iwill come in to him, and will sup with him, and he withMe.”

You have to admit, The Anointing, is like

“magnetic attraction!” As a moth is drawn

toward “The Light” many are captivated by He Who

is “The Light” of the world, “without TheLight, there is no sight!”

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There can be no denial that The Lord Jesus has a

special place in His Heart for “the despised” and

“rejected.”

Throughout Biblical history God has chosen

“the company” and “companionship” of

those that are for the main “rejected by thecounsel and judgement of man!”

John 4 Verse 48 “Then said Jesus unto him, Except yesee signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”

My conviction, is that this heart ofthe blind beggar was desiring to seefor himself, “The God Who is!!!”

Psalm 86 Verse 17 “Shew me a token for good; thatthey which hate me may see it, and be ashamed:because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comfortedme.”

Ezekiel 34 Verses 1-12 “And The Word of The LORDcame unto me, saying,” (2) “Son of man, prophesyagainst the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say untothem, Thus saith The Lord GOD unto the shepherds;

Woe be to the shepherds of Israel thatdo feed themselves! should not theshepherds feed the flocks?”

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(3) “Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye

kill them that are fed: but ye feed not theflock.” (4) “The diseased have ye notstrengthened, neither have ye healedthat which was sick, neither have yebound up that which was broken,neither have ye brought again thatwhich was driven away, neither haveye sought that which was lost; but withforce and with cruelty have ye ruledthem.” (5) “And they were scattered, because there isno shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts ofthe field, when they were scattered.” (6) “My sheepwandered through all the mountains, and upon everyhigh hill: yea, My flock was scattered upon all the face ofthe earth, and none did search or seek after them.”(7) “Therefore, ye shepherds, hear The Word of TheLORD;” (8) “As I live, saith The Lord GOD, surelybecause My flock became a prey, and My flock becamemeat to every beast of the field, because there was noshepherd, neither did my shepherds search for My flock,but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not Myflock;” (9) “Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear The Word ofThe LORD;” (10) “Thus saith The Lord GOD; Behold, Iam against the shepherds; and I will require My flock attheir hand, and cause them to cease from feeding theflock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore; for I will deliver My flock from their mouth, thatthey may not be meat for them.”

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(11) “For thus saith The Lord GOD; Behold, I,even I, will both search My sheep, andseek them out.” (12) “As a shepherd seeketh outHis flock in the day that He is among his sheep that arescattered; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliverthem out of all places where they have been scattered inthe cloudy and dark day.”

“The Good Shepherd” loves “theburned,” “the bashed” and “theburied!” The majority of which, havecome from the highways and bywaysof life. Often, those who have agenuine heart after The Lord and haveeven found themselves caste out ofwhat was supposed to be His Church,His Body, His Bride!!!

Noah got drunk, Moses stuttered,Miriam was a gossip, Abraham was old,Sara was impatient, Jacob was a deceiver,Jonah ran from God, Gideon was insecure,David had an affair, Elijah was moody,Peter had a temper, Lazarus was dead,Zacchaeus was short, Paul was a murderer,

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Even for us, all was dark toward “The thingsof God.” That is, before The Lord Jesus Christ cameinto our hearts by Faith as both Lord and Saviour!

All was dark for us, till “Faith’s Lighttouched our heart of hearts.”

2 Corinthians 4 Verses 6-7 “For God, who commandedthe light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in ourhearts, to give the light of the knowledge of The Glory ofGod in The Face of Jesus Christ.”(7) “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, thatthe excellency of the power may be of God, and not ofus.”

John 8 Verse 12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them,

saying, I AM The Light of the world: hethat followeth Me shall not walk indarkness, but shall have The Light ofLife.”

We in fact need to be like a moth and gravitate

towards “The Light!” The Bible says, thatevil men do not come into “The Light,”because “The Light” exposes theirdeeds:

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In John Chapter 9 we have an incident where Jesus

healed a blind man, and as was common,the blind were put outside TheTemple, but they found The RealTemple, the One not made withhands!!!

The outcast on the Temple steps isa worshiper in The Temple of TheSpirit!

John 9 Verse 34 “They answered and said unto him,Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach

us? And they cast him out.

This man also, was born blind, buthe was cured, Jesus gave him sight.

John 3 Verses 19-41 “And this is thecondemnation, that light is come intothe world, and men loved darknessrather than light, because their deedswere evil.

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John 3 Verses 20-21 “For every one thatdoeth evil hateth The Light, neithercometh to the light, lest his deedsshould be reproved.” (21) “But he thatdoeth Truth cometh to The Light,that his deeds may be mademanifest, that they are wrought inGod.”

John 9 Verses 30-41 “The man answered and said unto

them, Why herein is a marvellous thing,that ye know not from whence He is,and yet He hath opened mine eyes.”(31) “Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but

if any man be a worshipper of God,and doeth His Will, him He heareth.”(32) “Since the world began was it not heard that anyman opened the eyes of one that was born blind.”

(33) “If this man were not of God, Hecould do nothing.” (34) “They answered and saidunto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dostthou teach us? And they cast him out.”

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(35) “Jesus heard that they had casthim out; and when he had foundhim, he said unto him, Dost thoubelieve on the Son of God?”(36) “He answered and said, Who is He, Lord,that I might believe on Him?”(37) “And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast bothseen Him, and it is He that talkethwith thee.” (38) “And he said, Lord, Ibelieve. And he worshipped Him.”(39) “And Jesus said, For judgment IAM come into this world, that theywhich see not might see; and thatthey which see might be madeblind.” (40) “And some of the Pharisees which werewith Him heard these words, and said unto him,

Are we blind also?” (41) “Jesus saidunto them, If ye were blind, ye shouldhave no sin: but now ye say, We see;therefore your sin remaineth.”

Picture if you will all this from the perspective of aman born physically blind. What a wonderful Revelationwas deposited into the heart of Bartimaeus!

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The Holy Ghost is The One Who sets the believers

heart aflame with “Divine Truth and Love.”A Christian is not only “a believer,”he (she), is “a receiver!”

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind continuously,but not often in the way that we think!!! We need tomake The Presence of Jesus our number one priority.

In reality, the pursuit of God, is what we are living

for, because “without Him, we can donothing!” Nothing of “Eternalconsequence,” only those things of selfishnessthat draw us further and further away.

John 15 Verse 5 “I AM the vine, ye are the branches: Hethat abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth

much fruit: for without Me ye can donothing.”

If He is not our top priority, then everything else wepursue is in vain: We have seen decades of people that

run after “Signs,” “Wonders” and

“Miracles.” So it’s a “Sign” of the lack of

“Relationship,” and yet it’s a “Miracle” of

God’s Awesome Grace that He still isdrawing us to Himself!

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In all God’s dealings with man, it’s the powerof His Love and Grace that does thedrawing ... He wants us for Himself!

1 Peter 2 Verses 9-12 “But ye are a chosen generation,a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;

that ye should shew forth the praisesof Him who hath called you out ofdarkness into His marvellous light:”(10) “Which in time past were not a people, but are nowthe people of God: which had not obtained mercy, butnow have obtained mercy.”(11) “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers andpilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war againstthe soul;” (12) “Having your conversation honest amongthe Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you asevildoers, they may by your good works, which theyshall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

Matthew 11 Verse 6 “And blessed is he,

whosoever shall not be offended in Me.”

The “Whosoever will,” are the ones that

rise up off of their, “Blessed assurance” to

pursue “The One” who their heart desires!

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John 12 Verse 46 “I AM come a light into the world,

that whosoever believeth on Me should not abidein darkness.”

Romans 10 Verse 11 “For the scripture saith,

Whosoever believeth on him shall not beashamed.”

Romans 10 Verse 13 “For whosoever shall callupon the name of The Lord shall be saved.”

1 John 4 Verse 15 “Whosoever shall confess that

Jesus is The Son of God, God dwellethin him, and he in God.”

Very few run after “The Presence ofGod.” Very few seek The Lord God forWho He Is ... Almighty God!

Revelation 22 Verse 17 “And the Spirit and the bridesay, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let

him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, lethim take the water of life freely.

Very few go after “His Presence,”

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John 4 Verses 23-24 “But the hour cometh, and now is,

when the true worshippers shall worshipThe Father in Spirit and in Truth: forThe Father seeketh such to worshipHim.” (24) “God is Spirit: and they that worship Himmust worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.”

Very few go after “His Presence,”sure, many are content to go meet together, but few are

really there for Him. Most just want what theycan get out of it for themselves:

This man, cast off his “oldgarment,” his “beggars garment”and stepped into the clean and thenew! He was now “whole,” “walking”and “talking” with The Saviour.

Jeremiah 23 Verse 29 “Is not My Word like as a fire?saith The LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh therock in pieces?”

He keeps that flame alive in the life and we truly

then become “alive to Christ.” As The Holy Spiritburns within our heart, that Zeal for The Lord,

“the True Light” burns brighter in our life.

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Psalm 119 Verses 103-105 “How sweet are Thy Wordsunto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”(104) “Through Thy precepts I get understanding:therefore I hate every false way.” (105) “Thy Word is alamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Bartimaeus, is not the first to seek Jesus for His

healing touch but he is the only one toimmediately cast off his garment andfollow Jesus straight into Jerusalemunleashing the chain of events thatwould end up at “The Cross:”

Mark 10 Verse 50 “And he, casting away his garment,rose, and came to Jesus.”

The points we have seen so far in this dialoguerepresent,

“Faith’s Determination,”- Bartimaeus with his “need for amiracle.”- Even blind, he had “prophetic insight.”- Jesus Christ, full of “Grace, Truth andcompassion.”

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- The Crowd, with its religious throng, determinedto keep the blind and the beggars separate and invisible

to “The Masters Touch.”

John 1 Verse 14 “ And The Word was madeflesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheldHis Glory, The Glory as of The Only Begotten of The

Father,) full of Grace and Truth.”

John 1 Verses 16-18 “And of His Fulness haveall we received, and Grace for Grace.”(17) “For The Law was given by Moses, but Grace andTruth came by Jesus Christ.” (18) “No man hath seenGod at any time; The Only Begotten Son, which is inThe Bosom of The Father, He hath declared Him.”

Though blind, Bartimaeus both saw and heard Himcoming, and would not be stopped! This man showed by

example, “Whose, he is!!!”

The Disciple who saw “The Way” ahead, and

where it leads and follows our “Lord and Master,with eyes wide open, eyes that see,and ears that hear!”

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God’s Word penetrates what it touches, the

immediate receipt of sight comes from the “touch ofFaith, the touch of The Word of God!”

2 Corinthians 5 Verse 7

(“For we walk by Faith, not by sight:”)

The Lord Jesus Christ alone supplies the

illumination of God’s Word, because He is “TheWord made flesh.” The Spirit of His HolinessHimself, guides us and directs our feet and our path.

Proverbs 4 Verses 18-19 “But the path of the just is asthe shining light, that shineth more and more unto theperfect day.” (19) “The way of the wicked is as darkness:they know not at what they stumble.”

There are none so blind, as thosethat cannot, (or will not) see!

Whilst we are on the subject, “Who were theblind here?” Was it really Bartimaeus?Or was it the crowd that hindered himand tried to hush his crying out toJesus!!!??

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Matthew 23 Verse 13 “But woe unto you, scribes and

Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up TheKingdom of Heaven against men: forye neither go in yourselves, neithersuffer ye them that are entering to goin.”

As with Bartimaeus, it is obvious, that once “TheLight” is turned on and “The Light” enters the

“dark room of the soul,” the darknesshas to flee, it has no other option:

Ephesians 5 Verse 8 “For ye were sometimes darkness,but now are ye light in The Lord: walk as children oflight:”

“Light,” produces “sight,” “Light,” drives

away “darkness!” It exposes it for what it is ...

“darkness,”

“Light provides for sight!”

Isaiah 9 Verse 2 “The people that walked in darknesshave seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of theshadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

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That “spark in the heart” of the man bornblind rose up to touch optic nerves that refused to see,

but through Jesus, had every capacity“to see!”

Matthew 13 Verse 16 “But blessed are youreyes, for they see: and your ears, forthey hear.”

John 20 Verse 29(b) “ ... because thou hast seen Me,

thou hast believed: blessed are they thathave not seen, and yet have believed.”

“Darkness, is not measured,” because

“darkness” is the absence of “light” and “light,”can either be “dim,” “dull” or “everincreasingly bright!”

We walk by “Grace, through theenablement of Faith.” Because Faith is “thesubstance” that provides for us both,

“guidance,” “direction” and “correction.”

The God implanted desire “todo!” The “can do,” comes from God!

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God’s Word, is continually referred to as,

“a light,” “a lamp,” or “a torch.” If youlook at the word picture here, you can understand theexample of a torch of flame.

2 Samuel 22 Verse 29 “For Thou art my lamp, O LORD:and The LORD will lighten my darkness.”

“Grace,” (it can be said) is in the form of the

hand that holds the torch! “Faith,” is the substance or

fuel that burns and the flame, is the light ofGod’s Word, “illuminating theunderstanding of the soul.”


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There is Wisdom, in understanding that the burning

in the bosom of man, is by The Holy Spirit, “TheFlame of God’s Love” continuously kindled inour hearts.

God looks for quality of heart, notthe amount of works that we do!

Psalm 40 Verse 8 “I delight to do Thy will, O my God:

yea, Thy law is within my heart.”

The words of David’s Psalm reveal an example of

“doing,” by delighting in it rather than, grudgingly

going through the motions due to an “obligation!”

I am often amazed at how The Lordcontinues to use the simple things oflife, the so-called “foolish things toconfound the wisdom of the seeminglywise.”

1 Corinthians 1 Verses 26-31 “For ye see your calling,brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,not many mighty, not many noble, are called:”

“Faith, not presumption ...”

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(27) “But God hath chosen the foolishthings of the world to confound thewise; and God hath chosen the weakthings of the world to confound thethings which are mighty;”(28) “And base things of the world, and things which aredespised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which arenot, to bring to nought things that are:”(29) “That no flesh should glory in His Presence.”(30) “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God ismade unto us wisdom, and righteousness, andsanctification, and redemption:” (31) “That, according asit is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in The Lord.”

Psalm 119 Verse 130 “The entrance of Thy Wordsgiveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”

The Holy Spirit is the Person of The Godhead

responsible for “quickening God’s Word tous.” And I am sure that The Holy Spirit wasresponsible for implanting in the heart of Bartimaeus thatword that proclaimed that the touch of a Master’s handwould bring with it His Healing.

Remember,


The whole of the blind man’s life was totallysimplistic in nature, uncomplicated in heart response.

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“Presumption” can be defined by onecommon statement and one alone,

“Fools go in, where angels fear totread!”

“Presumption” therefore, is “Assumptioncarried to the extreme!” Besides which, youshould never assume anything, because, you are in fact,taking things for granted.

You should never assume, because as someonehas said,

“If you do, you make an ‘ASS,’ out of ‘U’ and ‘ME,’

“ASS,” “U,” “ME!!!”

Psalm 19 Verse 7(b) & 13(a) “The law of the LORD is

perfect, converting the soul: the testimony ofthe LORD is sure, making wise thesimple.”Verse 13(a) “Keep back thy servant alsofrom presumptuous sins; let them nothave dominion over me: then shall I beupright, and I shall be innocent from the greattransgression.”

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Two very interesting portions of scripture in thatthey confirm readily the title of this section.

Many in this day and age tend to think that theworld owes them a living and that The Lord God shouldcondone and grant pardon to their continuous desire for

“self-seeking” and “gratification.”

They obviously forget the fact that our Father Godwill faithfully respond and touch us to the degree that weare desirous to reach out and touch Him. But the fact ofthe matter remains,

“the response comes out of the action!”

As the scripture says,

Jeremiah 33 Verse 3 “Call unto Me, and I willanswer thee, and shew thee great andmighty things, ... (then He goes on to say,) ...

which thou knowest not.”

Our God ALWAYS meets us at thepoint of our need (but He is notinterested in our wants!) The Lordnever will respond to “selfishness”and “wanton gain!”

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It is my opinion, that “selfishness” has birthedwithin it, only the one option, that of continued

“gratification!” A selfish heart, is onethat is never satisfied, and is one thatcontinues to trample on everyone inorder to meet the needs of its own“self-imposed lustings.”

That is why, a presumptuous person, is one who

continues to only seek “the gift,” and not “TheGiver!” It will recognize the healing touch of TheMaster, but because of its own compelling for

“Self-gratification,” its heart motives are all

wrong and it seeks “the healing,” with no thought

for “The Healer!”

Mark 9 Verse 23 “Jesus said unto him, If thou canstbelieve, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

The belief that Jesus is speaking of here, is not a

“head belief” but that form of trusting(child-like) heart belief, which is “Faithitself!”

“If ye believe ...!”

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The “belief” of Mark’s dialogue and

“Faith,” are identical twins. They go hand in hand,

having emerged from a “heart of trust.”

Remember, “Faith” acts, but the actcomes from the “Faith,” rather than,

“Faith from the act.”

Ephesians 2 Verses 8-10 “For by Grace are yesaved through Faith; and that not ofyourselves: it is The Gift of God:”(9) “Not of works, lest any manshould boast.” (10) “For we are hisworkmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,which God hath before ordained that we should walk inthem.”

It is very easy to step over the border line from

“The Faith,” that God imparts into therealm of “flesh birthed presumption!”

There is a mighty big difference between “theactual” and “the counterfeit.” In real Faith, theact is born of Faith’s substance not Faith born of the act.

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You cannot step out in Faith, unlessit is birthed in the heart by God! Theact can come from Faith, whichbecomes like God’s Word,

“Alive and active,”Faith, is a Gift from God!

Blind leaders of the blind, attempt toteach (concerning the things of God)but my friend, religion has done this foryears and led many into a ditch!

The book read, cannot produce skill in the field ofthat which has been supplied first-hand, by the

“Author and Finisher” of our Faith andHe is The Lord Jesus Christ, Himself!

“Presumption,” is the “head belief,” of

saying that a thing is done, whenthe heart knows full well that ...

“IT ISN’T!!!”

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I want to ask you a question, If we havedifficulty loving those in our immediate proximity,how then are we ever going to,

“Love the unlovely!!!??”

The Greek word used here, in Peter’s letter is

the word, “Philadelphia” and means, in the

Greek “city of brotherly love.”

We are meant to “love each other,beyond our own sin and short-comings.” And believe me, none of usare perfect yet!!!

1 Timothy 6 Verses 11-12 “But thou, O man of God,flee these things; and follow after Righteousness,Godliness, Faith, Love, Patience, Meekness.”(12) “Fight the good fight of Faith, lay hold onEternal Life, whereunto thou art also called, andhast professed a good profession before manywitnesses.”

Fact is, that if we have taken this step, then wehave moved a long way into our growth in Christ.

Out of “the old man,” and into “TheNature and Character of The New:”

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2 Corinthians 5 Verses 17-18(a) “Therefore if anyman be in Christ, he is a new creature: old thingsare passed away; behold, all things are becomenew.” (18a) “And all things are of God, who hathreconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, …”

Here where Peter is saying,

“Add to your Godliness …”

It’s a sure fire thing that “BrotherlyKindness” is the outcome of“Godliness” within:

He has established the fact that the inward

Nature of “Godliness” is already present andnow comes the time to enhance this Character by

showing “Brotherly kindness” to all.

Just what does it take to do a “random actof kindness?”

Ephesians 4 Verse 32 “And be ye kind one toanother, tenderhearted, forgiving oneanother, even as God for Christ’s sakehath forgiven you.”

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I think that for the main, Paul capped it offnicely when he said,

Romans 12 Verses 9-18 “Let love bewithout dissimulation. Abhor thatwhich is evil; cleave to that which isgood.” (10) “Be kindly affectioned oneto another with brotherly love; inhonour preferring one another;”(11) “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit;serving The Lord;” (12) “Rejoicing in hope;patient in tribulation; continuinginstant in prayer;” (13) “Distributing tothe necessity of saints; given tohospitality.” (14) “Bless them which persecute you:bless, and curse not.” (15) “Rejoice with them that dorejoice, and weep with them that weep.”

(16) “Be of the same mind one towardanother. Mind not high things, but condescend tomen of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.”(17) “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Providethings honest in the sight of all men.”(18) “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, livepeaceably with all men.”

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If ever there were guidelines for “GodlyLiving,” it would most certainly have to be these!

I really love the simplicity of the N.L.T translation forthese Verses, especially Verses 9-11

Romans 12 Verses 9-11 (N.L.T)

“Don’t just pretend to loveothers.” “Really love them” “Hatewhat is wrong.” “Hold tight to whatis good.” “ … abhor that which isevil; cleave to that which is good.”(10) “BE KINDLY AFFECTIONED ONE TOANOTHER WITH BROTHERLY LOVE; INHONOUR PREFERRING ONE ANOTHER;”(11) “Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit;SERVING THE LORD;”

Do you know, that we are actuallyserving The Lord by “Loving!” I thinkthat this is such an uncomplicatedthing, and yet, so many of us aremissing out on being pleasing toHim by just plain “Love” and“acceptance” of those around us!

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It is a sad state of affairs, when in this day andage we still have clique groups in church fellowships!

How can you honour someone when you are tooready to exclude them from both friendship andfellowship because they supposedly don’t meet yourstandard of acceptance!

Sad, but it is true, many have beenturned into the highways and bywaysby the tongue of,

“self-righteous bigots:”

Such things ought not to be so!

Any fellowship, is only as strong in The Faith as thatof its weakest member. Surely then, this is the key to

“How we can show BrotherlyKindness” and add to our walk of “Godliness.”

I want to swing over to The Book of Genesis fora look at Noah and his sons.

Genesis 9 Verses 20-27 “And Noah began to be anhusbandman, and he planted a vineyard:”(21) “And he drank of the wine, and was drunken;and he was uncovered within his tent.” (22) “And Ham,the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father,and told his two brethren without.”

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(23) “And Shem and Japheth took a garment, andlaid it upon both their shoulders, and wentbackward, and covered the nakedness of theirfather; and their faces were backward, and theysaw not their father’s nakedness.”(24) “And Noah awoke from his wine, and knewwhat his younger son had done unto him.”(25) “And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant ofservants shall he be unto his brethren.”(26) “And he said, Blessed be The LORD God ofShem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”(27) “God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwellin the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be hisservant.”

Noah, greatly favoured by Heaven andhonoured by earth. By carelessness, Noahcompromised his testimony. Scripture adds asolemn warning to this,


“Wherefore let him that thinketh hestandeth take heed lest he fall.”

The consequences of Norah sin was shame,he was naked, uncovered in his tent. Fact remains,anybody could have walked in on him.

Then where would have been his dignity? Norah’sdrunkenness exposed him to contempt.

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Ham had discovered him and thought ithumorous, his two older brothers bought ridiculeon not only their Dad, but Ham laughed andmocked at his father’s expense:

To have seen accidentally, brings no shame butthe laughter and ridicule did!

When you are truly sorry and repent of yoursin, then surely you would not rejoice in the downfall

of others? Or would you?

This was totally impudent behaviour on Ham’sbehalf … where was the honour? Let alone therespect!

Does a mature aged man have noright to be mis-read!!!?? It appearsso!

Does The Patriarch have no rightto make a mistake? Take heed, ifyou think you are that perfect … nomatter what your title before man!

Ham literally went out into the public arenabefore his two older brothers shamed their ownDad:

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To publish the fall of any, is tostand with “the accuser of thebrethren!”

Some think they can preach theirown self-righteous judgementality atthe expense of others, better to keeptheir mouth shut!

Called the father of Canaan, he himself a Dadshould have been more respectful of his own father,his own flesh and blood!

James 5 Verse 20 “Let him know, that he whoconverteth a sinner from the error of his way shallsave a soul from death, and shall cover a multitudeof sins.”

1 Peter 4 Verse 8 “Above all things being fervent in

your Love among yourselves; for Lovecovereth a multitude of sins:”

Noah’s two older sons, Shem and Japeth came

into his tent backwards with an outstretchedcloak to cover the nakedness of theirDad.

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Seen in the context of “Loves covering,”the robe was no less than “The Robe ofRighteousness.” So totally different to “thecloak of maliciousness” so ready to mock

and sneer and keep a “record of wrongs” on

the side of “the accuser of the brethren.”

Now when you view this in the light of

“adding to godliness, brotherlykindness,” it makes a lot of sense.

The Bible say’s, If we see a brother sin and restoresuch a one, we have contributed to a sovereign work!

“He restoreth my soul …!!!”

There comes within this dialogue itsown inbuilt caution to,

“Honour your Father and Mother.”

You disgrace someonepublically, you can expect thefairness of your own public rebuke!

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God will bring the deeds into thelight, you as a child, mock, dishonorand grieve your parents. Then don’tblame anyone else for what befalls youand your judgemental tongue:

We are called to restore such a one,

“in meekness.”

Here is another example of “brotherlykindness,” this time taken from The NewTestament.

Galatians 6 Verses 1-10 “Brethren, if a man beovertaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restoresuch an one in the spirit of meekness; consideringthyself, lest thou also be tempted.”(2) “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil thelaw of Christ.” (3) “For if a man think himself to besomething, when he is nothing, he deceivethhimself.” (4) “But let every man prove his own work,and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone,and not in another.” (5) “For every man shall bearhis own burden.” (6) “Let him that is taught in theword communicate unto him that teacheth in all goodthings.”

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(7) “Be not deceived; God is notmocked: for whatsoever a mansoweth, that shall he also reap.”(8) “For he that soweth to his flesh shallof the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth tothe Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”(9) “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in dueseason we shall reap, if we faint not.”

(10) “As we have thereforeopportunity, let us do good unto allmen, especially unto them who areof The Household of Faith.”

And in closing,

Zechariah 7 Verses 9-13 “Thus speaketh TheLORD of Hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, andshew mercy and compassions every man to hisbrother:” (10) “And oppress not the widow, nor the

fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let noneof you imagine evil against his brotherin your heart.” (11) “But they refused tohearken, and pulled away theshoulder, and stopped their ears, thatthey should not hear.”

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(12) “Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone,lest they should hear the law, and The Words which TheLORD of Hosts hath sent in His Spirit by the formerprophets: therefore came a great wrath from The LORD

of Hosts.” (13) “Therefore it is come topass, that as he cried, and they wouldnot hear; so they cried, and I would nothear, saith The LORD of Hosts:”

Good men take it for granted, thatno one would be so deceitful as tocause harm to anyone working in,The Master’s field.

But we have an enemy, that cannotbe underestimated, this “hatred” hehas for both us and our Lord andMaster is beyond belief!

Though not obviously visible, youcan see the muddy and blood stainedfootprints where he has wreakedhavoc. Though not omnipresent, hehas cohorts that move like ants over afree carcass.

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“Maliciousness” carries with it a cloakdeception, which often chooses to move unseen in the

dark of night. “Cowardice” always takes the back

door to lay “the dagger of deceit” into theminds of those that sleep.

But he often forgets God’s Word say’s,

Isaiah 26 Verse 3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth inThee.”

Psalm 4 Verse 8 “I will both lay me down in peace, andsleep: for Thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.”

The miracle that occurred amidstthe dust of the Jericho road is one ofprimary importance, in that it was oneof the great works which witnessed tothe fact that Jesus was sent of TheFather.

John 5 Verses 36(b)-37(a) “ ... for the workswhich The Father hath given Me tofinish, the same works that I do, bearwitness of me, that The Father hathsent Me.”

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Verse 37(a) “And the Father himself, whichhath sent me, hath borne witness ofme ...”

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Luke 19 Verses 1-10 “And Jesus entered and passed

through Jericho.” (2) “And, behold, there wasa man named Zacchaeus, which wasthe chief among the publicans, and hewas rich.” (3) “And he sought to seeJesus who he was; and could not forthe press, because he was little ofstature.” (4) “And he ran before, andclimbed up into a sycamore tree to seehim: for He was to pass that way.”(5) “And when Jesus came to the place,He looked up, and saw him, and saidunto him,” Zacchaeus, make haste,and come down; for today I must abideat thy house.” (6) “And he made haste, and camedown, and received him joyfully.” (7) “And when theysaw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone tobe guest with a man that is a sinner.”(8) “And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto The Lord;Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor;and if I have taken anything from any man by falseaccusation, I restore him fourfold.”

The man blinded by greed, “Zacchaeus .”

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(9) “And Jesus said unto him, This dayis salvation come to this house,forsomuch as he also is a son ofAbraham.” (10) “For the Son of man iscome to seek and to save that whichwas lost.”

“Bartimaeus” was “Blind bybirth,” “Zacchaeus” was “rich, butblinded by deceit,” both received“healing.”

“Zacchaeus” received “deliverance”and “conversion to Christ.”

“Bartimaeus” rose up out ofpoverty and cast off his beggarsrobe to regain the dignity of earninga living.

“Zacchaeus” “repented of hisformer ways,” he “repaired” his

relationship to the community in “restitution” andearning his keep in a godly manner.

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God’s Word tells us,

Ephesians 1 Verses 18-19 “The eyes of yourunderstanding being enlightened; thatye may know what is the hope of hiscalling, and what the riches of the gloryof His inheritance in the saints,”(19) “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power

to us-ward who believe, according to theworking of His Mighty Power,”

That just wasn’t for then, that was also for,

The “here and now!”

Luke 19 Verses 3-4 “And he sought to seeJesus who he was; and could not forthe press, because he was little ofstature.” (4) “And he ran before, andclimbed up into a sycamore tree to seehim: for he was to pass that way.”

“Zacchaeus” was despised in hiscommunity, he had heard of Jesus andwanted to know Who Jesus was.

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Publicans, or tax collectors, were sodespised that they weren’t evenwelcome to worship in The Temple:

Because he was a small man, heran ahead of the crowd to climb a treeto see Who this Jesus was Whopassed by. It really doesn’t matter whoyou are, you can’t run ahead of TheLord.

He is, Who He says He is, He isGod, and He’s already there beforeyou take the first step. “Zacchaeus”found that out when Jesus stopped beneath the tree

that he’d climbed to get a passing look:

Luke 4 Verses18-19 “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 thebrokenhearted, to preach deliveranceto the captives, and recovering ofsight to the blind, to set at libertythem that are bruised,” (19) “To preachthe acceptable year of The Lord.”

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Do you really think for one minutethat Almighty God did not know thethoughts and the intents of the heart ofthis “run ahead, tree climbing taxcollector?” Great and marvelous are The Ways ofThe Lord. He knows the thoughts and the intents of our

hearts, even before we do ... He is God afterall.

Luke 19 Verses 1-6 “And Jesus entered and passedthrough Jericho.” (2) “And, behold, there was a mannamed Zacchaeus, which was the chief among thepublicans, and he was rich.” (3) “And he sought to seeJesus who he was; and could not for the press, becausehe was little of stature.” (4) “And he ran before, andclimbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him: for he wasto pass that way.” (5) “And when Jesus came to theplace, He looked up, and saw him, and said unto him,Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I

must abide at thy house.” (6) “And he madehaste, and came down, and receivedHim joyfully.”

Jesus met this little chap at hisown level, first at the tree, then, onthe ground as He beckoned him tocome down.

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And finally at his own home, much tothe consternation of those who knewZacchaeus within the community.

Luke 19 Verses 6-7 “And he made haste, and came

down, and received him joyfully.” (7) “And whenthey saw it, they all murmured, saying,That He was gone to be guest with aman that is a sinner.”

Luke 19 Verses 8-10 “And Zacchaeus stood,and said unto The Lord; Behold, Lord,the half of my goods I give to the poor;and if I have taken any thing from anyman by false accusation, I restore himfourfold.” (9) “And Jesus said untohim, This day is salvation come tothis house, forsomuch as he also is ason of Abraham.” (10) “For The Son ofman is come to seek and to save thatwhich was lost.”

“ ... This day is salvation come tothis house, ...”

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Acts 16 Verse 31(b) “ ... Believe on The LordJesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,and thy house.”

Ironically, the name “Zacchaeus” means,“Righteous one,” “Pure” or“innocent one,” from the Hebrew“Zakhah.” Like so many of us, youwouldn’t think so! The Key Verse tothe whole passage rests in Verse 10 ofLuke 19:

Luke 19 Verse 10 “For The Son of man iscome to seek and to save that whichwas lost.”

The Greek word for “lost,” is the word

“Apollumi,” (G622) which means, “fit fordestruction,” “to be fully destroyed,” “toperish and die, so that no traceremains!”

“The Robe of Righteousness ...”

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That literally describes all of us,

Romans 3 Verse 10 “As it is written, There is nonerighteous, no, not one:” (11) “There isnone that understandeth, there is nonethat seeketh after God.”(12) “They are all gone out of the way,they are together become unprofitable;there is none that doeth good, no, notone.”

Whether we can see it or not, atThe Cross of Calvary, an exchangewas about to take place. Jesus TheSinless Son was about to replace ourold tattered garments for the new:

Isaiah 64 Verses 6-8 “But we are all as anunclean thing, and all ourrighteousnesses are as filthy rags;and we all do fade as a leaf; and ouriniquities, like the wind, have taken usaway.”

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(7) “And there is none that callethupon Thy Name, that stirreth uphimself to take hold of Thee: for thouhast hid Thy Face from us, and hastconsumed us, because of ouriniquities.” (8) “But now, O LORD, Thouart our Father; we are the clay, andthou our potter; and we all are the workof Thy Hand.”

Zechariah 3 Verse 4 “And he answered and spake untothose that stood before him, saying,

Take away the filthy garments fromhim. And unto him he said, Behold, Ihave caused thine iniquity to pass fromthee, and I will clothe thee withchange of raiment.”

So we can see that if we keep insisting on dwell inthose things that separate us from our “Relationship”with our Creator God. Then sooner or later, He in HisHoliness has to let us go to our own choices.

God’s Word has declared,

Romans 3 Verse 23 “For all have sinned, and comeshort of The Glory of God;”

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The following passage from the book of Isaiah gives

us a beautiful picture of the preparation of “TheBride of Christ” for her King!

Isaiah 61 Verse 10 “I will greatly rejoice in The LORD,

my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hathclothed me with the garments ofsalvation, He hath covered me withThe Robe of Righteousness, as aBridegroom decketh Himself withornaments, and as a Bride adornethherself with her jewels.”

We are given a glimpse of what this new clean,fresh garment will look like from Peter’s vision of Jesuswith Moses and Elijah on The Mount of Transfiguration.

We are about to discover, that this is also a previewof how we will undertake the change, the exchange ofour earthly form, to our Heavenly. The glorified bodieswe will receive in Heaven, we know that they will be likethat of Jesus’ Resurrected body.

Revelation 19 Verses 7-8 “Let us be glad and rejoice,

and give honour to Him: for the marriage ofthe Lamb is come, and His wife hathmade herself ready.”

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(8) “And to her was granted that sheshould be arrayed in fine linen, cleanand white: for the fine linen is therighteousness of saints.”

Ironically, this is where we get theidea in society for the beauty of thewhite wedding gown with the vail, andall its splendor:

Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain topray. While praying, His personal appearance waschanged into a glorified form, and His clothing becamedazzling white. Moses and Elijah appeared and talkedwith Jesus about His death that would soon take place.

Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:1-9, Luke 9:29-32.

Matthew 17 Verses 1-8 “And after six days Jesus takethPeter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them

up into an high mountain apart,” (2) “And wastransfigured before them: and His facedid shine as the sun, and His raimentwas white as the light.” (3) “And, behold,there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking withHim.”

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(4) “Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, itis good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make herethree tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and

one for Elias.” (5) “While he yet spake,behold, a bright cloud overshadowedthem: and behold a voice out of thecloud, which said, This is MyBeloved Son, in whom I AM wellpleased; hear ye Him.”(6) “And when the disciples heard it,they fell on their face, and were soreafraid.” (7) “And Jesus came and touched them, and

said, Arise, and be not afraid.” (8) “And whenthey had lifted up their eyes, they sawno man, save Jesus only.”(9) “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus

charged them, saying, Tell the vision to noman, until The Son of man be risenagain from the dead.”

Christ underwent a dramaticchange in appearance in order that thedisciples could behold Him in at leastpart of His Heavenly Glory.

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Remember, this was prior to His laying His

“Sinless Life down for us” on TheCross, as God’s Perfect sacrifice, bycrucifixion,

“The Lamb slain before the foundationof the world.”

Mark 9 Verses 1-9 “And he said unto them, Verily I sayunto you, That there be some of them that stand here,which shall not taste of death, till they have seen thekingdom of God come with power.”(2) “And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, andJames, and John, and leadeth them up into an high

mountain apart by themselves: and He wastransfigured before them.”(3) “And His raiment became shining,exceeding white as snow; so as nofuller on earth can white them.”(4) “And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses:and they were talking with Jesus.”(5) “And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it isgood for us to be here: and let us make threetabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and onefor Elias.” (6) “For he wist not what to say; for they weresore afraid.”

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(7) “And there was a cloud thatovershadowed them: and a voicecame out of the cloud, saying,This is My Beloved Son: hear Him.”(8) “And suddenly, when they had looked round about,

they saw no man any more, saveJesus only with themselves.”(9) “And as they came down from the mountain,

He charged them that they should tellno man what things they had seen, tillThe Son of man were risen from thedead.”

He has risen from the dead, sonow we as His disciples can tell ofthe things that we bear witness too.The testimony of His ResurrectionLife at work in our lives!

Luke 9 Verses 29-32 “And as he prayed, thefashion of His countenance wasaltered, and His raiment was white andglistering.” (30) “And, behold, there talked with Himtwo men, which were Moses and Elias:”

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(31) “Who appeared in glory, and spake of his deceasewhich he should accomplish at Jerusalem.”

(32) “But Peter and they that were withhim were heavy with sleep: and when

they were awake, they saw His Glory, andthe two men that stood with Him.”

Not heavy with sleep as we know, it is my firmbelief that the disciples could not standin The Presence of The GlorifiedChrist!

The Anointed Presence of God’s Christ Jesus in our

midst will always have the same effect! They wereslain in The Spirit! And after they had beenministered too,

“ ... they were awake, they saw HisGlory, and the two men that stood withHim.”

The disciples, who had only knownHim in His human body, now had agreater realisation of The Deity ofChrist.

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John 17 Verses 1-8 “These words spakeJesus, and lifted up His Eyes toHeaven, and said, Father, the hour iscome; Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Sonalso may Glorify Thee:”(2) “As Thou hast given Him Power overall flesh, that He should give EternalLife to as many as thou hast givenHim.” (3) “And this is Life Eternal, thatthey might know Thee The Only TrueGod, and Jesus Christ, whom thouhast sent.” (4) “I have Glorified Thee onthe earth: I have finished the workwhich Thou gavest Me to do.”(5) “And now, O Father, Glorify ThouMe with Thine own Self with TheGlory which I had with Thee beforeThe world was.” (6) “I havemanifested Thy Name unto the menwhich Thou gavest Me out of theworld: Thine they were, and Thougavest them Me; and they have keptThy Word.”

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(7) “Now they have known that all thingswhatsoever Thou hast given Me are ofThee.” (8) “For I have given unto themThe Words which Thou gavest Me;and they have received them, andhave known surely that I came outfrom Thee, and they have believed thatThou didst send Me.”

God had His Name declared as“Father” amongst those that wouldreceive it! No man was able to refer toGod as Father before Jesus came onthe scene! That gave them the reassurance theyneeded after hearing the shocking news of His comingdeath.

Symbolically, the appearance of Moses and Elijah

represented The Law and the Prophets. ButGod’s Voice from Heaven,

Matthew 17 Verse 3 “ ... and a voice cameout of the cloud, saying,

This is My Beloved Son: hear Him.”

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The Father cried out to humanity, “Listen toHim!” Clearly showing that The Law and theProphets must give way to Jesus, TheOnly Begotten Son.

The One who is The New and Living Way isreplacing the old, He is the fulfillment of The Law andthe countless prophecies in The Old Testament.

Matthew 5 Verses 17-18 “Think not that I AMcome to destroy The Law, or theProphets: I AM not come to destroy,but to fulfil.” (18) “For verily I say untoyou, Till Heaven and earth pass, onejot or one tittle shall in no wise passfrom The Law, till all be fulfilled.”

It is my conviction, that in Hisglorified form they saw a preview ofHis coming Glorification andenthronement as King of kings andLord of Lords.

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John 1 Verses 10-14 “He was in the world,and the world was made by Him, andthe world knew Him not.”(11) “He came unto His Own, and HisOwn received Him not.” (12) “But asmany as received Him, to them gaveHe Power to become the sons of God,even to them that believe on HisName:” (13) “Which were born, not of blood, nor of

the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but ofGod.” (14) “And The Word was made flesh, and dwelt

among us, (and we beheld His Glory, TheGlory as of The Only Begotten of TheFather,) Full of Grace and Truth.”

Jesus said,

John 8 Verses 32 “And ye shall know thetruth, and the truth shall make youfree.”

2 Peter 1 Verses 16 “For we have not followed cunninglydevised fables, when we made known unto you the

power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, butwere eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

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(17) “For He received from God TheFather Honour and Glory, when therecame such a voice to Him from TheExcellent Glory, This is My BelovedSon, 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.”

The same Voice that thunders fromHeaven now, was and is the sameVoice that we hear in our “Heart ofhearts,

“Hear ye Him ...!”

1 Corinthians 15 Verses 35-58 (God’s Word Version.)

But someone will ask, “How do the deadcome back to life? With what kind ofbody will they come back?”(36) “You fool! The seed you plant doesn’t come to lifeunless it dies first.” (37) “What you plant, whether it’swheat or something else, is only a seed. It doesn’t have

the form that the plant will have.” (38) “God givesthe plant the form he wants it to have.Each kind of seed grows into its ownform.”

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(39) “Not all flesh is the same. Humans have one kind offlesh, animals have another, birds have another, andfish have still another.”

(40) “There are Heavenly bodies andearthly bodies. Heavenly bodies don’tall have the same splendor, neither doearthly bodies.” (41) “The sun has one kind ofsplendor, the moon has another kind of splendor, andthe stars have still another kind of splendor. Even onestar differs in splendor from another star.”

(42) “That is how it will be when thedead come back to life. When the bodyis planted, it decays. When it comesback to life, it cannot decay.”(43) “When the body is planted, it doesn’t have any

splendor and is weak. When it comes back tolife, it has splendor and is strong.”(44) “It is planted as a physical body. Itcomes back to life as a spiritual body.As there is a physical body, so there isalso a spiritual body.” (45) “This is whatScripture says: “The first man, Adam, became a living

being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

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(46) “The spiritual does not come first,but the physical and then the spiritual.”(47) “The first man was made from the dust of the earth.

He came from the earth. The second mancame from Heaven.” (48) “The people on earthare like the man who was made from the dust of theearth. The people in Heaven are like the man who came

from Heaven.” (49) “As we have worn thelikeness of the man who was madefrom the dust of the earth, we will alsowear the likeness of the man whocame from Heaven.” (50) “Brothers and sisters,

this is what I mean: Flesh and blood cannotinherit the kingdom of God. Whatdecays cannot inherit what doesn’tdecay.” (51) “I’m telling you a mystery. Not all of uswill die, but we will all be changed.” (52) “It will happenin an instant, in a split second at the sound of the lasttrumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then thedead will come back to life. They will be changed so that

they can live forever.” (53) “This body thatdecays must be changed into a bodythat cannot decay. This mortal bodymust be changed into a body that willlive forever.”

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(54) “When this body that decays ischanged into a body that cannotdecay, and this mortal body is changedinto a body that will live forever, thenthe teaching of Scripture will cometrue: “Death is turned into victory!”(55) “Death, where is your victory?Death, where is your sting?”(56) “Sin gives death its sting, and God’s standards give

sin its power.” (57) “Thank God that hegives us the victory through ourLord Jesus Christ.”(58) “So, then, brothers and sisters,don’t let anyone move you off thefoundation of your Faith. Always excelin the work you do for The Lord. Youknow that the hard work you do for TheLord is not pointless.”

John 20 Verses 25-31 “The other disciples thereforesaid unto him, We have seen The Lord. But he said untothem, Except I shall see in His Hands the print of thenails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, andthrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

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(26) “And after eight days again His disciples werewithin, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, thedoors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said,Peace be unto you.” (27) “Then saith He to Thomas,

Reach hither thy finger, and behold MyHands; and reach hither thy hand, andthrust it into My side: and be notfaithless, but believing.” (28) “And Thomas

answered and said unto him, My Lord and myGod.” (29) “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,

because thou hast seen Me, thou hastbelieved: blessed are they that havenot seen, and yet have believed.”(30) “And many other signs truly didJesus in the presence of Hisdisciples, which are not written inthis book:” (31) “But these are written,that ye might believe that Jesus isThe Christ, The Son of God; andthat believing ye might have Lifethrough His Name.”

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“Flesh and blood,” cannot inheritThe Kingdom of God, but flesh andbone can!

“ ... Reach hither thy finger, and beholdmy hands; and reach hither thy hand,and thrust it into My side: and be notfaithless, but believing.”

Luke 24 Verses 39-43 “Behold My Hands andMy Feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me,and see; for a spirit hath not flesh andbones, as ye see Me have.”(40) “And when He had thus spoken, Heshewed them His Hands and HisFeet.” (41) “And while they yet believed not for joy,

and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye hereany meat?” (42) “And they gave Him apiece of a broiled fish, and of anhoneycomb.” (43) “And He took it,and did eat before them.”

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Our new bodies will be no longer “natural”bodies, but “spiritual” bodies, no longer focusedupon the natural senses but at one with The Holy Spirit.

As imperishable bodies, they will nolonger suffer from sickness and death,nor will they ever be subject to heatand cold or hunger and thirst.

Hebrews 5 Verse 7(a) “Who in the days ofHis flesh, ... when He had offeredup prayers and supplications withstrong crying and tears unto Himthat was able to save Him fromdeath, and was heard in that Hefeared;”

The writer concentrates on the

“Divine Sonship,” and by reminding his

readers of the “days of His flesh,” he draws

attention again to Jesus’ humanity.

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We, as The Church ... His Body,are Flesh of His Flesh and Bone ofHis Bone!

Ephesians 5 Verse 30 “For we are membersof His Body, of His Flesh, and of HisBones.”

Romans 12 Verse 5 “So we, being many, are one bodyin Christ, and every one members one of another.”

In God’s plan, it was Adam who was put into adeep sleep and God took one of Adam’s rib bonesto create his helpmate Eve.

The bone was taken from under Adam’s arm tosignify the covering protection of Adam.

The bone from which she was created wasremoved from Adam’s side so that she wouldalways walk with him. The bone was taken fromnear to the heart so that her heart and his heart wouldbeat in close unity.

“Flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone!”

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All this is significant in regard to

“Relationship” because scripture tells us ofThe Church, The Bride of the Second Adam, JesusChrist and that we are,

“Bone of His Bone, flesh of His Flesh.”

1 Corinthians 12 Verses 12-13 “For as the body is one,and hath many members, and all the members of thatone body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.”(13) “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into onebody,”

As such, Jesus has always and

will always continue to offer both pleasand prayers on our behalf. As we have seenpreviously, the seventeenth chapter of John’s Gospelbeing the most prominent example of Jesus’ heart cryfor His people. So much so, that this chapter, is often

titled “The Prayer of Jesus.”

1 Corinthians 12 Verse 14 “For the body is not onemember, but many.”

We are beings of communication and now that

my friend is the point, “that’s relationship!”“Communication” is the basis of our living

together in the “harmony” and “unity” of

“habitation.”

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Where we dwell together in our habitat, that’s

the structure of “society.” That’s the structure of

“civilisation.” People living, working and raisingtheir families in the peace and harmony of a

civilised society. “Now that’s relationship!”

You exist only because God wills that you exist,you were made by God and for God. You weremade for God; life is about God using you for Hispurposes, not you trying to use Him for your own.

“Revelation sure beats speculationand the pipe dreams of fantasy.”

Someone once said, “Fantasy leadsto failure, but Faith will lead youhome.” Relationship is far better thanfantasy and a whole heap of,

“What if’s” in regard what mightbeen! And the regrets of, “if only!”

God has revealed His purposes for our lives

through His Word, the Bible. God’s Wisdomis what God has determined as the way to bring

His best out in us … His Created.

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To discover His purpose, you must turn to HisWord, Jesus is The Word of God made flesh.

“The Word” became flesh and lived andworked amongst us. We must turn to God’s Word to

find both God’s Will and God’s Way.

There is only one way to build and strengthenyour life and that is not by religion or religious

exercise. It comes only by abiding inGod’s unchanging Truth.

“I AM,”“The Way,”

“The Truth” and“The Life.”

Your birth was not some unexpected surprise.God made you for a reason. He made a decision asto when, where and how you were to be born. Your lifeis known well in advance of you living it! God knows

“the reason and the season” of your days.The extent of your travelson this earth, your country of birth. Even the bordersof your habitation, your times and your season,every detail. There is not one thing that The LordGod Almighty has missed out!

He knows!!! He is!!! He does!!!

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Regardless of who your folks are, He was theOne who governed your birth. It makes nodifference at all as to whether you like your parents

or not, there is no such thing as “illegitimateparents!”

They were and are the only ones who had theexact D.N.A. to make you according to,

“God’s Plan andPurposes for your life!”

The idea of illegitimacy is the world’s idea notGod’s. Sure, some children are born out of wedlock,I was, but God knows each by name.

Nothing will ever take The Lord God ofAbraham, Isaac and Jacob by surprise, He is,

“All knowing and all caring!”

Besides this, because God is God, He is able

to turn all situations for His own “Good Will,”“Purpose” and “Good Pleasure!”

The sooner we realise that we have such aloving Father, the better off we will all be!

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Regardless of our circumstances, nothing ever

happens by chance. God knows, He is “allknowing” despite our seeming insecurities.

Ephesians 1 Verse 4 “According as He hath chosenus in Him before the foundation of the world, thatwe should be Holy and without blame before Him inLove:”

There comes a time, when ultimately we have

to face the fact, that we do have an “Eternaldestination.” We have One who Loves us so

much, that in previous “time,” that is even before wewere born,

“Christ died for us!”

But the most marvellous thing is that He rose

again and took “captivity” with Him.

Man now, is faced with a conundrum, we have

“The Prince of Peace” who is the Lover of oursouls and the prince of darkness who hates Godand God’s created.

Fact of the matter is, that by The Sinless Bloodof Christ, the way has been made open for each

and every one of us to “believe” and in,

“believing … receive.”

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John 14 Verse 6 “Jesus saith unto him,

I AM The Way, The Truth, and TheLife: no man cometh unto TheFather, but by Me.”

Now what could be simpler than that? Youknow, my wife and I married and have the beauty of thatrelationship. Sure, I know (the same as you do),that all relationships have to be worked at, therelationship we have is growing day to day, moment tomoment.

But that begins with the determination to

“want to,” and develops into “I needto,” “I must!” Setting your will inmotion is a powerful thing, “now,that’s relationship!”

“Union” with Christ Jesus begins with the

“heart desire” to “want to!” “Union”then develops into “constant free flowingcommunication” as two walk and talk together.

The relationship grows and there develops from that

“communication,” the common-union of“trust.”

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What sort of relationship wouldthere be if I only saw my Katie foran hour or so on Sunday?

Some people’s relationship withthe Risen Christ is far less than that!

Sure, they say that they Love Jesus, but they

won’t go to church because “church is full oftoo many hypocrites!”

Well my friend, in saying that to justify your own

“backslidings,” you’ve just shot yourselfin thefoot, that’s no relationship!

If I locked my wife in a room and said,

“I love my wife, I love my wife!” But Inever fed her or spent time with her,the relationship would starve to deathand so would she!

Some people step up, make acommitment then lapse right back towhere they were before!

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What sort of a relationship is thatyou may ask?

It proves one thing though, your“relationship” relied on the peopleyou socialised with at Church.

Your “relationship,” relied onsocial contact, you really had norelationship with The Risen Christ!

Let me just say one thing,“conviction comes by The Holy Spirit,peer pressure to conform comes fromthose around you!

Want to know “the invisibleGod?” Get to know “the visibleSon!” Walk with Him in your heartand talk to Him, He listens, HeLoves, He answers you.“Relationship,” is all about“contact,” “communication,”“walking” and “talking together!”

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Hebrews 1 Verses 1-3 “God, who at sundry times and indivers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by

the prophets,” (2) “Hath in these last daysspoken unto us by His Son, whom He hathappointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the

worlds;” (3) “ Who being The Brightness ofHis Glory, and The Express Image ofHis Person, and upholding all things by The Word

of His Power, when He had by Himselfpurged our sins, sat down on The Right Hand ofThe Majesty on high;”

Romans 5 Verses 6-11 “For when we were yet withoutstrength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”(7) “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yetperadventure for a good man some would even dare to

die.” (8) “But God commendeth His Lovetoward us, in that, while we were yetsinners, Christ died for us.”(9) “Much more then, being nowjustified by His Blood, we shall besaved from wrath through Him.”(10) “For if, when we were enemies, wewere reconciled to God by the death ofHis Son, much more, being reconciled,we shall be saved by His Life.”

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(11) “And not only so, but we also joyin God through our Lord JesusChrist, by whom we have nowreceived The Atonement.”

2 Corinthians 5 Verse 21 “For he hath madehim to be sin for us, who knew no sin;that we might be made therighteousness of God in Him.”

Hebrews 2 Verse 14 “Forasmuch then as thechildren are partakers of flesh andblood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same;that through death He might destroy him that had thepower of death, that is, the devil;”

Hebrews 9 Verses 24-28 “For Christ is notentered into The Holy places madewith hands, which are the figures of thetrue; but into Heaven itself, now toappear in The Presence of God for us:”(25) “Nor yet that He should offer himself often, as thehigh priest entereth into The Holy Place every year withblood of others;”

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(26) “For then must He often have suffered since the

foundation of the world: but now once in theend of the world hath He appeared toput away sin by the sacrifice ofHimself.” (27) “And as it is appointed unto men onceto die, but after this the judgment:”

(28) “So Christ was once offered tobear the sins of many; and unto themthat look for him shall he appear thesecond time without sin untosalvation.”

Hebrews 10 Verses 12-14 “But this man, after Hehad offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on The Right Hand ofGod;” (13) “From henceforth expecting till His

enemies be made his footstool.” (14) “For by oneoffering He hath perfected for everthem that are sanctified.”

Romans 8 Verses 10-11 “And if Christ be in you, the

body is dead because of sin; but The Spirit isLife because of Righteousness.”

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(11) “But if The Spirit of Him thatraised up Jesus from the dead dwellin you, He that raised up Christ fromthe dead shall also quicken yourmortal bodies by His Spirit thatdwelleth in you.”

Romans 8 Verses 31-35 “What shall we then say tothese things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”(32) “He that spared not His Own Son, but delivered Himup for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely giveus all things?” (33) “Who shall lay any thing to thecharge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.”

(34) “Who is he that condemneth? It isChrist that died, yea rather, that isRisen again, who is even at The RightHand of God, who also makethintercession for us.” (35) “Who shallseparate us from The Love of Christ?shall tribulation, or distress, orpersecution, or famine, or nakedness,or peril, or sword?”

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Hebrews 12 Verse 2 “Looking unto JesusThe Author and Finisher of our Faith;who for the joy that was set before Himendured the cross, despising theshame, and is set down at The RightHand of The Throne of God.”

Hebrews 12 Verse (24) “And to Jesus TheMediator of The New Covenant, andto The Blood of sprinkling, thatspeaketh better things than that ofAbel.”

Ephesians 1 Verses 19-20 “And what is TheExceeding Greatness of His Power to

us-ward who believe, according to the working of HisMighty Power,” (20) “Which He wrought in Christ,when He Raised Him from the dead, and set Him at HisOwn Right Hand in The Heavenly Places,”

1 Corinthians 12 Verses 26-27 “And whether onemember suffer, all the members suffer with it; or onemember be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”(27) “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members inparticular.”

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Ephesians 3 Verses 4-5 “Whereby, when ye read, yemay understand my knowledge in The mystery ofChrist)” (5) “Which in other ages was not made known

unto the sons of men, as it is now revealedunto His Holy Apostles and Prophetsby The Spirit;”

Ephesians 5 Verses 17-30 “Wherefore be yenot unwise, but understanding whatThe Will of The Lord is.” (18) “And be not

drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filledwith The Spirit;” (19) “Speaking toyourselves in psalms and hymns andspiritual songs, singing and makingmelody in your heart to The Lord;”(20) “Giving thanks always for all thingsunto God and The Father in The Nameof our Lord Jesus Christ;”(21) “Submitting yourselves one toanother in The Fear of God.”(22) “Wives, submit yourselves unto your ownhusbands, as unto The Lord.” (23) “For the husband is

the head of the wife, even as Christ is TheHead of The Church: and He is TheSaviour of The Body.”

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(24) “Therefore as The Church is subjectunto Christ, so let the wives be to their ownhusbands in every thing.” (25) “Husbands, Love your

wives, even as Christ also Loved Thechurch, and gave Himself for it;”(26) “That He might sanctify andcleanse it with The Washing of Waterby The Word,” (27) “That He mightpresent it to Himself a glorious church,not having spot, or wrinkle, or any suchthing; but that it should be Holy andwithout blemish.” (28) “So ought men tolove their wives as their own bodies.He that loveth his wife loveth himself.”(29) “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but

nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as The LordThe church:” (30) “For we are membersof His Body, of His flesh, and of HisBones.”

Colossians 1 Verses 10-20 “That ye might walkworthy of The Lord unto all pleasing,being fruitful in every good work, andincreasing in The Knowledge of God;”

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(11) “Strengthened with all might, according to HisGlorious Power, unto all patience and longsuffering withjoyfulness;” (12) “Giving thanks unto The Father, whichhath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance ofthe saints in light:” (13) “Who hath delivered us from the

power of darkness, and hath translated usinto The Kingdom of His Dear Son:”(14) “In whom we have Redemptionthrough His Blood, even theforgiveness of sins:” (15) “Who is TheImage of The Invisible God, TheFirstborn of every creature:”(16) “For by Him were all things created,that are in Heaven, and that are inearth, visible and invisible, whetherthey be thrones, or dominions, orprincipalities, or powers: all thingswere created by Him, and for Him:”(17) “And He is before all things, and byHim all things consist.” (18) “And He isThe Head of The Body, The Church:who is the beginning, The Firstbornfrom the dead; that in all things Hemight have the preeminence.”

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(19) “For it pleased The Father that inhim should all fulness dwell;(20) “And, having made peace throughThe Blood of His cross, by Him toreconcile all things unto Himself; byHim, I say, whether they be things inearth, or things in Heaven.”

Jesus placed such an important emphasis onthe communication of prayer, that is why Hecontinued to exhort the disciples to the discipline ofprayer.

Matthew 26 Verses 36-41 “Then cometh Jesus withthem unto a place called Gethsemane, and saithunto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and prayyonder.” (37) “And He took with Him Peter and thetwo sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowfuland very heavy.” (38) “Then saith He unto them, Mysoul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarryye here, and watch with Me.” (39) “And He went alittle further, and fell on His face, and prayed,saying, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cuppass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but asThou [wilt].” (40) “And He cometh unto the disciples,and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter,What, could ye not watch with Me one hour?”(41) “Watch and pray, that ye enter not intotemptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh[is] weak.”

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The depth of petition, was I believe carried with

Jesus to Gethsemane’s garden. The agony ofJesus in the garden plus the severity ofsweating great drops of Blood, revealcategorically the inner wrenchings and intense strugglethrough which He passed.

I think that it is important for us todraw attention to the fact, that “theshedding of Jesus’ sinless Bloodbegan before He was arrested andbeaten!!! Let us NEVER forget, that thoseagonies,

WERE FOR US!!!

Hebrews 5 Verse 7(b)

“ ... and was heard in that He feared.”

Such enormous passion for The Father,climaxing in Jesus’ total submission to obedience;obedience unto death on the Cross. Obedience to the

“Divine Will,” is shown, in the cry,

“Nevertheless, not my willbut Thine be done!”

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Matthew 18 Verse 3 “And said, Verily I say untoyou, Except ye be converted, and become as littlechildren, ye shall not enter into The Kingdom ofHeaven.”

My, what wonderful parallels we are gainingfrom this! I personally think that the most pure inheart, is that of a learning child: A child, hungry forgrowth, they are like a little sponge, ever ready tosoak up and learn. To the adult, comes theunderstanding that the possession of goods and thememory of vast experiences are all quite empty.

That is, apart from the development of theinward character that one has hoped to havegained through the years of growth anddevelopment that we have been Blessed with.

A child for one, will find great delight, in “Whathe has.” But as he/she grows to a youth, for themost they delight in what they do. Not so much, inregards to what they have! I am sure that we have all

heard the phrase, “Been there, done that!”

As we mature to adulthood, we begin todiscover that our direction in life revolves for the

majority around, “What we are!” Added to

that, we ponder as to, “What we will leavebehind,” as a legacy to those that follow in ourown family line.

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Those who Love The Lord our God,with all our hearts, all our minds,our soul and our strength.

The answer to these questions of life, revolvearound the person in whom we place our communionand trust. It relates more to the fact of just,

“Whose we are!” All else, is like ourlives,

“Here today, and gone tomorrow!”

I know, “Whose I’d rather be, sodo you, or you wouldn’t be readingthis!”

God loves a single heart, a heart that longsfor Him!

“Blessed [are] the pure in heart: …”

The word “Pure,” taken from the Greek

“Katharos,” describes things which are

“wholesome, without any mixture oralloy.”

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Spoken of “pure fine gold,” “thefinest of wheat,” “the nature of milk,white and pure.” “The purity ofwater, unpolluted and crystal clear.”

“The quality of a fine wine, freefrom impurity and sediment.”

“A pure undefiled heart with cleanhands, one fit to dwell in thecompany of Him who is HOLY, TheAwesome Presence of The LivingGod.”

Jesus, is described as “God’s PureLamb, without sin stain and blemish.”

The Spotless Bridegroom,returning for His Pure Bride, flesh ofHis flesh and bone of His bone.

His Pure Bride, Partaker of TheDivine Nature, Holy, without sin stainor blemish!

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To many of us, we have such along way to go,we have such a long way to even begin to live up toHis Standard. But, that’s the irony, God looks at thethoughts and the intents of the heart.

He seeks for men and women, whose heartsbeat after His Own Heart. Those whose hearts aretoward God,

“Most Blessed, happy of all andto be much congratulated are they,the pure in heart: …”

Psalm 140 Verse 13(b)“ … the upright shall dwell in Thy Presence.”

If Love, is the deepest desire of the heart ofhearts, then it will find,

“Peace and Satisfaction,in The Very Presence of God.”

1 Timothy 6 Verse 6 “But godliness withcontentment is great gain.”

Hebrews 12 Verse 14 “Follow peace with all[men], and holiness, without which noman shall see The Lord:”

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The inner strength of conviction that lies in onewhose heart beats after God is displayed by thecourage of those convictions outworked in the life ofthe believer. He/she knows without a shadow of adoubt that God’s Word says,

Psalm 37 Verses 23-24 “The steps of a [good] manare ordered by The LORD: and He delighteth in his

way.” (24) “Though he fall, he shall not beutterly cast down: for The LORDupholdeth [him with] His Hand.”

God’s Fire is birthed and dwells in both the

bones and the heart. In no way is it a “holierthan thou,” attitude of the head.

The head cannot get in the waywhen the fire is in the heart. We are tobe “flesh of His Flesh and bone of HisBone,” and our hearts are to beat afterHim.

“Right/Wise/Relationship,” is that

which is greater because it is formed in and founded on

“Love.” It is “Love, coupled withobedience,” it is a relationship that flows in

both “the oil and the reserve.”

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It is a relationship which in itself, is far greater thanany legal observance toward commandment andregulation. It has no formalism nor superficial piety,

it is The Creator walking with Hiscreated:

We all look forward with great excitement and

expectancy to “The Feast of all Feasts, TheCelebration of The Marriage Supper ofThe Lamb.”

Matthew 8 Verse 11 “And I say unto you,That many shall come from the eastand west, and shall sit down withAbraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, inThe Kingdom of Heaven.”

Jesus was buried alone, but Hecertainly did not rise alone!

Matthew 27 Verse 52

(52) “And the graves were opened;and many bodies of the saintswhich slept arose,”

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GOD’S WORD SAY’S,

Matthew 5 Verse 6 “BLESSED ARE THEYTHAT HUNGER AND THIRST FORRIGHTEOUSNESS.”

They have all stood up, out of the dust, theirthroats are dry and parched by religious pretense,

they long for The Courts of TheLord.

They crave relief from “Rivers of LivingWater!” They, are no longer dust, but flesh,bone and blood, they are “flesh of HisFlesh, and bone of His bone!

They rise up, because their veins now pulse,

WITH HIS LOVE!

They desire above all else, His company,and His companionship; now that’s“relationship!!!”

If there was one who was to be excited about

the wedding, it should be “The Bride.”

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Filled with excitement and expectation, heremotions are bound to be all over the place.

She is overjoyed that the day is at last here. Heis coming and it’s taking all of her strength tocompose herself. Rightfully so, His kindness and charm,His courting … the promise of being at last alwaystogether.

But above all, to be “face to face”with her Beloved. To be held in His arms, to be

forever cradled by “Peace and stability.”

She awaits at last her head and covering, He

has proved beyond “a shadow of a doubt”that He loves her “unconditionally!”

The ideal situation of a God set, God ordainedrelationship is what lies right before those who haveeyes to see.

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There is no other standard, no compromise

from that of The God promised,God ordained relationship.

The marriage covenant is the Living example ofthe relationship between God and His people,The Bride and her Groom, the Son of The Father,The Lord Jesus Christ and His Church.

“… We are flesh of His Flesh andbone of His Bone.”

That is why there has been somuch attack on the fabric of the familyas a God ordained unit, the backboneof civilisation!!!

God has continually fulfilled all the promises of

“Faithfulness,” and this is what is expected of,

“The Bride of His Son.”

“The Father” of “The Groom,”requests your presence ...”

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Nothing kills a relationship quicker than

“faithlessness.” It takes two to walk together,but only one to separate a union! Nothing quenchesa relationship between man and God quicker than,

“pouting faithless selfishness.”

God our Heavenly Father, Loves us

“unconditionally” and throughHim to our hearts, there is an undeniable andcontinuous call to,

Hebrews 6 Verse 1(a) Therefore leaving theprinciples of the doctrine of Christ,

“ ... let us go on unto perfection; …”

It’s right there, the call to “… go on untoperfection…” What better call could you everhope for!!!??

Trouble is, we keep being distracted away byrunning after other things. We need to be reflectingThe Nature and The Character of The One Who

Loves us, rather than the “cares of the worldor our old flesh nature.”

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It’s time for us all to “clean up our act,”we are a “Bride in preparation,” and both

“The Bride” and her “hand maidens”work hard to keep themselves clean. To present

themselves as a “reasonable sacrifice ofworship.”

There is nothing like a wedding where both The

Groom and His Bride are “head over heelsin Love!”

Matthew 22 Verses 1-14 “And Jesus answered andspake unto them again by parables, and said,”

(2) “The Kingdom of Heaven is like untoa certain King, which made a marriagefor his son,” (3) “And sent forth hisservants to call them that were biddento the wedding: and they would notcome.” (4) “Again, he sent forth otherservants, saying, Tell them which arebidden, Behold, I have prepared mydinner: my oxen and my fatlings arekilled, and all things are ready: comeunto the marriage.”

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(5) “But they made light of it, andwent their ways, one to his farm,another to his merchandise:”(6) “And the remnant took his servants,and entreated them spitefully, and slewthem.” (7) “But when the king heard thereof, he waswroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed thosemurderers, and burned up their city.” (8) “Then saith He

to His servants, The wedding is ready, butthey which were bidden were notworthy.” (9) “Go ye therefore into thehighways, and as many as ye shallfind, bid to the marriage.”(10) “So those servants went out intothe highways, and gathered togetherall as many as they found, both badand good: and the wedding wasfurnished with guests.” (11) “And when the

king came in to see the guests, He saw there aman which had not on a weddinggarment:”

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(12) “And he saith unto him, Friend, howcamest thou in hither not having awedding garment? And he wasspeechless.” (13) “Then said the king to theservants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away,and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping

and gnashing of teeth.” (14) “For many arecalled, but few are chosen.”

“Religion,” has had contempt for literally

multitudes over the years, so many the “self-righteous” have judged after the sightof their own eyes.

God knows “the despised” and

“rejected” of men, “The burned,” “thebashed” and “the buried,” are thosewhich, have come from “thehighways and byways of life.” Often,those who have a genuine heart afterThe Lord and have even foundthemselves cast out of what wassupposed to be His Church, HisBody, His Bride!!!

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Matthew 8 Verse 11 “And I say unto you,That many shall come from the eastand west, and shall sit down withAbraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, inThe Kingdom of Heaven.”

Called “the Reception,” theFeast of the Wedding is aninseparable part of “The Wedding”itself.

As it was held in the grounds of the Palace,the honoured guests thereby are accommodatedlike royalty in the house, the estate of the King.

The Royal Wedding is held in the Palace, TheKing is always extravagant in His desire to pleaseHis guests.

“Extravagant Love providesa Royal Feast,” a feast fit for a King,to be enjoyed by all! The GreatestMonarch in all of “Time” and the entirerealm of Creation, The King of Kingsand The Lord of Lords, King Jesus.

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There with His honoured guests,those who have received Him intotheir hearts, those who have cleanwhite garments, those who belongto The Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19 Verses 7-8 “Let us be glad and rejoice,

and give honour to Him: for the marriage ofthe Lamb is come, and His wife hathmade herself ready.”(8) “And to her was granted that sheshould be arrayed in fine linen, cleanand white: for the fine linen is therighteousness of saints.”

We have been given a weddinggarment and asked to do just onething, keep it clean. God’s Word hasjust shown us, that The Bride (Hiswife,) has made herself ready:“Cleanliness,” and “Readiness” go“Hand-in-hand,” because out of themcomes “Obedience” to The Word ofThe Father.

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The King sent His servants out to those thatwere invited to the wedding party. The invitationwas issued well in advance so that people hadample time to prepare.

There could be no question, because like us, all ofus have prior knowledge of the invitation.

In the parable, The King, is AlmightyGod, The Father, and The Son,The Prince of Peace, Who is beinghonoured at the banquet is The LordJesus Christ Himself, the friend ofThe Bridegroom, is The Holy Spirit.

In the book of Revelation, we read of those in

Heaven wearing “white Robes” and we learn thatthe whiteness of the robes, is due to their being washed

in “The Blood of The Lamb.”

Revelation 7 Verses 9-14 “After this I beheld, and, lo, a

great multitude, which no man couldnumber, of all nations, and kindreds,and people, and tongues, stood beforethe throne, and before the Lamb,clothed with white robes, and palmsin their hands;”

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(10) “And cried with a loud voice,saying, Salvation to our God whichsitteth upon The Throne, and unto TheLamb.”(11) “And all the angels stood roundabout The Throne, and about theelders and the four beasts, and fellbefore The Throne on their faces, andWorshipped God,”(12) “Saying, Amen: Blessing, andGlory, and Wisdom, and Thanksgiving,and Honour, and Power, and Might, beunto our God for ever and ever.Amen.” (13) “And one of the elders answered, saying

unto me, What are these which arearrayed in white robes? and whencecame they?” (14) “And I said unto Him, Sir, Thouknowest. And he said to me, These are they which came

out of great tribulation, and have washed theirrobes, and made them white in theblood of the Lamb.”

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In Matthew 22 Verses 1-4, “The Parable ofthe Wedding Feast” divides the response ofthose invited to the Wedding celebrations into fourgroups:

1. Those who refused the invitation.Verses 2-3 “The Kingdom of Heaven islike unto a certain King, which made amarriage for his son,”(3) “And sent forth his servants to callthem that were bidden to the wedding:and they would not come.”

2. Those who excused themselves.

Matthew 22 Verses 4-7 “Again, he sent forthother servants, saying, Tell them whichare bidden, Behold, I have preparedmy dinner: my oxen and my fatlingsare killed, and all things are ready:come unto the marriage.”(5) “But they made light of it, andwent their ways, one to his farm,another to his merchandise:”

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(6) “And the remnant took his servants,and entreated them spitefully, and slewthem.” (7) “But when the king heard thereof, he waswroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed thosemurderers, and burned up their city.”

3. Those who make use of the invite

Matthew 22 Verses 8-10 (8) “Then saith He to His

servants, The wedding is ready, but theywhich were bidden were not worthy.”(9) “Go ye therefore into thehighways, and as many as ye shallfind, bid to the marriage.”(10) “So those servants went out intothe highways, and gathered togetherall as many as they found, both badand good: and the wedding wasfurnished with guests.”

4. Those who refuse the kings provision.

Matthew 22 Verses 11-14 “And when the king came in

to see the guests, He saw there a manwhich had not on a weddinggarment:”

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(12) “And he saith unto him, Friend, howcamest thou in hither not having awedding garment? And he wasspeechless.” (13) “Then said the king to theservants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away,and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping

and gnashing of teeth.” (14) “For many arecalled, but few are chosen.”

Let us go back to address each personally,

1.Those who refuse the invitation.

The feast is inseparable from the weddingItself, it’s held in the Palace and The Bride isreceived and taken to the place for the Banquetwith the most honoured guests.

Your name is on “The King’s List, TheLamb’s Book of Life.” Imagine the insult ifyou did not arrive at the wedding celebrations afteraccepting the invite and receiving the wedding

garments. An invitation from The King ofKings is an unimaginable honour. Wereally don’t know the privilege that’splaced in our hand. Surely, we needto get excited!

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White robes, were to be issued toall the guests, right along with theinvites and the only expectation fromthe invited guests was to,

“… be prepared!”

If there was no oil for the light, the travelercould not find his way to the Banquet Hall in thedark.

But God’s Word states …

Psalm 112 Verse 4(a) “Unto the upright thereariseth light in the darkness: …”

Isaiah asks the question,

Isaiah 50 Verse 10 “Who is among you that feareththe LORD, that obeyeth the voice of His servant,that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let himtrust in the Name of The LORD, and stay upon hisGod.”

We are in the world but not part of it. Thoughthe way sometimes seems like darkness to us yet

we press on to Him who provides both “the Oil”and “the Light.”

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The Holy Spirit is there to guide us in “TheKings Path, the narrow way.” The verypurpose of the setting apart process is to be preparedas,

“The Warrior Bride of Christ.”

We have to learn to reflect “The Image ofHis Glory”and we can only do that through theintimacy of communion with Him.

Yes, we are a “Bride in Preparation”and He calls us to be “wise” in so doing. Religion

will always bring with itself, “the conceit ofPride” on the one hand but relationship brings

with it the liberty of “the lighted way.”

Psalm 119 Verse 105 “Thy Word is a “lamp”unto my feet, and a “light unto my path.”

One thing is for certain, that this is an

“Eternal relationship,” and it begins in the

“here and now” from “time” into,

“Eternity and beyond!”

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We get to partake of The King andHis Kingdom Now! And all else is justplain added to it!

I can’t say any more than that because whatlies ahead in His Presence and purpose is beyondmy comprehension. But one thing I do know,

Psalm 27 Verse 4(a) “One thing have I desired ofThe LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell inthe House of The LORD all the days of my life, …”

Matthew 6 Verse 33 “But seek ye first The Kingdomof God, and His Righteousness; and all these thingsshall be added unto you.”

To despise or neglect such a wonderfulinvitation is nothing less than a travesty. It is an

absolute insult to “Grace.” That is why The Kingclosed the door on the foolish virgins andcommanded them to depart because He didn’tknow them. Just how many times does The King ofKings have to send out invitations and still the excusescome! Now, there is an urgency in the invitation, to put

off “foolishness” and accept with “wisdomthe open invitation” … before it’s too late!

“Once it’s gone, it’s gone!”And there’s no going back!

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Selfish pre-occupation with your own personalbusiness to the exclusion of our Great and GloriousKing will have only one effect. It will grieve the Spiritof His Holiness when our self-life over-rules the,

courting of “The Groom.”

The Holy Spirit is the One who cries in theheart of hearts from John the Baptist till that of Now!

“Prepare Ye The Way of The Lord!”

2. Those who excused themselves.

Matthew 22 Verses 4-7 “Again, he sent forthother servants, saying, Tell them whichare bidden, Behold, I have preparedmy dinner: my oxen and my fatlingsare killed, and all things are ready:come unto the marriage.”(5) “But they made light of it, andwent their ways, one to his farm,another to his merchandise:”(6) “And the remnant took his servants,and entreated them spitefully, and slewthem.”

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(7) “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: andhe sent forth his armies, and destroyed thosemurderers, and burned up their city.”

The second group of “foolishness” evenbecame offended by the persistence of the King’smessengers. The Father of our Lord and Saviourdesires that none would perish!

2 Peter 3 Verse 9 “The Lord is not slack concerning Hispromise, as some men count slackness; but is

longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that anyshould perish, but that all should cometo repentance.”

The Father of The Groom is,

“Love Personified.” He desires to enjoyeach of His Created and their company aglow andaflame with His Love for The Son, nurtured and guidedby The Holy Spirit Himself and all joining with The GreatCloud of Witnesses and the innumerable companyof angels at the wedding feast.

1 John 3 Verses 2-3 “Beloved, now are we the sons ofGod, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but weknow that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him;for we shall see Him as He is.” (3) “And every man thathath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He isPure.”

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Beside the tomb, there was a garden, when Jesusrose from the dead, the first place He entered was,

“The Garden.”

Outside of “The Tomb,” there has always been

the place of Resurrection Life. Gardens aremeant for ordinary men to labour, but for Kings they aremeant for delight! Kings delight in the privacy andintimacy of,

“Walled gardens,”

because deep within their own hearts, they are

reminded of Eden! The very place whereman first “walked” and “talked” withAlmighty God!

There are within each of us, certain “naturalgifts,” “implanted gifts,” that arecharacteristic only to man, and man alone! The mostprominent, is that of,

“Love,” “God is Love,”

1 John 4 Verse 8 “He that Loveth notknoweth not God; for God is Love.”

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1 John 4 Verse 19 “We love Him, becauseHe first Loved us.”

“God is Love!”

“God so Loved!”

“God so Loves!”

“God is Love,” and this Gift which isengrafted into the very heart of mancomes from only one source,The Father Heart of God!!!

Hosea 11 Verse 4(a)

“I drew them with cords of a man, withbands of love: ...”

We are drawn by,

“The Cords of His Love,”“The Father’s Love,”“God is Love!”“The Love of The Son,”“God so Loved!”

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“The Love of The Holy Spirit,” iswhat touches folk to respond to thedrawing power of His Love, unless thatperson is in abject rebellion againstHim.

All of these facets, are representedin The Covenant of marriage, TheMan, The Woman and The HolySpirit!

The wedding ring, is a circle of“unending Love,” continuous, it is aGold band.

Gold, because it is mostvalued and pure like our relationshipwith The Lord Jesus Christ. And acircular “Band,” because of His“Unending Love,” continuous, mostvalued and pure!”

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Deuteronomy 32 Verse 30 “ ... one can put onethousand to flight, but two can put tenthousand to flight.”

The power of prayer, generatedby The Holy Ghost with saints inunity to God’s Spirit, multiplies thepower of individual prayer manytimes over!

1 John 2 Verse 1(b) “... we have anAdvocate with The Father, JesusChrist The Righteous:”

John 16 Verses 13-14 “Howbeit when He,The Spirit of Truth, is come, He willguide you into all Truth: for He shallnot speak of Himself; but whatsoeverHe shall hear, [that] shall He speak:and He will shew you things to come.”(14) “He shall glorify Me: for He shallreceive of Mine, and shall shew [it]unto you.”

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Jesus didn’t come to toot His OwnHorn, He came to do The Will of TheFather.

The person that Jesus spoke ofmost often was not Himself or Hisexploits, but The Words and TheWays of The Father!

Interestingly, The Holy Spirit neveronce in the whole of God’s Wordspeaks of Himself, He speaks of TheFather, and of Jesus alone!

“Jesus pleads the cause of thebeliever in Heaven. The Holy Spiritthrough the believer, pleads thecause of Christ on the earth.”

Romans 8 Verse 34 “Who is he that condemneth? It isChrist that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is

even at The Right Hand of God, Who also makesintercession, He prays for us!”

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Often we would be far better off to keep our mouthsshut and just get on with it! It is God that justifies, Who ishe that condemns?

The word “intercessor” means

“assistance afforded by twopersons to each other, whomutually agree to bear the sameload.”

Jude Verse 20 “But ye, beloved, building up

yourselves on your most Holy Faith, praying inThe Holy Ghost,”

Hebrews 7 Verse 17 “For he testifieth, Thou [art] apriest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

Hebrews 7 Verse 25

“Wherefore He is able also to savethem to the uttermost that comeunto God by Him, seeing He everliveth to make intercession forthem.”

When we pray, the whole ofThe Godhead is involved!

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God’s Word states, God’s desireconcerning all men.

1 Timothy 2 Verse 4

“Who will have all men to be saved,and to come unto the knowledge ofThe Truth.”

John 14 Verse 26 “But The Comforter, which is The HolyGhost, whom The Father will send in My Name, He shallteach you all things, and bring all things to yourremembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

God, is a God of order, He bought “order outof chaos.” So who are we to disrupt things beingdone,

“decently, and in order!!!??”

Hebrews 5 Verses 12-14 “For when for the time yeought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach youagain which be the first principles of the oracles of God;and are become such as have need of milk, and not ofstrong meat.” (13) “For every one that useth milk isunskilful in The Word of Righteousness: for he is ababe.” (14) “But strong meat belongeth to them that areof full age, even those who by reason of use have theirsenses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

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There you have it,

“ ... senses exercised to discern bothgood and evil.”

Know “the good,” in order to be able to avoid

and stay away from “the evil.” “Knowing,” is

“growing” and the very best place to do that, is to

“sit at Jesus’ feet” and,

“ ... Learn of Me ...”

You learn, you pass it on in Faithfulservice,

Philippians 4 Verses 8-9 “Finally, brethren,

whatsoever things are true,whatsoever things [are] honest,whatsoever things [are] just,whatsoever things [are] pure,whatsoever things [are] lovely,whatsoever things [are] of goodreport; if [there be] any virtue,and if [there be] any praise,think on these things.”

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(9) “Those things, which ye have bothlearned, and received, and heard,and seen in me, do: and The God ofpeace shall be with you.”

“Truth, Honesty, Justice, Purity,Loveliness, Good report,Virtuous and Praiseworthy.”

These are all “learned” and“received” by being both “heard”and “seen” and as such, we areexpected to do!

The Price is paid, “The Treasure” isestablished, Heaven has come downto touch earth, it’s seen in The Face ofJesus Christ:

He comes into your heart as Lordand Saviour, now you have this,“Treasure in earthen Vessels!”

“God so Loved, that He gave!!!”

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“Thanks be unto God for Hisunspeakable gift.”

He Loves You, He Loves me!!!??

What an awesome gathering it is going to be, wemere men, can only speculate as to its splendor, God

hasn’t set exclusion zones to “lock people out” ofHis company. No, our own hearts and selfishness will dothat quite easily!

There is a second group in theparable that act with brutal arrogance.These are the ones that abuse theservants and messengers of God andare,

“Openly hostile to the Truth.”

Sometimes, we tend to be shocked by their blatantarrogance, that is unless we ourselves were previouslypart of their company!

The persistence of The King and the undyingLove of The Groom’s Father are revealed by the

great patience and longsuffering ofMercy’s touch.

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God wants to build in each and every child,

unshakeable trust and respect, birthed

in His compassion and Love. Back we goto the olive grove, back we go to thepress, to purchase fresh oil!

If we as Christians are feeling distant from Himnow, don’t you think that He might just be allowingthe longing so that we in turn might take up theheart cry of Jesus,

Matthew 26 Verse 39(b) “… O my Father, if it be

possible, let this cup pass from me: neverthelessnot as I will, but as thou wilt.”

This was the cry of Gethsemane in the middle

of the night. And what did The Father do? Hetopped Him with oil!

2 Corinthians 4 Verses 8-11 “We are troubled on

every side, yet not distressed; we are

perplexed, but not in despair;” (9) “Persecuted,

but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;”(10) “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the

Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesusmight be made manifest in our body.”

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(11) “For we which live are alway delivered

unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life alsoof Jesus might be made manifest inour mortal flesh.”

Let us never forget, that the oil was there to

generate one thing … “fire.”

“The Fire of God” is His ManifestPresence, the Presence of TheAnointed One, The Christ ourBridegroom, The Lord Jesus Christ, inHim dwells the fullness of TheGodhead Bodily.

This second group act in brutal arrogance, they

are good at shifting the insult back ontothe One who invited them anyway!How dare they? But how great is HisLove? They abused and mistreated the servants,even trying to extinguish the Light … they were

hostile to Biblical Truth. These folk areenemies of the Cross and becomemocking and scoffing soul murderers.

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So the King sent His armies to deal withthe belligerent bigots. He had come to the end afterbeing patient for so long.

Notice that in Matthews passage that Verse 7

refers to these insulters as “murderers!”

Matthew 22 Verses 6-8 “And the remnant tookhis servants, and entreated themspitefully, and slew them.”(7) “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth:

and he sent forth his armies, and destroyedthose murderers, and burned up their city.”

Then in the later portion of Verse 8, he statesafter the King had burned their city,

Verse 8 “Then saith he to his servants,The wedding is ready, but they whichwere bidden were not worthy.”

3.Those who make use of the invite.

The servants of the King were sent out to furtherinvite anyone who would come.

Matthew 22 Verses 9-10 “Go ye therefore into thehighways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to themarriage.”

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(10) “So those servants went out into the highways, and

gathered together all as many as they found,both bad and good: and the weddingwas furnished with guests.”

The King was no longer toleratingexcuses, The Great Commission is to,

“Go Ye,”“Speak Ye,” and

“Do Ye!”

I myself, was once deployed by The Lord, to a newarea in another country, I attended a meeting of the localminister’s fraternal. You would have thought, that Iwas intruding on their little boy’s club. I’ve never seenBother’s in Christ so defensive but Praise God anywayThe Lord forgive them.

When I made mention of

“The Great Commission,” you should haveseen the looks that came my way. Absolutely amazing!

My only thought, was to introduce myself as afellow laborer in that particular part of God’sVineyard. Surely this is what His Love is all about?To go out into all the world and preach,

“The Gospel.”

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Sometimes, preaching with unspokenwords, but showing by our actions,

“Whose we are!”

The invitation now stands to the

“Whomsoever comes!” There is no class

system in The House of The Lord, The Body ofOur King is a corporate Body.

The important fact is that they respond to thecall of The Head, Jesus Christ. That they hear the LoveSong of The Groom,

Song of Solomon 2 Verse 10“My Beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, My love,My fair one, and come away.

No race, no age, no class, “Whomsoever!”Whoever receives, whoever accepts. The Word hassaid,

Jeremiah 33 Verse 3 “Call unto Me, and I willanswer thee, and shew thee great and mightythings, which thou knowest not.”

He calls all, but not all will answer, yet the fact

remains, that He gives us the chance to“accept” or “reject The Call,” “He callsall!”

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Romans 3 Verse 23 “For all have sinned, and comeshort of the Glory of God;”

He calls both the good and the evil, He desires

that none would perish! But only those thathave washed their robes in theBlood of The Lamb will make theFeast.

4. Those who refuse the Kingsprovision.

Matthew 22 Verses 11-14 “And when the kingcame in to see the guests, he sawthere a man which had not on awedding garment:” (12) “And he saithunto him, Friend, how camest thou inhither not having a wedding garment?And he was speechless.”(13) “Then said the king to the servants, Bind himhand and foot, and take him away, andcast him into outer darkness; thereshall be weeping and gnashing ofteeth.” (14) “For many are called, butfew are chosen.”

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Among those that came, there was an invitedone that had no wedding garment. He came in

“His Own Clothes!”

After the expense of the price paidfor the redemption of man, thishypocrite chose to turn up dressed inhis own righteousness. He mingledwith the guests in filthy rags, not thewedding clothes.

The King knew that all of His guests had been

provided with the Robes of Righteousness. What iscrazy is why someone would want toinsult the Kings standard! Why wouldyou even presume to want to stand inHis to Presence under your ownstrength?

None of us have anywhere nearwhat is to be considered “RoyalAttire.”

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None of us have anything like Righteousness of ourown. You cannot defy royal protocol, you cannot showsuch disrespect to The King of Kings.

“Self-willed, “self-righteousness” isinsulting to The Kings provision.

Ever since Cain, by offering the fruitof the cursed ground, man has tried totake short-cuts with Holiness. But itjust can’t be done!

Matthew 22 Verses 13(b)-14 “ ... Bind him handand foot, and take him away, andcast him into outer darkness; thereshall be weeping and gnashing ofteeth.” (14) “For many are called, butfew are chosen.”

There is a Royal Standard, Foolishvirgins are thrown out into outerdarkness, away from the Presence ofLight! All prodigals need to come totheir senses and realise they havesinned against The Father andagainst Heaven.

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The best garments come out ofthe closet for those who are trulyrepentant. The fatted calf is there at the feast forthose that turn their backs on foolish behavior and self-righteous deceit!

Our own way will not do, it’s not ourway, it’s His Way. He is “The Way,”“The Truth” and “The Life” for the Bridedressed in fine white linenembroidered in the purest gold.

Our new bodies will be honorable in that they willnot be shamed or shameful because of sin. When Adam

and Eve sinned, the first thing they felt wasshame because of their nakedness.

Genesis 3 Verses 6-12“And when the woman saw that the tree was good forfood, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree tobe desired to make one wise, she took of the fruitthereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband

with her; and he did eat.” (7) “And the eyes ofthem both were opened, and theyknew that they were naked; and theysewed fig leaves together, and madethemselves aprons.”

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(8) “And they heard the voice of The LORD God walkingin the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his

wife hid themselves from The Presence of TheLORD God amongst the trees of thegarden.” (9) “And The LORD God called unto Adam,

and said unto him, Where art thou?” (10) “And he said, Iheard thy voice in the garden, and Iwas afraid, because I was naked; and Ihid myself.” (11) “And he said, Who told theethat thou wast naked? Hast thou eatenof the tree, whereof I commanded theethat thou shouldest not eat?”(12) “And the man said, The woman whom Thou gavestto be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”

Genesis 3 Verse 21 “Unto Adam also and tohis wife did The LORD God makecoats of skins, and clothed them.”

Although the Bible doesn’t portrayglorified bodies as being naked, butrather clothed in white garments theywill be pure and undefiled by sin.

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Revelation 3 Verses 4(b)-5

“ ... which have not defiled their garments; and theyshall walk with Me in white: for theyare worthy.” (5) “He that overcometh,the same shall be clothed in whiteraiment; and I will not blot out hisname out of The Book of Life, but Iwill confess his name before MyFather, and before His angels.”

Revelation 3 Verses 18-19 “I counsel thee to buy of Megold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white

raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, andthat the shame of thy nakedness donot appear; and anoint thine eyes witheyesalve, that thou mayest see.”(19) “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: bezealous therefore, and repent.”

God Himself clothed Adam and Evebecause by their own efforts they triedto cover up their disobedience andcould now no longer walk before Godin innocence.

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Man-made coverings areineffective in dealing with “sin.”

Genesis 3 Verse 7 “And the eyes of themboth were opened, and they knewthat they were naked; and theysewed fig leaves together, and madethemselves aprons.”

Genesis 3 Verse 8 “And they heard the voice of TheLORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:

and Adam and his wife hid themselves from ThePresence of The LORD God amongstthe trees of the garden.”

But what was the origin of Gods provision andwhere did the skins come from? God Himself makesAdam and Eve’s garment out of skin, which from

scripture is the Hebrew word, “Owr.”

Sometimes pronounced, “Ore,” relating to

“leather,” “skins” or “hides.”

God showed Adam and Eve that sinhas consequences, and so He slew ananimal to make clothes for them.

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Genesis 3 Verse 21(b) “ ... The LORD Godmake coats of skins, and clothedthem.”

We have heard many weird and wonderful theoriesabout his one, but the fact remains, we need to respond

to the “guidance” of The Holy Spirit andif what we are seeing doesn’t alignitself with the written Word then itstheory and conjecture:

From the hide of the dead animalThe Lord God revealed a propheticpicture of Jesus, “The Lamb of God,”slain from the foundation of the world.

John 1 Verse 29 “The next day John seeth Jesus

coming unto him, and saith, “Behold The Lambof God, which taketh away the sin ofthe world.”

God clothes you, with HisRighteousness, it is imparted by Him,and you are Righteous in His eyes.

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In all God’s dealing with man, it isHe Who made the provision. It is HeWho made the first step which satisfiesHis Holiness.

Job 1 Verse 21 “And said, Naked came I out of mymother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: TheLORD gave, and The LORD hath taken away; blessedbe The Name of The LORD.”

That garment, from the skin of theinnocent animal, represents thesinner being clothed in TheRighteousness of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1 Verses 18-21 “Forasmuch as ye know that yewere not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver andgold, from your vain conversation received by tradition

from your fathers;” (19) “But with ThePrecious Blood of Christ, as of alamb without blemish and withoutspot:” (20) “Who verily wasforeordained before the foundationof the world, but was manifest inthese last times for you,”

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(21) “Who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him upfrom the dead, and gave Him Glory; that your Faith andHope might be in God.”

Hebrews 9 Verse 14 “How much more shallThe Blood of Christ, Who throughThe Eternal Spirit offered Himselfwithout spot to God, purge yourconscience from dead works to serveThe Living God?”

1 Peter 3 Verse 18 “For Christ also hathonce suffered for sins, the just for theunjust, that he might bring us to God,being put to death in the flesh, butquickened by The Spirit:”

1 Corinthians 6 Verses 19-20 “What? know yenot that your body is the temple ofThe Holy Ghost which is in you, whichye have of God, and ye are not yourown?” (20) “For ye are bought with aprice: therefore glorify God in yourbody, and in your spirit, which areGod’s.”

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Hebrews 9 Verses 18-28 “Whereupon neither the firsttestament was dedicated without blood.” (19) “For whenMoses had spoken every precept to all the peopleaccording to the law, he took the blood of calves and ofgoats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, andsprinkled both the book, and all the people,”(20) “Saying, This is the blood of the testament whichGod hath enjoined unto you.” (21) “Moreover hesprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all thevessels of the ministry.” (22) “And almost all things are

by the law purged with blood; and withoutshedding of blood is no remission.”(23) “It was therefore necessary that the patterns ofthings in The Heavens should be purified with these; butThe Heavenly things themselves with better sacrificesthan these.” (24) “For Christ is not entered into The Holyplaces made with hands, which are the figures of The

True; but into Heaven itself, now toappear in The Presence of God for us:”(25) “Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as TheHigh Priest entereth into The Holy Place every year with

blood of others;” (26) “For then must He oftenhave suffered since the foundation ofthe world: but now once in the end ofthe world hath He appeared to putaway sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”(27) “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, butafter this the judgment:”

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(28) “So Christ was once offered to bearthe sins of many; and unto them thatlook for Him shall He appear thesecond time without sin untosalvation.”

Hebrews 12 Verses 24-25 “And to Jesus themediator of the new covenant, and toThe Blood of sprinkling, thatspeaketh better things than that ofAbel.” (25) “See that ye refuse not Him thatspeaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him thatspake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if weturn away from Him that speaketh from Heaven:”

Romans 8 Verses 1-11 “There is therefore now nocondemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, whowalk not after the flesh, but after The Spirit.”(2) “For the law of The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hathmade me free from the law of sin and death.”

(3) “For what the law could not do, inthat it was weak through the flesh, Godsending His Own Son in the likeness ofsinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sinin the flesh:”

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(4) “That the righteousness of the lawmight be fulfilled in us, who walk notafter the flesh, but after The Spirit.”(5) “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of

the flesh; but they that are after The Spiritthe things of The Spirit.”(6) “For to be carnally minded is death; but to bespiritually minded is Life and Peace.”(7) “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: forit is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed canbe.” (8) “So then they that are in the flesh cannot pleaseGod.” (9) “But ye are not in the flesh, but in The Spirit,

if so be that The Spirit of God dwell inyou. Now if any man have not TheSpirit of Christ, he is none of His.”(10) “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because

of sin; but The Spirit is Life because ofRighteousness.” (11) “But if The Spiritof Him that raised up Jesus from thedead dwell in you, He that raised upChrist from the dead shall alsoquicken your mortal bodies by HisSpirit that dwelleth in you.”

1 Timothy 6 Verses 6-7 “But godliness with contentmentis great gain.” (7) “For we brought nothing into thisworld, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”

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Ecclesiastes 5 Verse 15 “As he came forth of hismother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came,and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carryaway in his hand.”

“A man can take nothing with him intoEternity, except that which is stored inhis heart!” (Dalton.)

Ultimately, we are considering “The Robes ofHis Righteousness” as our study has revealed.

The main thing for us to remember, is that at,

“The Cross,” and exchange has takenplace, our old tattered, sin stainedgarments for those of “His Sinlessgarments bleached pure and white byThe Blood of The Lamb:”

2 Corinthians 5 Verse 3 “If so be that being clothed weshall not be found naked.”

2 Corinthians 5 Verses 17-21 “Therefore if anyman be in Christ, he is a new creature:old things are passed away; behold, allthings are become new.”

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(18) “And all things are of God, Whohath reconciled us to Himself by JesusChrist, and hath given to us theministry of reconciliation;”(19) “To wit, that God was in Christ,reconciling the world unto Himself, notimputing their trespasses unto them;and hath committed unto us The Wordof Reconciliation.” (20) “Now then weare ambassadors for Christ, as thoughGod did beseech you by us: we prayyou in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciledto God.” (21) “For He hath made Himto be sin for us, Who knew no sin;that we might be made TheRighteousness of God in Him.

We have seen that there is muchtheory, speculation and conjectureconcerning the clothing of Adam andEve. God says, and we have to have acommittee to debate the issue!!!??

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Fact remains, The Lord God is theone Who reconciles man back intorelationship with Himself and He didthis by, “The Lamb” “The Sinless Son,”The Lord Jesus Christ, slain before thefoundation of the world!!!

The Hebrew words “Kĕthoneth” for

“garments,” and “Labash” for “clothed,” arethe same words used to describe God’s use of the

covering, “skins.”

The Hebrew word, “Owr,” (H5785) is only everused of human or animal skin. Since Adam and Eve

were the only humans at that point, their skin wasbeing covered by God Himself, theonly other source must be that of theskin of an animal.

The use of a real animal would certainly explainwhy Abel raised sheep. Not for eating as man was werevegetarian , but for both clothing and for offering as ananimal sacrifice before The LORD; following theexample set by his father and mother in Eden.

Adam and Eve had no authorisation or need to killanimals for any food or sacrifice.

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The act of God clothing the man and the woman bythe death of an innocent substitute from an animal wouldalso be a powerful picture of the coming salvationrevealing God’s work through Jesus (the promised seedGenesis 3:15).

Adam and Eve were in need of saving from theimmediate penalty of sin and death, so God covers theirsin by accepting the death of an innocent untainted by

the infection of “sin.”

Hebrews 9 Verse 22 “And almost all things are by the

law purged with blood; and without sheddingof Blood is no remission.”

Hebrews 9 Verses 11-12 “But Christ being come an highpriest of good things to come, by a greater and moreperfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say,not of this building;” (12) Neither by the blood of goats

and calves, but by His Own Blood Heentered in once into The Holy Place,having obtained eternal redemption forus.”

So, yet again, we are directed backto the garments and the coverings ofAlmighty God and His provision for ourfallen nature!

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God had to do for Adam and Evewhat they could not do for themselves.They could not escape God’s Justice. They did deservedeath, a penalty had to be paid. Both in the short termand for Eternity.

This picture of Merciful Godcovering the naked sinner with thegarment of Righteousness, andSalvation through the substitutionarysacrifice of an innocent victim reallydoes point to Jesus Christ’s death formankind accepted by the Just Godwho never allows sin to gounpunished.

Jesus the Lamb of God took the punishment in ourplace,

John 1 Verse 29(b) “ ... Behold The Lamb ofGod, which taketh away the sin of theworld.”

I am fully aware that we have been discussing the

subject of “Two Blind men,” two menblinded by different circumstances.

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Fact of the matter is, that it’s TheLord our God, Who at many times andin many ways opened the eyes ofthose that could not see!

Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus are buttwo of many prime examples ofindividuals whose hearts beat hardafter,

“The Living God.”

They responded to the stirring of “The Gift ofGod.” They rose above “the circumstancesof life” to respond to “Life Everlasting.” They

rose above “the mob mentality” of the unsettled

crowd, they in fact walked right out of “The OldCovenant” to follow “The New,” “TheWay,” “The Truth” and “The Life.”

They came to “The Father,” by,with, and through “The Son:” In fact,they rose up out of “Time,” to “walk”on into “Eternity” with “TheResurrection” and “The Life!”

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Jesus, Lord of all, God’s Christ!To Him belongs all Glory, Honourand Praise, for ever and ever,

A-men!

Revelation 19 Verses 11-16 “And I saw Heaven opened,and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon Him

was called Faithful and True, and inRighteousness he doth judge andmake war.” (12) “His eyes were as aflame of fire, and on His Head weremany crowns; and He had a Namewritten, that no man knew, but HeHimself.” (13) “And He was clothed witha vesture dipped in Blood: and HisName is called The Word of God.”(14) “And the armies which were in Heaven followed

Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,white and clean.” (15) “And out of HisMouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it Heshould smite the nations: and He shall rule them with arod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of thefierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

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(16) “And He hath on His vesture andon His Thigh a Name written, KINGOF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

A-men!

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God’s Word states,

Colossians 3 Verses 8-9

“But now ye also put off all these; ...1. - anger,2. - wrath,3. -malice,4. - blasphemy,5. - filthy communication

out of your mouth.”

6. - Verse 9 “Lie not one to another, ...seeing that ye have ... put off ... theold man with his deeds;”

With the instruction to “put off” we can

readily see that this list of things too putaway from us are all to do with themouth, and it takes YOU to make thechoice TO DO!

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There really is no excuse for arrogance,rudeness and resentment ... because you can restassured, that those that do these things that

“ … ought not to be so!”

They are manifesting nothing less than the

fruits of our “old nature” and not puttingon “The nature of the New!”

You can rest assured, that if a Brother or Sister

carries these areas of “arrogance,rudeness and resentment,” then it willnot be long at all before they begin to tolerate,

“Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,filthy communication and lyingtongues:” See, there really is a “slipperyslope!”

Hebrews 12 Verses 14-15 “Follow peace with all men,and holiness, without which no man shall see The Lord:”(15) “Looking diligently lest any man fail of The Grace ofGod; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you,and thereby many be defiled;”

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Here, Paul relates to “garments,” when hespeaks to the Colossians. That is why he says thatwe are to,

“Put off ... and Put on!”

At the Cross of Jesus, an exchange had takenplace. He took our old, tattered garments, andexchanged them for new,

“The Robes of His Righteousness.”

Matthew 27 Verses 27-31“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into thecommon hall, and gathered unto him the whole band ofsoldiers.” (28) “And they stripped him, and put on him ascarlet robe.” (29) “And when they had platted a crownof thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in hisright hand: and they bowed the knee before Him, andmocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!”(30) “And they spit upon him, and took the reed, andsmote Him on the head.” (31) “And after that they had

mocked Him, they took the robe off from Him, andput His own raiment on Him, and ledHim away to crucify Him.”

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But these murdering soldiers werenot content with that, they gambled forHis raiment amongst themselves whenthe One Who paid the price for theirredemption hung before themsuspended on that cross, betweenHeaven and earth!

Luke 23 Verses 34-35 “ ... Then said Jesus, Father,forgive them; for they know not what they do.

And they parted His raiment, and castlots.” (35) “And the people stood beholding. And therulers also with them derided him, saying, He savedothers; let Him save Himself, if he be Christ, TheChosen of God.”

The gambled for the Blood stainedgarments that they stripped from Him,garments that they had no right to ownexcept by receiving the very OneWho paid the price for even them!!!

Psalm 22 Verses 16 “For dogs have compassed Me: theassembly of the wicked have inclosed Me: they piercedMy hands and My feet.” (17) “I may tell all My bones:they look and stare upon Me.”

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(18) “They part My garments amongthem, and cast lots upon My vesture.”

The word “Vesture,” is the Hebrew

“Lebush,” (H3847,) meaning “clothedwith, a garment,” or “clothing.”

Also described as, “Raiment,”

Mark 9 Verse 3 “And His raiment becameshining, exceeding white as snow;so as no fuller on earth can whitethem.”

It can also refer to a “Robe,” the word

“Robe,” from the Hebrew, is the word

“Mehiel,” (H4603,) in the sense of, “a cloak,”“a coat or a mantle.”

Isaiah 61 Verse 10

“... for He hath clothed me with TheGarments of Salvation, He hathcovered me with The Robe ofRighteousness, ...”

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We are not meant to use our new found libertyin Christ to support our own motives and agendas.

As God’s Word says,

1 Peter 2 Verse 16 “As free, and not using [your]

liberty for ... a cloak of maliciousness …but as the servants of God.” (distinctions mine.)

“… A cloak of maliciousness,”

is given birth to, by the covering effects of adding,

“layer upon layer” to the original sin.

When we add these layers, it is very similar to thelayering of skins that are built around the body of thecommon onion. Until the whole is developed asquite a sound, well-rounded vegetable.

On average, the common onion has anywherefrom nine to thirteen layers to penetrate beforereaching its bitter heart.

The same as those protective barriers that wetend to build around the area of our old,

“Self-man.”

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Ironically, “Self,” always justifies itsown actions in…

1 - “Self-indulgence.”

2 - “Self-pity.”

3 - “Self-justification.”

4 - “Self-consciousness.”

5 - “Self-seeking.”

6 - “Self-complacency.”

7 - “Self-protective.”

8 - “Self-critical.”

9 - “Self-resentment.”

10 - “Selfishness.”

11 - “Self-anxious.”

12 - “Self-assertiveness.”

13 - “Self-drive.”

You name it, it will always find some excuse tobooster its own stance. The more we progress inthis mode of behaviour, the more we allow continualsmall but noticeable distances to arise between usand our brethren. We need to take stock that thisshameful behaviour shows our total carnality and thefact that we have failed to grow beyond such juveniledisplays.

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To continue in this way achieves nothingbut the building of a hardness of attitude whichconveys itself to the heart in continual,

“Self-justification.”

There is only one course of action that canoccur unless we stop to deal with the attitudesconcerned. We begin to start to avoid those with whomwe have so fervently defended ourselves. The fellowshipyou had once established has now been shattered and

the union of intimacy and “relaxing in eachother’s friendship and company,” hasswung the other way and each party now builds fences

and defends its own ill-gottenbehaviour. We have used this description to explainthe effect that is produced when we sin against ourGod. Continuing to justify our own carnality we build

layers of “hardheartedness” and then try to

defend our stance, even against our “Holy andAwesome Heavenly Father.”

Eventually we are encased by walls of our ownmaking and defending our own stance against allwho would come to lead us back into,

“the communion of saints and thefellowship of the Holy Ghost!”

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This laminated defence that we have built sowell can only have one effect in our backsliding - itcuts out the penetration of God’s Light!

Thereby locking us into a darkened vessel of ourown construction, trapped by our own stubbornness:

We have hewn out for ourselves a vessel tohold that which is contained within but the problem

being is that, “the light leaks out rightalong with the water of Life!”

We have hewn out for ourselves a cistern thatcannot hold water.

Jeremiah 2 Verse 13 “For my people havecommitted two evils; they have forsaken Me TheFountain of Living Waters, and hewed them outcisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

A flawed vessel is like a money bag with a hole

in the bottom, “a cracked cistern” will neverhold,

“The water of Life.”

A flawed vessel is like a money bag with a holein the bottom, a cracked cistern will never hold

“The Water of Life” let alone pass it on toOthers!

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Instead, we find a tendency to live aseeming Christian life under the dictates of the

“cares of the world,” and this decaying

body of “flesh.” This therefore, is descriptive of,

“Spiritual carnality.”

1 Corinthians 3 Verses 1-3 “And I, brethren, couldnot speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as untocarnal, [even] as unto babes in Christ.”(2) “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: forhitherto ye were not able [to bear it], neither yet now areye able.” (3) “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [thereis] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, areye not carnal, and walk as men?”

The Lord our God, is The Only One, Who can and

will replace “desperation” with “confidentassurance!”

Romans 3 Verse 23 “For all have sinned, and comeshort of The Glory of God;”

We all “fall short,” but in the community that

Jesus had entered, there was none shorterthan this “conniving tax collector” hewas a rich man, but poor, naked andblind toward God Almighty!

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You cannot serve God and money, the role of thetax collector was hated so much, that they were evenbanded from Temple worship!

Luke 16 Verses 9-15 “And I say unto you, Make toyourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness;that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting

habitations.” (10) “He that is faithful in thatwhich is least is faithful also in much:and he that is unjust in the least isunjust also in much.” (11) “If therefore yehave not been faithful in theunrighteous mammon, who will committo your trust the true riches?”(12) “And if ye have not been faithful in that which isanother man’s, who shall give you that which is yourown?”

(13) “No servant can serve twomasters: for either he will hate theone, and love the other; or else hewill hold to the one, and despise theother. Ye cannot serve God andmammon.” (14) “And the Pharisees also, whowere covetous, heard all these things: and they deridedHim.”

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(15) “And He said unto them, Ye arethey which justify yourselves beforemen; but God knoweth your hearts:for that which is highly esteemedamong men is abomination in the sightof God.”

Romans 9 Verses 16-25 “So God will chooseanyone He decides to show mercy to,and His choice does not depend onwhat people want or try to do.”(17) “In the Scriptures God says to Pharaoh: “I madeyou king so that you could do this for Me. I wanted toshow my power through you. I wanted My Name to beannounced throughout the world.”

(18) “So God shows mercy to those Hewants to show mercy to and makesstubborn those He wants to makestubborn.” (19) “So one of you will askme, “If God controls what we do, whydoes he blame us for our sins?”

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(20) “Don’t ask that. You are onlyhuman and have no right to questionGod. A clay jar does not question theone who made it. It does not say, “Whydid you make me like this?”(21) “The one who makes the jar can make anything hewants. He uses the same clay to make different things.He might make one thing for special purposes andanother for daily use.” (22) “It is the same way with whatGod has done. He wanted to show his anger and to let

people see His Power. But He patientlyendured those He was angry with,people who were ready to bedestroyed.” (23) “He waited with patience so thatHe could make known the riches of His Glory to thepeople He has chosen to receive His Mercy. God hasalready prepared them to share His Glory.” (24) “We arethose people, the ones God chose not only from theJews but also from those who are not Jews.”(25) “As the Scriptures say in the book of Hosea, “Thepeople who are not mine, I will say they are My people.And the people I did not love, I will say they are thepeople I love.”

Romans 9 Verse 26 “And, “Where God said in the past,

‘You are not My people,’ there they will becalled children of The Living God.”

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Zacchaeus was of such small stature, that hehad to think of another means as to how he was even

going to gaze upon this man ... Jesus Who waspassing through, this was the lastweek of Jesus’s ministry amongst thepeople before His crucifixion!

Jesus had not met with this man previously, yet He,

Jesus called Zacchaeus by name, He callsus all by name!

Nobody has to tell The Son of man, HeKNOWS!!! He is The ALL KNOWINGGOD! Jesus set His Eyes on the man, and there was

no hiding from “The gaze of The Son ofman!”

This was a “Divine appointment,”contrary to the opinion of the town’s people.

Zacchaeus, was up the tree, he was“out on a limb,” hoping to be able tofinally see this man called, Jesus.

Up a tree, “hanging out,” waitingfor the opportunity to see the One Whostood before him!!!

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Often we try to look over the top ofthe crowd to find out what ishappening.

Zacchaeus, was no different to us, butbecause of his height, he was penalized. He could not

“see Jesus” because of “The crowd,” and

because of his “stature.” He knew Jesus was

“coming,” because of “the crowd.”

He knew Jesus was present, because he could

“hear” Him! But in order to “see” Him there wasblockage,

“his sight was obstructed!”

This was not going to stop this man, he decided on

“Plan B,” he would climb up thesycamore tree:

Jesus knew where he was, andwhat were the thoughts and intents ofhis heart!

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Jesus looked up at Zacchaeus,Zacchaeus, looked on The Lord, andhad a “Face to Face” encounter.

When you know where Jesus isheading, the wisest thing if you areobstructed in your vision, is to run to aplace that is above the crowd and getready to meet Him; far above themadding crowd,

“Face to Face with The King!”

Zacchaeus, didn’t waste time asking

“the crowd” what was happening, he wantedto ask the one Who was making ithappen!

There are no exceptions to God’s acceptance of usas His child. God’s Love for us, is totally unconditional.We can do nothing to deserve His Love, His Mercy andHis Grace.

“Conviction” and “Conversion,”leads to “Relationship!”

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“I want to see Jesus!!!”

“What about YOU!

1 Timothy 1 Verses 12-17 “And I thank Christ Jesus ourLord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted mefaithful, putting me into the ministry;” (13) “Who wasbefore a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious:but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly inunbelief.”(14) “And The Grace of our Lord was exceedingabundant with Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus.”(15) “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of allacceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners; of whom I am chief.” (16) “Howbeit for thiscause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christmight shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to themwhich should hereafter believe on him to LifeEverlasting.”(17) “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, theonly wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.Amen.”

Those that live in the realm of darkness cannotsee where they are going. So it is quite obviousthat they are unable to lead others least they be,

“ ... blind leaders of the blind”


“(For we walk by Faith, not by sight:)”

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“Blind leaders of the blind,” and the lotend up in a ditch of deception and entanglement.

Some are afraid of truth, knowing that theyhave no discernment. Nor will they venture outinto the deep for fear of unknown waters.

Remember, Peter was the only one who left thecomfort and seeming security of the boat butknowing his Master.

Peter cried to Him,

“Lord, if it is thee ... bid me come!”

Let us not get caught in the “companionshipof fear” being deceived into not launching out pastwhat others have already determined to be the safety of

“the boat, the safety of the status quo.”

We are called to “bring forth fruit ... meetfor repentance.” Fruit which is not “bland bycomplacency” nor “tasteless from fear”because fear has only one effect, it stifles ourpotential for growth!

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Jesus’ teaching and instructioncontinues to lift us out of ourselves andlaunch out to walk with Him. It does no

good to just “walk the walk” neither does it profit

to “talk the talk!” We need to be walkingand talking with The Master and bidothers to so do!

James put it aptly as being “... doers of theWord!”

John 9 Verses 4-6 “I must work the works of Himthat sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, whenno man can work.” (5) “As long as I am in the world,I AM the Light of the world.” (6) “When He had thusspoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of thespittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man withthe clay.”

The eyes of the blind here were anointed toSee, but what about ourselves? Do we reject the directcounsel of the Lord? We have to remember that allunfaithful branches are pruned off.

“Divine separation” takes place at thehands of the Husbandman for those that do not bear thefruit that is expected of us: Let our fruit be that and thatonly of The Holy Spirit, sweet to the taste andnourishment to all that would consume of it!

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The onus; the responsibility rests with us as tohow we develop that which is within. God’s promise isthat He will use our life as a channel of Blessing toothers. We don’t have to make it happen! That’s God’spart, our part is to be available. And as a by-product ofthis, we receive joy, fulfilment and a meaningful purposefor life.

1 Peter 2 Verse 21 “For even hereunto were ye called:

because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us anexample, that ye should follow Hissteps:”

Hebrews 9 Verse 26(b)

“... He appeared to put away sin by

the sacrifice of Himself.” Once … for many,and for ALL time!

Hebrews 4 Verse 16(a)

“Let us therefore come boldly ...”

The author here indicates that we can indeed come

with boldness and confidence to “God’s Throneof Grace.” This, in no way indicates that we are tocome with a brash, irreverent behaviour ... though manyin this day often try God’s Grace in both their mannerand behaviour!

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He has given total assurance, that access toThe Very Presence of God, is immediate for theChristian who departs from this life of mortal existence:

Jesus is The Word of God madeflesh. The Word of God is indeed “alive andactive, sharper than any two-edgedsword.”

What Jesus did at Calvary, was to take The Swordof The Lord upon Himself. He, without sin, stain orblemish, literally turned this cruel instrument of torture

and death into a weapon to wield against anddefeat satan and his cohorts.

It is literally, like taking The Cross in your hands andwielding it like a broad sword, victory, in the hands ofour Christ! The foe was vanquished by the,

“SINLESS BLOOD” of THE LORDJESUS CHRIST Himself ... OURGREAT HIGH PRIEST!

1 John 5 Verses 5-9 “Who is he that overcometh theworld, but he that believeth that Jesus is The Son ofGod?”(6) “This is He that came by Water and Blood,[even] Jesus Christ; not by Water only, but by Water andBlood. And it is The Spirit that beareth witness, becauseThe Spirit is Truth.”

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(7) “For there are three that bear record in Heaven, TheFather, The Word, and The Holy Ghost: and these threeare One.” (8) “And there are three that bear witness inearth, The Spirit, and The Water, and The Blood: andthese three agree in One.” (9) “If we receive the witnessof men, the witness of God is Greater: for this is thewitness of God which He hath testified of His Son.”

“Time,” was invaded by “Eternity;” HisLife written in Sinless Blood!” “Youcannot give, what you have notreceived,” either we are impacting people for

“Eternity, or we are NOT!”

The devil, is a fallen angel, and unless God opensyour eyes to see the devil, the only way that you canknow where he has been, is by the mud that he tracks inwith himself. You can always tell his presence and hispassage, by the muck of his passing! From scripture, wecan see the nature of man as one who is separated fromGod and portrays the nature of the character of fleshwhich is contained within. The nature of one deceived, isthe nature of one who has been blinded, blinded by thegod of this world.

2 Corinthians 4 Verses 3-4 “But if our Gospel be hid, it ishid to them that are lost:” (4) “In whom the god of thisworld hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,lest The Light of The Glorious Gospel of Christ, who isThe Image of God, should shine unto them.”

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When He conquered the forces of darkness and leftthem disarmed and paralysed before He rose from the

dead, we who believe, becameparticipants in that victory: When Hesnatched the keys of death and hell from satan andburst forth from that nether abyss, we were sharers inthat triumph, the triumph of His Resurrection!

When He ascended upon high and took His seat inthe Heavenlies, we were exalted with Him. Becausesatan and all the hosts of hell are beneath His Feet, theyare likewise beneath ours as well: When Jesus defeatedsatan, it was our victory. He (Jesus) became flesh andblood so that He could overcome satan as an

“unfallen (sinless) human!”

The enemy of our souls cannot lord it over usanymore. He is defeated and his dominion over usended at Calvary: Instead of his having power of us, wehave been given authority over him. This is the meaning

of our being, “seated with Christ inHeavenly places.”

When Jesus cried,“It is finished!”It was the end,but for us it was just,“The Beginning!”

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1 Corinthians 15 Verses 54(b)-55

“… death is swallowed up in victory.”(55) “O death, where [is] thy sting? Ograve, where [is] thy victory?”

1Let’s get one thing straight here;Jesus never had to pay a thing tothe devil! In God’s program, satanhad no say in the matter; he neverhas, and never will!!!

Let’s get it straight, Jesus has won thevictory… PAST TENSE! The enemy of our

souls has NO power in or over your life, unless YOUlet him!

Jesus Himself, ruled the warfare, as

“No contest!”

When Jesus laid His Life down,all Heaven, and all hell knew thatHe had conquered!

1 Dalton Robert.B & Nicola.J, “Search for Hid Treasures.”Menorah Publications Australia & N.Z. (2003 edit.)

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He shed His Own Precious Blood topay for the ransom of the redeemed.

The Hebrew word is “Koper,” which is rendered

as “the price is paid!”

Our beloved Master took that Blood and

offered it to The Father as a“Love-Offering” beyond compare!

Victory belongs to our God!”

Man could, by the act of choice in any systemestablished by God, choose to despise God’s Grace but

he could not extinguish the flame of it. We mustbear in mind that The Grace of God is“Infinite” and “Eternal.” It has nobeginning which is definable by manand it has no definable end, being anattribute of God, it is boundless!

Grace, is the goodness of God ininfinite Love, that draws the creatureman to respond to the Love of theCreator … God.

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We are seized upon by Grace, and arrested ininfinite Love. Man, in rebellion towards God is attimes like a stubborn child sulking in the corner of aroom ... hiding. But the fact remains, there still

burns within his bosom a “God shapedgap,” that craves and longs to be filled.

It is the birthing of that desire to enquire after Him,to draw nearer to Him and He correspondinglydrawing nearer to us.

James 4 Verse 8(a) “Draw nigh to God, and He willdraw nigh (near) to you. ...”

1 Peter 5 Verse 5(b) “... be clothed with humility: forGod resisteth the proud, and giveth Grace to thehumble.”

In this sense, we are not seeking religion but

living, vibrant relationship. Religion, isself-exalting in its own blindness! Wecould have stumbled along for years patting each other’sbacks, bragging about how self-righteous we were. Butwithout our Creator, it’s only man-made pomp andcircumstance. God’s Word is specific,

1 Peter 5 Verse 6 “Humble yourselves thereforeunder The Mighty Hand of God, that He may exaltyou in due time:”

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“He may exalt you into relationshipwith Himself.” God knows and understands thefallen nature of man, God knows in His Holiness thatman’s nature is sick to the core and that’s what God’sGrace is all about.

There is no salvation without a Saviour, Jesus theChrist ... God’s Anointed is The Saviour.

Psalm 116 Verse 10(a) “I believed, thereforehave I spoken: ...”

Grace, is the enabling to believe,

Psalm 116 Verse 13“I will take the cup of salvation, andcall upon The Name of The LORD.”

Romans 10 Verse 13 “For whosoever shallcall upon The Name of The Lord shall be saved.”

Matthew 1 Verse 23(b) “... and they shallcall His Name “EMMANUEL”, whichbeing interpreted is, GOD WITH US.”

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Bibliography of reference material.

a’ Kempis, Thomas “Imitation of Christ.”Blackie & Son Ltd.(London/Glasgow.)

Bridges, Jerry “Value for all Things.”Devoted to God.”

“The Practice of godliness.”Navigator Press, 1983 edit.

Dake, Finis. Jennings “Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible.”Dake Bible sales. P.O.Box 1050.Lawrenceville, Georgia. 30246. U.S.A.(11th edit. 1993.)

Dalton. Robert.B & Nicola.J (a) “Children of the Dust.”Menorah Publications. N.Z. (2007 edit.)

(b) “The Tabernacle and It’s Rituals.”Menorah Publications. N.Z. (1992 edit.)

(c) “The Centrality of The Cross.”Menorah Publications. (edit.2006 N.Z.)

(d) “The Law of Love.”Menorah Publications.(edit 1997 Australia.)

Darby, John Nelson. “Synopsis of the Books of the Bible.”Copyright 1995 L. Hodgett

Francis, Rodney. W. “The General Epistle of James.”Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry.Harbour Light Ministries.Hamilton. New Zealand. (1996 edit.)

Henry, Matthew “Commentary on The Whole Bible.”Hendrickson Publishers. (1991 edit.)

Hira, Peter. “Home Group Study Series.” Vol.2New Zealand (1985 edit.)

Kidner, Derek. “The Proverbs.”The Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries.Inter-Varsity Press.Leicester, England. (1996 edit.)

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Leesment, Harry “Pentecostal Ministerial Ethics.”October 1988 edit.61 Templeton Street, Cook. A.C.T.Australia. 2614.

Lockman Foundation, “Amplified Bible.”(chapter reference notes.)Zondervan Bible Publishers.(1987 edit.)

Marshall, I. Howard “The Acts of The Apostles.”(Revised edition)The Tyndale New TestamentCommentaries. Inter-Varsity Press.W.B. Eerdmans Publishing. Co.Grand Rapids.Michigan. U.S.A. (1994 edit.)

Missler, Chuck & Nancy “The Way of Agape.”(Understanding God’s Love.)Koinonia House Publishing. U.S.A.(1999 edit.)

Moo, Douglas. J “The Letter of James.”(Revised edition)The Tyndale New TestamentCommentaries. Inter-Varsity Press.

W.B. Eerdmans Publishing. Co.Grand Rapids.Michigan. U.S.A. (1993 edit.)

Thompson, F. Charles “Thompson Chain Reference Bible.”B.B.Kirkbridge Bible Company, Inc.(K.J.V. 1964. edit.)

Tristram, Dr “Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary.”

Vine, W.E “Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Oldand New Testament Words.”

edited by F.F.Bruce.World Bible Publishers.Iowa Falls, U.S.A. (1981 edit.)

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Menorah PublicationsCatalogue 2018.

Series, “Discovering Discipleship … ”

Hebrews 6 Verses 1-2

No.1 - “Let us go on …”No.2 - The “how to,” called …

Repentance:No.3 - The “can do,” Faith from God:No.4 - “Baptism … the waters.”

No.5 - “The Laying on of Hands:”No.6 - “Resurrection of the dead.”

No.7 - “The Eternal Godhead:”

“ ... Going on to perfection ... !”

The first of a three part series of Bible Studies,these lay the foundation teachings of our Faith based onHebrews 6 Verses 1-2. Good for young disciples, eachlesson is prepared so it can be used as private, group orclassroom study material.

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Series, “Growing Discipleship …”

“The Be- Attitudes, Love‘s Divine Attitudes”Matthew 5 Verses 3-11

1.“Blessed” … “are the poor in spirit.”2.“Blessed” … “are they that mourn.”3.“Blessed” … “are the meek.”4.“Blessed” … “are they which do hunger.”5.“Blessed” … “are the merciful.”6.“Blessed” … “are the pure in heart.”7.“Blessed” … “are the peacemakers.”8.“Blessed,” “are they which are persecuted.”

If you “be in Christ,” then it stands toreason, that whatever curved balls are thrown to

you in this life, you will “Be-in-Christ’s-Attitude,” and not react in an inappropriate manner.As hard as that may be!

“Blessed are …” relates to the presenttense, to the here and now, not only to the future. Butfrom here, to there and beyond!

This second of a three part series of Bible studies,are designed to help understand the development of ourChristian Character in our day to day walk.

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Series, “Overcomers…Discipleship.”

That ye might be ... “partakers.”2 Peter 1 Verses 1-11

1.) “And beside this, giving all diligence ...”

2.) “... add to your Faith virtue ...”

3.) “… and to virtue knowledge;”

4.) “And to knowledge temperance; …”

5.) “ … and to temperance patience; …”

6.) “ … and to patience godliness;”

7.) “And to godliness brotherly kindness; …”

8.) “ … and to brotherly kindness charity(or LOVE.)”

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Our third in the Discipleship series, is

“Discipleship that Overcomes,”

And is titled,

That ye might be ... “partakers.”

These lessons come from the second letter of Peterand work well alongside the previous series entitled,

“The Beatitudes” which cover the development ofour Christian Character.

If a man has come to the place of little or no growth,then surely, he has remained as a babe. If he has notgiven himself over to be dealt with by The Spirit ofGrace, then he is marked by the arm of the flesh.

He is still a Christian, but a carnal Christian, a babein Christ. But if he completely surrenders his will to TheHoly Spirit, he will rapidly and willingly choose to putdown the deeds of the flesh and become what God’sWord calls a

“Spiritual man.”

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Series, “The Parables of Christ ...”(Matthew 13 Verses 1-53)

The disciples, they had heard Hisfirst four parables spoken to thelistening crowd ... the multitude.

Jesus did not use parables in theearlier part of His ministry, and whenHe began to use them, it was a matterof surprise to his disciples, who askedHim His reason for doing so.

Matthew 13 Verses 10-13 “And the disciples came, and

said unto Him, Why speakest Thou untothem in parables?”(11) “He answered and said unto them, Because itis given unto you to know themysteries of The Kingdom of Heaven,but to them it is not given.”

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(12) “For whosoever hath, to him shallbe given, and he shall have moreabundance: but whosoever hath not,from him shall be taken away even thathe hath.”(13) “Therefore speak I to them inparables: because they seeing seenot; and hearing they hear not, neitherdo they understand.”

The whole thing turns on the distinction between

“earnest inquirers” and “carelesshearers.” The earnest inquirer has ears to hear; theother has not.

That is, instead of apprehending The Truth, he isonly perplexed and confused by it, and instead of goingaway enriched, he is poorer than ever.

The meaning is so simple and familiar, that even achild can understand it. Being of the nature to connectwith everyday things, things that are frequentlyobserved.

Parables, are the meal prepared for us by The Lordof The Harvest, He prepares a meal for each of Hislaborers, though they are few, all are well fed.

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He has seen to it, that a young lad now brings to thetable,

“Five loaves and two fish!”

This is something for us all to wellconsider, they had twelve baskets full,after the crowd was fed.

Jesus took the twelve, and turnedthe world inside out, to the right sideup!

Many may bring the Scriptures tothe mind, but The Lord alone canprepare the mind to receive His Word:Our Master, our Saviour Jesus differs from all other

teachers ... they may reach the ear, butonly He can instruct the heart! “Othersmay teach what is to be believed, butonly Jesus can teach us how tobelieve!”

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Series, “The Parables of Christ ...”(Matthew 13 Verses 1-53)

(1) - “The Parable of The Sower.”

(2) - “The Parable of The Tares.”

(3) - “The Parable ofThe Mustard Seed.”

(4) - “The Parable of The Leaven.”

(5) - “The Parable ofThe Hidden Treasure.”

(6) - “The Pearl of Great Price.”

(7) - “The Parable of The Drag Net.”

(8) – “The Scribe andThe Householder.”

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Series, “The Gleanings ...”

Not such a strange word really, but a word which is

not often used to day. What does it mean for us “toglean?” In simple terms, it means,

“to gather together.”

We gather together that which will draw us deeper

into “Relationship” with our Lord and Savior JesusChrist.

We, are gathering and gleaning in the fields of ourkinsman Redeemer King Jesus.

“The Gleanings,” was written out of gratitude formy own Salvation, and the way that He my King hasBlessed me by revealing more about Himself astogether we build the Relationship that religion cannotoffer!

Many, many Brothers and Sisters in Christ aredesperately hungry and we who feed at His table have a

“duty of care” to share with those around us. Thisis the reason for this series.

To answer questions and have all things in common

... the basis of “communion, common-union” so enjoy, grow deeper into Jesus Christ andbe Blessed.

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Acts 2 Verses 44-46(a) “And all that believed weretogether, and had all things common;”(45) “And sold their possessions and goods, and partedthem to all men, as every man had need.”

(46a) “And they, continuing daily withone accord ...”

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Series, “The Gleanings ...”

(1) - What is ... “Sin?”(2) - The “how too,” called,

“Repentance.”(3) - The “Squeeze” of Temptation.(4) - “The Tongue ...”

taming the unruly member!(5) - The “can do,” Faith from God:(6) - The Growth of “Grace.”(7) - “Baptism,” the waters.(8) - “The Holy Spirit.”(9) - “The Laying on of Hands.”

(10) - “Divine Healing.”(11) - “The Resurrection.”(12) - “The Eternal Godhead ...”

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Series, “Ripened Husks ...”

(1) – “Salt, Light and perfect Sight.”

(2) – “Living in Submission.”

(3) – “The Christian and Finance.”

(4) – “The Growth of Grace.”

(5) –“The Law of Love.”

(6) – “Prayer and Fasting.”

(7) – “Giants in the Land.”

(8) – “The Anointing of God.”

(9) –“Double portion Anointing.”

(10) –“ Entering in to Rest.”

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Poem: “The Garden of My Heart …”

In the garden I the arrived with dawn,the air was crisp,it was still,the birds delighted the morning sun.It was quite,The Lord whispered Oh, my heart

“look, write, see and hear.”

I saw the sky,Heaven’s blue skirt.The glow of,Your Handiwork, painted in clouds.Then said He in

“the garden of my heart,”“In seeing, see, in hearing hear,”I was hearing The Voice of our God!Thank You Jesus!!!

My hand trembles at His Touch,The Anointing of His Spirit flows …I write, please Lord,please tell me more.His reply to my soul,

“You have much to hear!”

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There is a glow in my heart that say’s, this is “thegrain” that I want in my storehouse:

Jesus used the description of harvested grain as awonderful way of showing us why it is important for

“whole grains” of wheat to have “The Husk”removed.

If grain that is harvested has “the husk” intact,then it will not be stored well for later use. As a matter offact, you are inviting the spread of mould.

Grain is normally harvested when ripe, and the

“ripened husks” are winnowed. This is theprocess whereby the grains themselves, are tossed intothe air and as they do, they rub against each other toremove the outer sheaf or husk.

God’s desire, is that we play an active role to workwith The Holy Spirit in and through our lives to removethe excess baggage. To remove the old covering, so that

the “pure whole grain” will remain.

And there be no “Bushel of self,” there be no

“Bushel of former days!”

A bushel measure, was a standard measure andfilled a woven basket made to the bushel size and wasused to store that measure in a dry and safe manner tillit was required to be used:

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Matthew 5 Verse 15 “Neither do men light a candle, andput it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it givethlight unto all that are in the house.”

You stick a lighted flame under a dry woven basketand it will either smother the flame, or set fire to thehouse!

“I must decrease,in order that He increase!”

Grain, was bought to the “threshing floor,”and there it was threshed. The sheaves, were beatenwith a rod or with a winnowing fork in order to separatethe grain from the stork.

Once the pile of grain was a reasonable height, itwas time to see the leathery husks come off. To achievethe removal of the husk, the grains were tossed into theair to land on a round cane basket. They were thenflipped up into the air, until the husk blew off into thebreeze.

Winnowed grain, de-husked, and dry, now ready forproper storage in the garner or granary till the time ofuse. All the husk, was then burned off.

Matthew 3 Verse 12 “Whose fan is in His Hand, and Hewill thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat intothe garner; but He will burn up the chaff withunquenchable fire.”

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Series, “New Beginnings …”

1. “Incline Your Ear … ”2. “Apply thine (Your) Heart.”3. “Search for Hid Treasures … ”4. “The Fear of The Lord, … ”

(Wisdom’s Beginning)5. “The Knowledge of God … ”

The Holy Spirit has employed the use of this seriesto impact our lives as Husband and wife. We have bothbeen intrigued as to the amount of Blessings that manyof our Brothers and Sisters in Christ seem to miss outon.

We are convinced that the reason isbecause of our inattention to God’sinscribed Word. Praise Him for HisDivine tolerance as we continue togrow in Him!

Proverbs 1 Verse 5(a)

“A wise [man] will hear,and will increase learning; …”

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Proverbs 9 Verses 9-11 “Give instruction to a wise man,and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he willincrease in learning.” (10) “The Fear of The LORD is thebeginning of Wisdom: and The Knowledge of The Holyis understanding.”(11) “For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and theyears of thy life shall be increased.”

Our format for this series,

“New Beginnings …”

is based on the unfolding word of instruction ascontained in,

Proverbs 2 Verses 1-5 “My son … if thou wilt ... receive... My words, and ... hide ... My commandments withthee;”

(2) “So that thou ... incline thine ear ... unto

wisdom, [and] ... apply thine heart ... to

understanding;” (3) “Yea, if thou ... criest afterknowledge … [and] ... liftest up thy voice... for understanding;” (4) “If thou ... seekest ... her as

silver, and ... Searchest … for her as [for]hid treasures;” (5) “Then shalt thou understand …The Fear of The LORD … and find theknowledge of God.”

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We shall see as this lesson unfolds, that God ourFather places extreme importance on the area of

“our hearts,” as a point of both “contact and(ongoing) communication,” this is describedby us in our studies as

“Communion.”

“NO COMMUNICATION …”“NO COMMUNION,”

“NO COMMUNION …”“NO COMMON-UNION,”

“NO COMMUNION ...”“NO UNION!”

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Jesus said,

Matthew 11 Verses 25-30 “At that time Jesus answeredand said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven andearth, because thou hast hid these things from the wiseand prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”26) “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thysight.”(27) “All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: andno man knoweth The Son, but The Father; neitherknoweth any man The Father, save The Son, and He towhomsoever The Son will reveal Him.”(28) “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavyladen, and I will give you rest.”(29) “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I AMmeek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto yoursouls.” (30) “For My yoke is easy, and my burden islight.”

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Series, “Pulpit Ponderings ...”

If there is one thing that I desire in this life that I amliving, it’s to sit at the feet of our Lord and Savior andsoak in what He’s been saying to me over the years.

It is with much gratitude for Him, that I havecompiled this collection, my prayer is simply this,

“Love Him, listen to His Voice as itechos in your own heart; learn of Him,He has much to give, and we havemuch to recieve.”

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Series, “Pulpit Ponderings ...”

(1) “Fire in The Bones.”(2) “Relationship,” the Heart to heart.(3) Christ, “The Rock.”(4) “ Abraham’s Seed.”(5) “Children of the dust.”(6) Family, “The Fabric.”(7) “Bottle-neck Fruits.”(8) “The Mountain or the mediocre.”(9) “On Time and Eternity.”

(10) “The Centrality of The Cross.”(11) “Where is thy sting ...death?”(12) “Except your Righteousness exceeds.”(13) “The Doves and The Blood.”(14) “Five smooth stones.”(15) “Money Changers in The Temple.”(16) “The religion of Cain.”(17) “Wisdom ...”(18) “Wisdom builds her house ...”(19) “The Crown of Thorns ...”(20) “I AM” ... “The Gate.”(21) “Whose you are ...”(22) “The Garden of The Heart ...”(23) “Joints,” “Bands” and “Bonds ...”(24) “Wised-up, Virgins ...”(25) “What is Truth, NOT What, WHO ...”(26) “The Fact of ... FAITH.”(27) Jesus ... “KING.”(28) “The Alabaster Jar ...”(29) “The Pearl of Great Price ...”(30) “Divine Desperation ...”(31) “Two Blind men ...”

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Copy-right ... personal observations.

To those Brethren, that have laboured long and hard in TheWord of our God ... I take time to Bless them publically for theirendeavours to pass on that Holy Ghost inspired Word throughout HisChurch ...

Hebrews 6 Verse 10 “For God [is] not unrighteous to forget your workand labour of love, which ye have shewed toward His Name, in that yehave ministered to the saints, and do minister.”

Therefore, edify The Body of Christ, encourage and exhort; butremember, if you are tempted to call the work of another your own, youare the one that will in the end be held responsible for your actions.“The Spirit of Grace,” gave the work to the hand of “the scribe,” whofaithfully put pen to paper. Plagiarism, is not only illegal, it is immoral;above all, we must ...

Romans 12 Verse 10“[Be] kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly

love; in honour preferring one another;”

So I exhort you in The Name of our Lord and Saviour, to feel quitefree to use the material with which The Lord has so blessed us andthose before us, bearing in mind that the pre-eminence belongs to

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself ...

Your brother in His service,Robert .B. Dalton.

Matthew 10 Verse 8(b) “ ... freely ye have received, freely give.”

http://menorahpublicationsweeblycom.weebly.com/e mail [email protected]

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“The stronger the foundation,the brighter the future!”

1 Corinthians 3 Verse 11“For other foundation can no man

lay than that is laid, …which is Jesus Christ.”

Let us join together to,

“Church the Un-Churched,Teach the Un-Taught,”and most of all,

“Reach the Un-Reached ...for Jesus!”

“Go Ye ... !”“Speak Ye ... !”

“Do Ye ... !”

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About the authors.

Born and raised in inner Sydney, N.S.W. Australia, Robert was achild when the likes of Arthur Stace, Alan Walker and Ted Noffsministered to Sydney in the nineteen fifties.

The Lord spoke to Robert at the age of seven, outside of the oldCleveland Street Congregational Church. For many years, he continuedto live for himself. That is, until The Lord again spoke to him in The Bayof Plenty in New Zealand. He received Jesus Christ into his life asLord and Saviour in February, 1980. Being Water Baptised in April,Born Again and Filled with The Holy Spirit in May of the same year.

Bob and Nikki married, in October of 1987 and have an awesomefamily of Bob’s four older children, Chenoa, Karissa, Travis and Kirk,plus Jacob, Andrew, Petra, Ruth and Lydia with altogether and to datetwenty two Grandchildren and one Great Grandchild.

Bob has compiled and published materials helpful for growth anddevelopment in Christ Jesus. Sadly, but with great joy, Nikki passed intoGlory to be with our Lord. 21st July, 2014.

Over the years, Bob has ministered as a Pastor/ Teacher andfunctioned as itinerant Preacher with a strong call to Missions. During amissions trip to Africa Bob and Katie met and corresponded for severalyears, fell in love and were married in Nairobi Kenya on 27th March,2018. So now, they with Kate’s son Ben make a Blessed Family of fivesons and five daughters. Bob and Katies desire, is to see more folk,coming out of themselves, and going deeper into personalrelationship with our Lord and Saviour, The Lord Jesus Christ.

Documents

“Two Blind men - menorah publications...4 “Two Blind men ...” As “The Hand of Jesus”touched and healed the eyes of the blind, so too, The Spirit of Holinessopens the eyes