The Holy One

Revelation 3:7-8 LITV, And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write: These things says the Holy One, the True One, the One having "the key of David," "the One opening, and no one shuts; and shuts, and no one opens:" I know your works. Behold, I have given a door being opened before you, and no one is able to shut it, for you have a little power and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

Notice the words 'the Holy One' in v. 7. The Lord Jesus Christ calls Himself 'the Holy One'. This title is a title for God alone. Jesus is the Holy One. The Holy One refers primarliy to His uniqueness, and being set apart from His creation. The Lord Jesus is inherently Holy. The very reason why people do not want the Lord Jesus, but rather push Jesus away, not love Him but hate Him, is because He is the Holy One. People feel uncomfortable and exposed by the Lord Jesus, a feeling they do not like because He is Holy, and they are sinful. They have pleasure in unrighteousness and not in the truth, and they do not want the Holy One, who is righteous to be near them.

For us who believe, before we got saved by the Lord, we did the same and pushed Jesus away, for we had pleasure in unrighteousness and not in the truth, but that all changed for us when God interrupted our lives and saved us in Christ Jesus. God gave us a new heart, took out the heart of stone and gave us a heart of flesh, for us to be able to hear the voice of our Shepherd, and to stop pushing Him away, but to embrace Him and come to Him, our Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved. The Bible says in John 3:3 LITV, Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, if one does not receive birth from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of God. The Bible says in John 3:8 ESV, The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. God changed us from a God hater to a God lover, a lover of the truth and no longer a lover of unrighteousness. 

Brothers and sisters in the Lord, how we are to be thankful to God for saving us, for interrupting our lives and saving us, for without God and His grace, we would still be willfully pushing Jesus away, like many do each day, having pleasure in unrighteousness and not in the truth. Amen.

Truth and Emotions

Genesis 50 v. 24 LITV, And Joseph said to his brothers, and I am dying, and God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. V. 25 LITV, And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, God will surely visit you, and you will bring up my bones from here.

We see in this portion of scripture, Joseph’s faith is not shaken by his emotions. Even when he was facing death, and the children of Israel were in Egypt, Joseph stood on the promise of God.  When it comes to the Word of God, emotions do not determine whether it is true or not. When we read the Word here, nowhere does it talk about the emotions of Joseph. I cannot tell you what Joseph was feeling at this precise time, but they did not determine whether the Word of God was true or not true, but he trusted in the God of truth who cannot lie, and stood on what He had promised. 

The Bible is the infallible and inerrant perfect Word of God, which can always be trusted. Never allow our emotions to decide whether a promise of God is true, but we are to stand on His Word. 

When it comes to truth, emotions do not define God’s truth, The Bible defines truth, and we are to put our confidence in the unshakable promises and power of God. We are not to put our confidence in our emotions, but in the Word of God. It is the Word of God which gives us assurance of what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, not how we feel. Our emotions can be up and down, and all over the place, but God's promises are steadfast and sure.

God is God, and our emotions do not define truth. God’s Word defines truth. Our emotions are to be determined by God’s truth, not God’s truth to be determined by our emotions. 

This was seen with Joseph, here, in Genesis 50. He was dying and in Egypt, but stood firm on the promises of God. He believed God promise that they would be leaving, which determined his emotions, not the other way around. We are not to follow our emotions, but we are to follow Christ our Lord, and His truth, and when we do, our emotions will be controlled and used rightly, and be not out of control, and our emotions will echo and respond according to the Bible, His truth, and glorify God. There is nothing wrong with emotions, God gave us emotions, but they need to be controlled by God's truth, and not God's truth controlled by our emotions. Amen. 

Christ keeps His Elect Forever

Paul wrote in Romans 8 v. 33 LITV, Who can bring any charge against God’s elect? God is the One justifying! There is no one who can accuse or condemn the elected people of God to cause their condemnation. Absolutely no one. God has justified us in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His justice has been satisified in Him. The sin debt has been paid in full by Jesus for His chosen people. It would be absurd to suppose that God would both justify a person, and then condemn them. A true Christian is therefore secure in the Lord Jesus Christ forever.

Paul wrote in Romans 8 v. 34 LITV, Who is he condemning? It is Christ who has died, but rather also is raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. One commentary says, The office of passing sentence of condemnation of men shall pertain to Christ, the Judge of living and the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ will not condemn His own people, whom He died for and rose again for their salvation, and to be justified before a Holy God. 

Notice Jesus is at the right-hand of the Father, but not only is He at the right hand of the Father, but the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus sits at the right-hand of the Father. The Lord Jesus said in Luke 22:69 LITV, From now on the Son of man will be sitting at the right of the power of God. Even in the book of Psalms, this was prophecied by David, when he wrote in Psalm 110:1 LITV, A Psalm of David. A statement of Jehovah (I say Yahweh instead of Jehovah) to my Lord: Sit at My right hand, until I place Your enemies as Your footstool. What does it mean in Luke 22:69, and Psalm 110:1, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father? It means He has completed His work for the salvation of His people, and the Father is satisfied, and Jesus is exalted above all, power is given to Him, and as Ephesians 1:22 LITV says, And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His body: the fullness of Him filling all things in all. The One who is over all things, condemns us not, but represents us.

Jesus intercedes for His people, not on bended knees, but presents Himself to the Father as Who is He and what He has done for His people, the completeness of His perfect sacrifice for the Elect, and the Father’s satisfaction, which the Father planned before the foundation of the world. Christ has already won the victory in His death, burial and resurrection, and His work for the salvation of His people is complete, which means His intercessory work is perfect, and it can not fail and will not fail. The Lord Jesus will see His people to the end. They will endure. We have complete salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ.

What does Paul say in Romans 8 v.35-37 LITV, Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Even as it has been written, For Your sake, we are killed the all the day; we are counted as sheep of slaughter. But in all these things we more than conquer through Him loving us.

Then Paul wrote in v.38-39, For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor powers, nor things present, not things to come, nor heigth, nor depth, not any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

May this be an encouragment to glorify the One who represents us at the right hand of the Father, the One who laid down His life for us, and may we not dishonour His name, the One who bears our names in Heaven. Amen.

The Joy of the Lord

We see that Paul wrote about rejoicing in the Book of Philippians 4:4 LITV, when he wrote, Always rejoice, I say again, Rejoice. This is the joy of the Lord. This is the joy God has given to every believer in the Lord Jesus. 

Understand, this is not the joy the world experiences, but a joy found only in the Lord Jesus, and is always available for every believer to experience. This joy is available not only in prosperity but in adversity. The joy that believers have in the Lord is not based on circumstances, but in Christ, not in a situation but in our Saviour. The source of the believers' joy is not something or someone who will fade away, or change, or perish, or waver, but the joy we have is in the Lord, who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Understand too, The Bible never promises that believers will go without problems, but what the Bible does say is the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. Never. A true Christian can know the joy of the Lord in Him, the One who calls us His own, who loved us and gave Himself for us, and saved us, who has given to His people a home in heaven with Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ will remain faithful and true to His Word, and lead us to be where He is. We can fully trust in the Lord. 

Understand too, the more we grow in the Word of God (the Bible), as followers of Christ, and learn how we should live as a Christian, and practiced (made practical), the easier it should be to rejoice in the joy of the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit through whatever may come as we serve our God. Amen. 

A Word to the saints of God

To the saints being in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:1b LITV

The Greek word for saint here is hagios, and refers to be set apart for a specific purpose. Paul is not referring to a specific Christian in Ephesus, but to all Christians who were in Ephesus. The Bible teaches that all true believers are saints of God.

For example, The Bible says in Romans 8:27 LITV, But the One searching the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He intercedes for the saints according to God. Paul says here about the Holy Spirit's work in the prayers of the saints. Who has the Holy Spirit? Well lets back up earlier in the chapter. Romans 8:9 LITV, But you are not in flesh, but in Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, this one is not His. Who has the Spirit? Every believer, because if we did not have the Spirit of Christ, we would not be His.

Romans 8:14 LITV, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. Who are the sons of God. Every believer. The Bible says in John 1:12 LITV, But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to the ones believing into His Name. Ephesians 1:5 LITV, predestinating us to adoption through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

Romans 8:15 LITV, speaking of the same people, For you did not receive a spirit of slavery again to fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba! Father!, v. 16, The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God. And when you read on in its context, and come to v. 27, and the Bible says about the Holy Spirit, He intercedes for the saints according to God. The saints refer to every believer in the Lord. All believers are the saints of God. All true Christians have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit in the Lord Jesus Christ. Spurgeon said, We are not chosen because we are holy, but that we may be holy. Every believer in Jesus is a saint, set apart for God. God the Father chose us not because we are holy, but God chose us in Christ before creation, to be His holy saints, to be set apart unto Himself in Christ, and the Holy Spirit has come to lead the very same chosen ones to Christ, the One whom accomplished salvation for them.

God has declared us His saints, not because of what we have done, but because what Christ has done for us. You and I are saints. We have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ our Lord. We are God’s holy people. We have been set part in Christ for God, to serve Him, and serve not the world. The Bible says in 1Corinthians 10:31 LITV, Then whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all things to the glory of God. We serve God in all things.

Then Paul wrote, and faithful in Christ Jesus. When Paul wrote the words, saints and faithful, Paul is not writing about two different groups. They are the one and same group. The same people are referred to by both designations, which means, by both descriptions, or by both names, and this is seen clearly in the Greek. 

The Greek word for faithful is pistos, and is used the NT frequently, and here it means having faith in Christ. A believer in Christ. Simply, as one commentator said, No man, therefore, is a believer who is not also a saint; and, on the other hand, no man is a saint who is not a believer. The saints of God are believers in Christ. You cannot be a saint, if you are not a believer, and you cannot be believer and not be a saint.

Notice the final words in the verse, in Christ Jesus. Again, it is because we are in Christ Jesus. Every true Christian is a saint and faithful in Christ Jesus, not because of you and me, but because of the grace of God. It is because of our union with Christ, which God elected for us to have before the foundation of the world. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8 LITV, For by grace you are saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, that anyone should boast. We are not saints and faithful in Christ Jesus because of what we have done, but because of what God has done in His Son, the Lord Jesus.

The Spirit of God called us, and sanctified us in Christ. A saint is a believer in the Lord Jesus, not something man has done, not what the church makes someone into. A saint is not a religious person who has been exalted by a church. A true believer is a true believer by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, and sets us apart in Christ, for His use, and not for the use of the world. We are saints because we have been set apart by God for Him in the Lord Jesus Christ, all by the grace of God.

Let that be an encouragement, knowing we are declared saints before God because of our new relationship with Jesus, set apart in the righteousness of Christ, as true believers, All by the grace of God, we are set apart for Him, so let that be a desire to live as the Bible says in 1Corinthians 10:31LITV, Then whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all things to the glory of God. May we look to God to help us by His grace and strength in the Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as we serve Him day by day, according to the Word of God.