VOLUME 2(1)

VOLUME 2(1)

The Rights of Jahweh as the Creator (The requirements of our God)

Started writing on 28 March 2017

INDEX TO VOLUME 2(1)

1. Introduction to Volume 2(1)
2. The rights of God (Elohim)
3. The being of God
4. That in all things He may have the pre-eminence
5. Of Him you are in Christ
6. O, Lord, the Hope of Israel
7. As the waters cover the sea
8. God’s right as the Creator to be praised by all creation
9. Giving thanks always for all things to God
10. Let me be Your son indeed, Father
11. More truths about Childhood
12. The Key to the house of David
13. Christ all and in all
14. The Sabbath as a sign between God and us
15. Our thoughts taken captive for obedience to Christ

1. INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 2(1)

We are going to discuss several truths which are also promises from your Father to you, for example : The Scripture says that God is not a man that He should lie (Num 23 : 19). This is not only a great truth but also a promise to you that God will never lie to you. In fact it is impossible for Him to lie (Heb 6 : 18). In the same way many truths are also promises to us and we therefore treat truths as promises in this volume although they are not really synonymous.

Now read this word: “ as His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that by these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”. (2 Pet 1 : 3-4). Thus by really believing and living these promises you will eventually obtain the divine nature. That is the nature of Jahweh God! Is that alone not reason enough to go for it by diligently reading these promises to you, and then asking your Father in Jashuah’s Name to quicken it in your heart. That means that He makes this word of promise to be alive and active in your spirit and through your whole life!

2. The rights of God (Elohim)

The whole world is lately focused on rights. Just think about “Human Rights”. They protest and even make war in order to obtain the rights that they consider to be their’s. In Volume 3 I write about the rights that you and I have in Jashuah our Messiah, but now in Volume 2 we need to take a look at God’s rights. In Jer 8 : 7 we read that He says that “My people don’t know the judgement of the Lord”. In my language (Afrikaans) it says that they don’t know the rights of God. That, when translated, could also mean “the requirements of God” God is a god that sometimes keeps silent for ages. And this is the case on this earth we are living on in these years (Isa 57 : 11). While crowds of people in this world is fighting and protesting for their rights, He is remaining silent and keeps His quiet although He created everything, yes, the entire universe: all the galaxies with every molecule and atom in it, the sea and all waters, plants animals and all human beings throughout the ages. Yes He is the only Creator and by His word they were all created! And do you think that He has no rights? He never said : “ I want to show you who I am and what My rights are”. But is He really going to remain silent for ever? No, He will NEVER keep silent forever! He is surely going to reveal Himself and let this world know what His rights and His requirements are. The question is WHEN? Please read Isai 42 :14.

Maybe you never thought of His rights because you grew up as a self-centred person, like the majority of people on earth. Maybe you only seek from God the fulfillment of your needs, your desires and likes and dislikes. Probably your parents just rushed when you screamed for having things your own way, and you never learned the opposite. You also never thought of your parents needs and rights, only your own. And your parents’ parents brought them up like that and that is the reason why you are what you are. Thus it is not your fault, but now our loving Father is revealing to you what HE WANTS from you, His requirements and His rights. In this Volume 2 we are going to discuss this very important topic and in the same time we are are going to look at many promises that our Father gave us by His grace and love in order that His will be done. Are you ready for that ?

In order for His own Son to comply to this He said “…not as I will, but as You will” (Matt 26 : 39). And that is the reason why He received the Name above all names (Philip 2 : 3-11). For us to walk in His Name, pray in His Name, speak in His Name, we will have to become the same. So ask Him to work the willingness to comply in your heart and say “… Not my will but thine be done”. That will prepare the ground of your heart for the seed of His word (Mark 4 : 14-20). Please do yourself a favour and read Jer 27 : 5-6 and also Ps 24 : 1-2 and then decide for yourself who the Creator and Owner of this earth, with everything on it, is. Decide to Whom it belongs. Will you then, like Ps 119 : 73 say: “Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments”? And if you read Ephes 2 : 10 : “ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jashuah for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”, then you even more want to do His will and not claim your rights anymore.

3. The Being of God

God (Elohim) says “ I AM WHO I AM” (Exod 3 : 14). Nobody knows His Name. We know that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and that is the Name by which He was known by His people and also the heathen. His Son’s Name we know. In the Old Testament it was Jahweh. In The New Testament it is Jashuah Messiah. To call on God (Elohim or El- Shaddai) as my Father, is a great privilege and honour to me (Gal 4 : 6). His original name JHWH (without vowels because the people were afraid to take His Name in vain). Later, with the addition or the inserting of vowels, the Name became JAHWEH. This means: The eternal, unchangeable One; He who was, who is and shall be ; the “I Am” in Exodus 3:13-15. This Name is often used in combination with “Adonai”, used as Lord Lord (Amos 3:7). “Lord” is a title name like sir or president.

The Name “Jahweh” is also combined with other “title names” in the Hebrew Canonical books eg: JAHWEH-JIREH = Jahweh who provides (Gen. 22:14). JAHWEH-ROPHEILA = Jahweh who heals me (Ex. 15:26). JAHWEH-NISSï = Jahweh is my banner (Ex. 17:15). JAHWEH-MEKADDïSHKEM = Jahweh is the one who cleanses or sanctifies me (Ex. 31:13, Lev. 20:8). JAHWEH-SHálôm = Jahweh who brings peace (Judges 6:24). JAHWEH-SEBàôTH = Jahweh the Lord of hosts (1 Sam. 1:3). JAHWEH-TSIDKènú = Jahweh our Righteousness (Jer. 23:6 , Jer 33:16). JAHWEH-SHàMMàH = Jahweh is present here (Ezek. 48:35). JAHWEH-ELJôN = Jahweh the Most High (Ps. 7:17, 47:2). JAHWEH-Rôï = Jahweh is my Shepherd (Ps. 23:1).

I give you these names only to show you that in them lies wonderful riches locked up in His Name, as they appear in the Scriptures. However, there is a deeper revelation of His Name that we all need to share in, and Father desires to do this for us (Isa. 52:6). It’s actually available to us already (John 17:6). We must not think that the Hebrew Names mentioned above are the revelations to which the Scripture in John 17:6 refers. Pray earnestly now about this. You have a promise from Jashuah (John 17:26).

The names mentioned above plus many others are all gathered together into the Name of Jashuah Messiah (Acts 4:10-12). If you know this Name and you call upon it in any situation (Rom. 10:13) you will experience how Elohim swiftly rises up to help you (Prov. 18:10 ; Ps. 20:2,8 ; Ps. 54:1-3 ; Rev. 3:8; Gen.4:26 ; Ps. 116:4 ; Ps. 9:10). Don’t forget it ! God is good and He is love. These attributes and many others are revealed to us through His Name (s). But it came by a word, HIS WORD. Therefore Scripture says that He has magnified His Word above all His Name. Read Ps 138 : 2. It is a great revelation!

Gods character, nature and whole being is revealed by His Word in His Name. Therefore is it of major importance to be able to hear Father’s Word to you personally. It is one thing to read the Scripture in Exod 34 : 5-7, but it is another thing, an inexplicable thing, to hear the voice of your Father when He says to you as He did to Moses: My child, I am the good God “ The Lord, Jahweh, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation” (Exod 34 : 5-7). And then you in awe will ask Him; “But Father are you now going to punish me for all the sins of my forefathers and also my own, although You forgave me?” Then He answers: “ My child, in order to be a just and righteous God, I had to punish My only begotten Son, Jashuah Messiah, for your sins (Isa 53 : 5; 1 Pet 2 : 23-25), so you are not going to be punished for it any more”. And all this by His grace and mercy, just think about it!

4. That in all things He may have the pre-eminence

If you have your Bible with you now please read Col 1:3-23. But maybe you are on the road somewhere or on a place where you cannot read your Bible now, then I quote you some passages of the Scripture. This shares with us great truths why Christ our Redeemer should be first in everything, even before everything in the Scripture, everything in the Old and New Testament, before the Law and the Prophets, before all mankind, kingdoms and before all things and peoples. He is the one who declares science and every law of nature because in Him everything is created by the Creator, our God (Elohim) and Father. Listen with your spiritual ear what the Word in Col 1:15-20 says: “He is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation (verse 15)”. Before God created the earth and the universe, Joshuah was begotten by Him (Ps 2:7, Acts 13:33, Heb 1:1-6). When God created everything the Son was there already when God said: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to our lightness” (Gen 1:26). Thus it was He and His son, who was at that stage already begotten from Him to whom He is referring here as “Us” and “Our”. He, His Son, was the Word through which He created everything (Heb 1:2). Also He is the Word of His power by which He upholds all things (Heb 1:3). “….having become so much better than the Angels, as He has by inheritance obtain a more excellent Name than they” (Heb 1:4). This is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1-5,14). The reason why God the Father let this Word become flesh and let Him dwell among us was that He could become the firstborn from the dead: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14)”. He was the only begotten Son of the Father in order to become the firstborn from the dead (Col 1:15,18). Eventually everyone that believe His word of Grace could follow in His footsteps and also taste the glory of being born again from God (John 1:13; John 3:1-8). We can also experience the resurrection from the dead in unison with Him, as a new creature in Him. Please note there is a condition namely you must be in Him. Everything, YES EVERYTHING, IS OBTAINABLE ONLY IN HIM. “For by Him all things were created that are in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things and in Him all things consist” (Col 1:16-17).

In the previous paragraph we said many things, great things and wonderful things. And there is much more to say but let us rather go slowly. At this point in time it is important to set Jashuah FIRST in your life. The reason for this? Why should we set the Creator and His son through which He created everything first, above all our interests and everything that is so important in our lives? The answer is very simple: because it is His RIGHT and His requirement! It is not His Human right but His Divine Right as the Creator of everything that is. Everything is His and belongs to Him and He gave His Son all power and all authority in heaven and on earth (Read Matt 28:18 and Matt 11:27). That, of course, excludes Him as God the Father from whom everything originated (1 Cor 15:24-28). And if then all things originated from Him He logically has the right to do whatever He feels fit to do with the things that belongs to Him? And if it was His will to appoint His Son over everything. Or was He not allowed to do it? And He surely did appoint His Son as the one in whom everything is found – everything with eternal value. And who can question Him by asking Him: why have You done this or that with me?

Yes everything is obtainable and also available in Him. Everything that you are seeking from outside Him is not worth it at all. It is perishable and has no eternal value at all. Everything that will prevail into eternity is to be found IN Him – IN HIM ONLY.

The second is to know how you can get into Him. About this we write in the next passage.

5. Of Him you are in Christ

1 Cor 1:30 is a Scripture that I know for many years, but a few days ago while my son and I was working together he shared with me the same word that the Father gave to him that morning. Immediately the word that I’m writing to you now became alive in my spirit: “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus …” Of Him we are in Jashuah. How do we get into Jashuah? It is God the Father who baptises you by His Spirit into Jashuah. And this is the answer to the question that we asked so frequently. The answer is by God and by Him only. He, and He alone can get you into Christ. He must do something. Is it maybe that He already did something and that we must only believe it and appropriate it for us? Your best efforts, and endeavours will benefit nothing. Even if you remove everything out of your life that you consider as stumbling blocks in the way to get into Him will profit nothing. Everything comes through the Father, everything comes from Above (James 1:17). “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph 1:4). The good works that you are trying to do in order to get into Jashuah will help you nothing. The good works comes from God who prepared it beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10). If you did what He expected from you to do, namely, to be willing to do His will (John 7:17), you have done what He expected from you and then you should wait on Him until He baptises you into the body of Jashuah (1 Cor 12:12-27). This Scripture also indicates that there are many members in His body who were all baptised into Him by the same Spirit – the Holy Spirit – and we are all filled with the same Spirit. These “many members” can become a stumbling block because it is not so easy to love them all. Again: you cannot switch on this love. Rom 5:5 says that God poured out His love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. If you believe this, God will fulfil the work of faith with power (2 Thess 1:11). He will thus cause you to love every member of His body. Thus the Father does everything for you from Above if you are willing (John 7:17; James 1:17). You cannot receive anything unless it has been given to you from Heaven (John 3:27).

The question that we asked in previous writings: “But how do we get into Jashuah?” was most probably just as serious a question to you as it was to me, but now we know the process of getting into Him is God’s work. He is the only one that can do it and, if you believe it, He is already busy with the work. The more you believe it and the more you thank Him for it, the more you will experience that you are already part of His body, baptised into Him, and you are daily enjoying the fullness of God in Christ, His love, faith, peace and wisdom.

6. O, Lord, the Hope of Israel

The Bible in Afrikaans, my mother tongue, has a word here for the “Hope of Israel” : Die Verwagting van Israel. A “Verwagting” is an “expectation” and also it has the word “Hoop” which is “Hope” in the English Bible. Thus, to call on Jahweh as the Hope of Israel, you also call on the One from whom is your expectation. Because God (Elohim) is the Almighty Creator of everything seen and unseen, also the One who sustains and maintains the whole universe, we cannot put our hope and expectance on/in anybody or anything but Him. He gave every star its name, He orders them and they obey, He moves them wherever He thinks they should be; He determined the weight of each one and also the molecular composition of them all. What a great and All-wise God? He holds nature in His hands from the tiniest micro-organism to the tallest animal, from the deepest sea to the highest mountain. He is the God of the spirits of all flesh (Num 27 : 16) in whose hand is the life of every living thing (Please read Job 12 : 8-25 for sure). Thus the mind of all mankind is in His hands. He creates light and darkness (Isa 45 : 5-7). He lets all things work together for good to those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose (Rom 8 : 28). Note: we say more about this later.Therefore we can always be thankfull to Him whatever happens with us, praising Him, knowing that it is His will for us (1 Thess 5 : 18). If He says that He works everything for good for you, if you love Him, it is true because He can not lie, it is impossible for Him to lie (Num 23 : 19; Heb 6 : 18).

To accept that the authorities of your country are appointed by Him is not always an easy matter, but reading Rom 13 : 1-7 lets you believe it is true. But He wants to be your Hope and Expectance. He as a Person, and not just a something or somebody else. For this reason He says in Zeph3 : 8 : “Therefor wait for Me”. In the Afrikaans He says : “Therefore expect Me”. In your greatest trouble you expect Him – not a something but rather a Somebody, not anybody but Him and Him alone. Is He your expectance and hope? Ps 108 : 13 says: “For the help of man is useless”. Is He the Somebody that you expect?

Will you give Him the honour as the Almighty, He the God who says: “I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is there anything to hard for Me?” Will you not give Him what is His due, what He has the right to. This Volume 2 is about the “Rights of God” or “The requirements of God”. He wants you to expect Him on the scene here in South Africa in our trouble, and also in every country abroad. It will surely move His heart if you say: “Father, we wait upon You to make your appearance on the scene and we know that we won’t be ashamed and disappointed”. This is what king David did in Ps 62. If you read it you will notice how his enemies oppressed him. But he says to himself in vers 5: “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him”.

It will most probably take some time for you, every day thanking your Deliverer that He promised to appear on the scene, and that you are waiting for Him as Person, before the Holy Spirit will make this Word alive in your spirit. Then a strong conviction that He will make His Word true, will fill your heart.

7. As the waters cover the sea

Hab 2 : 14 says: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea”. About 71 % of the surface of the earth is covered with water. Just think for a moment: As the waters cover the sea, the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will fill the earth. Does this mean that 71% of the peoples on earth will know the Lord? That would have been wonderfull news! But Jashuah said that only few people shall be saved. We cant determine percentages from that Scripture.
First we need to look at what it means to have knowledge of the glory of God. To know Him personally is something which will cost a price. First read Fil 3 : 7-11 if it is possible and convenient for you now. To have mental knowledge about Him is not difficult. You only study the Bible and some books about Him. But that does not mean that you know Him personally at all. I read about great people of the past and obtained a lot of knowledge about them, without knowing them personally at all. You can acquire a knowledge of God and His Son by studying the Bible without becoming acquainted with Him, not even to say anything about knowing Him personally! In the same way you can acquire a knowledge of the glory of God which fills the whole earth by watching it happen, and by hearing about it on the news, without experiencing it in your heart and also practically. That is what Isa 66 : 18 refers to : “I will gather all nations and tonques; and they shall come and see My glory.” They will see it but not necessarily become partakers in it. Peter says “…a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed” (1 Pet 5 : 1). Thus there is a difference between a onlooker or beholder of His glory and a partaker. As God told Moses that he will only behold the Promised Land but never have the privilege to enter there.
It is now a glorious comfort to know that this world, who don’t know the Son of God personally, will soon witness a revelation and appearance of the Son of God in all His glory, and will have to take note of it. Yes they will have to admit that He is the Son of God, though they never wanted to obey Him or to serve and love Him. Maybe they would have liked to know Him but the price and sacrifice was too big, as I already said in the second paragraph. The world will also have to admit that He is God, yes every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord (Rom 14 : 11). Everybody on earth will hear about Him, and know about Him until He eventually appear on the clouds of heaven (Matt 24 : 29-35).
If you are sitting at a place where you are lonesome while there are many people around you, but people who don’t desire to serve God as you do, and if you desire that they will also love God and serve Him as you do, but they instead hate you and mock you, there is one thing that you must never forget: The time is near that they will behold the Jashuah that you always loved and obeyed. And then they will have to admit that there is no other God and no other Mediator than Jashuah Messiah. This is not going to happen around a corner, no, the entire mankind will know it and will have to take note of the Son of God, when He appears in His Glory. That is His Godly right! Are you also looking foreward to that day?

8. God’s right as Creator to be praised by all creation

In the times of the Old Testament, the time of the Law, God gave definite instructions to His people to praise and thank and to glorify His great Name. I opened the Bible now and it was at a place where David appointed specific families and clans to praise Jahweh in song and with music instruments. It is the right of God to be praised. If I must give you Scriptures to support it, I actually need to give you the whole Book of the Psalms. Just open any place in the Psalms and your chances are 90% to open at a Word of praise. Therefore I am not going to give you many Scriptures here because it only makes the reading difficult and, after all, you can also ask your Father to give you Words in the Scriptures that supports and confirms these statements. Whe are co-workers in Jahweh’s kingdom (1 Cor 3 : 9), are we not?

Joshua says to Israel : “ You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God” (Josh 24 : 19). In Neh 9 : 5 the Levites instructed the people of Israel to stand up and bless the Lord their God forever and ever: “Blessed be Your glorious Name which is exalted above all blessing and praise!” The Afrikaans Bible also says clearly in the above mentioned Scripture that His Name is exalted above all blessings and praise. But, how can we then serve God and how are we going to be able to praise and glorify His Name?

We need His Holy Spirit! This is the answer. We need to be filled with the Spirit we are reading about in John 16 : 13-15. Please read it and note the words that say: “He (the Spirit) will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you”. 1 Cor 12 : 3 : “ And no one can [really] say, Jesus is [my] Lord, except by and under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. (Amplified Bible Translation). It is the same Spirit that says through us, “Come” Lord Jashuah (Rev 22 : 17). It is the Same Spirit that will give you the answers when your accusers bring you before the magistrates and authorities to be judged for speaking in the Name of Jashuah (Luke 12 :12). It is the same Spirit that works everything in the Church to the glory of God.

Can us now accept that everything that is happening in Christianity today have been worked by the Holy Spirit? No, definitely not! We must never forget that the apostle Paul, speaking in the Spirit, warned the Christians that “another Jesus”, a “different spirit” and a “different gospel” (2 Cor 11: 2-4) is threatening the true Jashuah, the true Spirit, and the true gospel. You can go and ask your Father to confirm what I am telling you now: The Spirit of the Antichrist is working in the midst of Christianity and you will need to be filled with the true Spirit of God to discern the difference. As 1 John 4 : 1 says: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God…”.

We know now that we need the Holy Spirit to speak through us in order to glorify God. Does it mean that you cannot glorify God at all when you are not filled with His Spirit? You can praise Him with your understanding but you cannot really praise and worship Him without the Spirit. John 4 : 23 says: “ But the hour is coming that the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him”. Can you see that the Spirit is bringing you into a place where you are a real worshipper, worshipping God in truth and in the Spirit. This way of worship surpasses the way of worshipping Him with the understanding – the mental way. But, worshipping and praising Him with the understanding is your proof that you want to worship Him. But this we should rather do in our inner room and not in a public meeting. Church gatherings who praised God with their understanding often landed up in a carnal, emosional noise without the presence of the real Spirit. But if you begin to praise and worship Him with your understanding in your private place of prayer, His Spirit will surely come to your aid and worship Him through you, in your mother tongue, but inspired by the Holy Spirit with words that you did not plan.

Sometimes you worship Him without words in the same way as you bring your petitions and intercessions before Him, when you do not know what you should pray. Read Rom 8 : 26-28. My personal experience was many times that I just sit in my Fathers presence, not knowing what to pray or how to worship Him and His Son, but feeling how a flow of the Spirit goes up to Him. At other times I am working, like I need to do today in order to keep my blood flowing. After every hour of writing (Typing) I take a 15 minute break and run to the veggies to weed the garden. And while I am working I just begin to sing praises to Him. At the beginning it is me who sing but later I sense how the Spirit sings through me.
I feel that you have enough now to pray about and to help you to praise Him. Pray earnestly that He will enable you, knowing that it is God’s right to be worshipped and praised by you, and by everybody. He will surely answer your prayer.

9. Giving thanks always for all things to God

This passage starts with Ephes 5 : 18: “ And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the Name of Jashuah Messiah…”. What a great and blessed Word is this today!

*We will have to get a Word from our Father how to be filled with the Spirit. Note: This I am writing about in VOLUME 1 under the topic “Be filled with the Spirit”.

*Also about how we can speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; and how to make melody in your heart to the Lord.

Paul says explicitly that the people in the last days will be more ungrateful than before: “But know this, that there will be terrible times in the last days. ²For men will be lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³Without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of good … “. (2 Tim 3: 1-5). But this ingratitude should not be referring, and may not be part of the children of God. They are, in contrast, children of God abounding in gratitude and thanksgiving. If you have the time, and also have access to the Bible, quickly read the following Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 9: 11; Col. 4: 2; Open 4: 9; 2 Cor 4: 15; Philippians 4: 6; Col 2: 7; Ephesians 5: 4; Open 7: 11-12. If you could not do it, I just want to briefly tell you that God, the Creator, has the right to be thanked and honoured for ever by all creation. For all good things come down from above according to James 1: 17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” Thus thanksgiving should be given to Him, and Him alone!

Because the people worshiped the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever, God gave them up to all sorts of bad and wicked things (Romans 1: 21-32). ^“24Wherefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves – ²⁵Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature above the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. ²⁶Therefore God gave them up to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature …

How do you feel when you show someone a favour and he is ungrateful? Will you easily show him kindness again? And when the favour means that you saved his life? Yet the Father proved us more favour: He let His only Son die, and cast Him into hell to save us from eternal damnation! Is this not enough reason to be grateful forever? And besides all that, it is He who gives us rain and food and water to drink. It is He who keeps us from all evil, giving us the health and power to work. But you tell me: Do you know what evil came against my house? And you can mention a lot of things. But since your childhood, was there gratitude in your heart for all the good favour that He bestowed on you, or do you accept it for granted ? Have you complained when things were not going so well but failed to thank Him for all His blessings? If so, then you are also a unthankful creature!

If we just sit for a moment and think of the good loving God and Father, who created this universe and has made a world with the greatest of love that He wanted to place His children on. He made the climate and everything such that it is ideal for the human body to thrive there. The plants and animals on it, yes everything He made in love for man – the crown of His creation! The food He made so we can enjoy it with thanksgiving! (1 Tim 4: 3). And every morning you see the sun come up and not being killed during the night, like many others, are you thankful? Or do you think that you are too good for that, you deserve to live?

Why do you not pray Him now, while you at the same time confess your unthankfulness, and ask Him to fill you with His Spirit of thankfulness, appreciation and gratitude? And once He did that for you, you will be able to live the Scripture in 1 Thess 5 : 18 : “Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.^{” .}Giving thanks for all things? Yes, all things!

10. Let me be Your son indeed, Father

The words of Jashuah in Matt 5: 43-48: “So that you may be children of God” (verse 45) tells us that there are certain conditions to become a child of God. Read the following please .:”You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and your enemy you must hate. ⁴⁴But I say unto you, Love your enemies; bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you; ⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. ⁴⁶For if ye love them who love you, what reward have ye? Do not the tax collectors also do the same? ⁴⁷And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect”. (Matthew 5: 43-48)

Read further what the Bible says:^“14“Do all things without grumbling or questioning, ¹⁵that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ¹⁶holding fast the Word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain.” (Philip 2:14-16).

To be a child of God is your right, but beyond that, it is God’s right to have you as His child. This is indeed the reason for the whole creation of the universe, the sun and the moon, the earth and everything on it! God has a Father’s heart and He wanted children. Already in the Old Testament says Moses to the people, “You are the children of Yahweh.” And children was His desire and His expectation. But disappointed in His people He said:^“19 But I said, How shall I put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage among the armies of the nations! And I thought: You will call Me My Father! and you will of Me not turn away ²⁰But as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.”(Jeremiah 3: 19-20). Isaiah 1: 2^:“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord says: I raised children, and they have rebelled against Me.” God’s desire, as the Father, is that we should honor Him as Father^“6”as a son honors his father, and a servant his master. “If I am a Father, where is my honor? And if I am a Master, where is my fear? “(Malachi 1: 6).

God (Elohim), poured out the Spirit of His Son – the same Spirit – out in our hearts to cry out; “Abba Father!” Galatians 4: 4-7: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵To redeem them that were under the law , that we might receive adoption as sons. ⁶And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father! ⁷Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. “ “ For all who are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (14). ¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father! ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God ¹⁷and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we together may be glorified with him. (Rom 8 : 14-17). Is not it a wonderful privilege to be able to be a child of God? Hear what John 3: 1-2 says: “The children of God”(Heading): Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

But to become His son you should receive Jashuah: John 1: 12, 13: ^“12But as many as received Him, He gave them the righ to become children of God, to those who believe on His Name; ¹³who were born,not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”. But no one can receive anything if it is not given to him from above. John 3: 27:^“John answered and said, A man can receive nothing unless it is given him from heaven.” To receive Jashuah means to accept and believe everything He is and He says. You remember that disbelief is the mother-sin of all sins. Likewise, faith, by contrast, is the channel through which all Jashuah is, is flowing to you. If you do not believe Him you make Him a liar! ^“And we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:19). To receive Him means to believe Him and wholeheartedly ‘adopt’ and accept everything He is, and everything He says. It is a heartfelt repentance – a turning away from the world – and a 180 degree turn to God, where He sits with Jashuah, our Savior, at His right hand. This is not an easy-life event. The moment you turn to the Father and you see Jashuah, there is no time anymore! You want to walk all the way with this wonderful Saviour. And it is an action that comes from above. It is the Father who draws you to Jashuah because He knows that you are willing to do His will. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me, draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day “(John 6: 44).

This is probably the best words you can hear from your Father’s mouth as He says to you: “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1: 11). And then the Father of course is referring to Jashuah His Son, who lives in you.

11 More truths about Childshood

Around three o’clock this morning, Father woke me up and His Word began to flow into my mind. I got up at 4 o’clock and started writing this word that I now have here for you to read. It is about being “Son of God”. God’s great desire was, and still is, to make you, a sinner, His Child, His Son (Jeremiah 3: 19-20). And it is still His desire (1 John 3: 1-9).

He knows that we will never, by ourselves, be able to do it and therefore He placed humanity under His law for hundreds of years. By doing so He wants to show them that they will never be able to please Him by their own strength, through good works or merit (Isaiah 64: 6; Romans 7: 1-26; Romans 3: 4-31). The Law, therefore, is our tutor to bring us to Christ (Gal 3: 21-24) to show us that, as for our salvation, we can do nothing for ourselves. We can only be willing to do God’s will (John 5:40; Rev. 22:17). That’s why He also made us to die with Him, being crucified with Him, in all our own efforts to fulfil the law: A dead person cannot do any good because he is dead to the law (Romans 7: 4-6). If you still want to please God through your own good-doings, or grow spiritually, then you are not yet a “wretched person.” (Romans 7:24). Then Christ died in vain, because you believe that you can do something for yourself, why should He do it? Read Gal 2: 16-21.

He sends His Son to fulfil the law on our behalf (Matthew 5:17). But in order to do this, Christ Himself had to be born under the law to redeem us (Gal 4: 1-19), to let us become God’s children. But first, He tells them that the Law, as God purposed it, is actually much stricter than the law of Moses (Matthew 5: 17-47). Notice how He says in verse 27-28, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ”The same stricter law by Jashuah is found in verses 20, 21-22, 31-32, 33-34, 38-42, 43-47. As James says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2: 7-13). It is therefore impossible for a person to be saved by good works or by his own means and merits. He can only be willing to do God’s will (John 7:17).

To search the Scriptures leads you only to Christ, the only hope, Saviour and expectation (Jer 14: 8) of Israel. Read John 5: 39-42. Then you can understand and hear when Jashuah says, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15: 5). This means that you cannot save or change yourself. You can only remind Him of His promises daily (Isa 62: 6-7; Luke 18: 1-8). And if you do it and wait for Him with perseverance (Hab 2: 1-4), His Word will one day break through in your mind. It is the day when after the grain fell into the ground and died, had decomposed (John 12: 20-25), that it will yield much fruit. Then you will feel that it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil 2: 13). What word is this that then breaks through in your mind? This is the Word of Life (1 John 1: 1-4). This is the Word that regenerates you (1 Peter 1: 23; John 3: 3-7). But you have to wait with persistence (Luke 8:15; Ephesians 6: 17-19), without having to do anything about it for yourself in the meantime (except to pray and ask with persistence)! Or would you like to help the Almighty God because He is moving too slowly? Do you not think that David was in a hurry for many days? Yes, read Ps 22:19; Ps 31: 2; Ps 38:22. But God lets him wait (Ps 27:14; Ps 31:25(Amp-Classic); Ps 33:18 (Amp-Classic)). He had to wait patiently (Ps 40: 1-3) like Abraham (Heb 6: 13-15), Noah and many other saints, including you and I (James 5: 7-8). We have become accustomed to an “instant age” and do not want to wait for anything anymore! To wait for Yahweh is the secret (Romans 8:25). It is faith: to wait for the unseen (Heb 11: 9-14), seeing nothing yet happening. Read the whole of Hebrews 11. Also Heb 10: 36-39, which says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” Also read James 1: 2-4, James 5: 11, Rev 2: 3, Rev 3: 10.

This Word is the method of God through which He saves and cleanses you, cleanses and sanctifies you and makes you righteous. Yes, all things originated through this Word of Life (John 1: 1-14), the Word of Grace (Acts 20: 32; 14: 3); the Word of Salvation (Acts 13: 26). He says, “You are already clean because of the Word that I have spoken to you.” (John 15: 3). By the same Word you are sanctified and saved, and Christ is your righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). By the same Word your sins have been forgiven (1 John 2:12). Do you know Him (1 John 2: 13-14), are you filled with the Spirit (Rom 5: 5). Through the same Word He prepared the good works so that you can walk in them (Ephesians 2: 8-10). He created you in His Son for good works, which He prepared for you to walk in – at His time! Even Jashuah declared – when He came as your and my substitute to this earth – that His Father did the works. Read John 5:36; 9: 4; 14: 10.

He is the Word. Jashuah Messiah is the Word, this is His Name (Rev. 19: 13)! Whoever despises the Word will be destroyed (Proverbs 13:13). God the Father carries all things through Him (Heb 1: 3) and everything has come through Him – the Word (John 1: 1-14). There will also be nothing in your life without Him! You can not and will never be able to do anything for yourself. Remember: “neither can you (bear fruit), unless you abide in Me” (John 15: 4).

And the commandment is not too far or mysterious (Deut 30: 10-16): Now read Deut 30: 1-20. This is His Word to us this day. Read this with Rom 10: 1-21. If this becomes a living Word in your heart, the most wonderful promises will start living in your heart through the same Word. For example: “You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance”(Ps 2: 7-8). I know that Scripture says this about Jashuah, but He says it to you and me too! Now read Ps 82: 6 together with John 10: 34-36. It has always been God’s desire to equate us with sons (Jer 3: 19-20; Mal 1: 6). He sent His Son to free us from the law and sin, by becoming sin for us so that we may become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).

Being His child lets you become a brother of Christ, one of many brothers (Romans 8: 29), of whom He is the firstborn. Then you can say, I am a child of God, in Christ I am the Son of God. Remember, not in yourself, neither by your own doing, you received it (1 Cor 4: 6-7). VERY IMPORTANT!!! And it makes the world hate you (1 John 3: 1). This whole Word is contrary to the law and all efforts by the flesh to please God (Rom 8: 5-11). It cost Jashuah’s life. It was the law that sent Him to the cross to die (John 19: 7) because the law did not allow anyone to call himself the Son of God, not because there was something wrong with the law, but because no man could keep it (Rom 7: 7-12; 1 Cor 15: 53-58; Joh 7 : 19). But He called Himself the Son of God because His Father called Him so. We do not even call ourselves the Son of God, our Father called us so – through the Living Word! Now, according to Rom 10: 8-17, we can continue to hear, believe and speak the Word, and then experience how He (the Word) lives in our lives !!

If you are going to pray about this wonderful subject and say to the Father, “I would like to be a child for You in whom you can delight, a child who makes Your heart happy”, then He will talk to you about it. At some point, He will make you realise that Jashuah has already done everything 2000 years ago to make it possible for you to be His child.

I have personally preached this same subject for many years, written daily devotionals, made DVDs and CDs. Yet, I never got the impression that the Word had found good ground in the hearts of most people. But now I believe that the hour has come to which our Heavenly Father has looked forward to, the day that we will become His sons and daughters. Even the whole creation awaits with earnest expectation for the revealing of the sons of God. Read Romans 8: 18-21.

It is very important that you read each of the above passages in the Scripture! It will not benefit you if you fail to do it. And if you do, you will soon ask the question: “But is childship and sonship (daughtership) the same thing?” The answer is “Yes” but also “No”. You should pray first about your childship of the Father at this stage. Later I will share with you a deeper truth about “sonship”.

11. More truths about Childhood

12. The Key of the House of David

There is much talk about David’s house in the Old and New Testament. There is a lot that can be written about this. David lived in Old Testament times but had a great revelation of the New Testament or, indeed, the New Covenant. It is the good and happy message of peace with God, the message of His grace. David knew God’s grace as well as the impossibility for man to please God through his good works. This is why Scripture refers to the “key of the house of David” which will be laid on the shoulder of Jashuah (Isaiah 22:22): “The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.”

David knew brokenness before God when he pleaded for mercy. He knew that through his own merits he could only go to hell because that’s all he deserved. If you read Psalm 51 you will notice it. Also the passages in Ps 34:19; 51: 19 and 147: 3 are proof of his total distrust in himself and his deep dependence upon Yahweh and his trust in Him. It was the key to his success and victory over the enemy. It was also the key that opened his friendship with God, his Father. It is the same key that allows you and me to find grace in God’s eyes (Acts 7:44 – 46). So, to become weak before God is the key to His power in your life (2 Cor 12: 9-10). If you are weak then you are strong. This is the key. So if you are totally in despair in yourself but rely on Jahweh with your whole heart. And if your eyes and your heart are directed entirely towards Him and your expectation is only from Him (2 Chron. 16: 9), then you have the key of David’s house. If you fully depend on His mercy, kindness and faith, and not on your own abilities, then you have found the key of David’s house. If you have discovered Christ as your righteousness (1 Cor 1:30) and do not rely on your own righteousness (Rom 10: 3-4), which is achieved by your works and efforts, then once again you have found the key of David’s house.

If you have found the key of David’s house, then there are many promises from God to his house that are now unlocked for you. For example: Acts 15: 14-18 “Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: ‘After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the Lord who does all these things.’ Known to God from eternity are all His works.” Isaiah 9: 6-7 “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgement and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this”.

And so many more promises were made to David and his house. You must ask your Father in Heaven to lead you through His living Word to all the places in the Bible where He gives promises to David’s house. But first, he must confirm to you that you are part of that house and that those promises were given to you too. You will soon discover that if you are in Christ you are part of David’s house and also a part of Abraham’s descendants to whom all the promises are given (Gal 3:29; 2 Cor 1: 20).

May He open your eyes to this glorious truth and refresh your spirit through it!

13. Christ all and in all

When you come to a subject like this, it’s not difficult, if you write in the flesh, to take things out of context. But I deeply depend on the Spirit of Jahweh to write it through me. I also believe that there are people who pray for me, as the saints prayed for Paul. We read of his request to them in Ephesians 6: 18-19.

Jahweh says in Isaiah 44:24, “I am Yahweh, Who made all things, Who alone stretched out the heavens, Who spread out the earth by Myself [who was with Me]?” (Amplified Classic). And He also says in Isaiah 45: 5-7: “I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.” What should we understand by these words of His? Should we understand that He literally does and causes everything on earth and in this world, the light as well as the darkness? Does He use Satan and all his evil powers and spirits to do His “dirty work”? We need to get clarity on this!

When my lovely wife Ansie and I travelled through the town of Senekal in the Free State, we noticed a cross at the entrance of the town with the following words from the Scripture: “Here is Christ, all and in all.” Sure following Col 3: 11:”Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all“.

The Holistic Thinking Foundation believes that God is part of everything that exists and that everything that exists is also part of God. So God is in the trees, the animals, the firmament, yes in everything. Is this incomprehensible to you? Do not feel that you are stupid! This view is even incomprehensible to those who believe it. Paul says: ^“desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.” (1 Tim. 1: 7).

I do not know what the people in Senekal meant, but it could have different meanings, some of which would be wonderful if it was a reality in that town. Let’s hope that it is the case! If Christ is all to them and in all, then it should be a place of divine love, peace, justice, happiness, forgiveness and mercy for all. The inhabitants of that place will have to testify themselves if that is true. Perhaps they say it in the belief that God will make Senekal such a place of love, peace and glory in the future. If this is the case, I would like to believe with them and expect it, because I wish it for all people on earth, especially for our little remnant here in South Africa.

When I look at this passage in “The Bible with Explanatory Notes”, it says (abbreviated by me): “In the new life of the rebirth, all racial set-ups are lost as well as religious, cultural and social contradictions. In Christ everything has become new”. This does not mean that the existing differences in natural order and human morality have now been lifted. According to 1 Corinthians 7: 20-22, everyone lives in the calling in which he was called. All these people who are so different from each other find in Christ a unity like the different fingers of the same hand. It is the unity in Christ and the new life He gives to all, and in which He is everything.” This is the view of a number of scholars, but on the question of whether their opinion is the same as God’s, everyone will have to hear from God himself. However, the truth about “In Christ” gives a lot of light on this subject.

We have already written about the glorious truth to be “in Christ.” It is nicely summarized in 1 Cor 12: 12-27: “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit”.

1 Cor 1: 30: “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God-and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-“.

Out of the Scriptures, a very important truth comes to the fore: Being “in Christ” you should be “baptized” by the Holy Spirit into His body. Through Him and Him only, can you be “in Christ.” And the unity referred to in Col. 3: 11, is a God-given unity that is found only between those who are in Christ. It is they who became one by the same Holy Spirit, one in Him. Outside Christ there is no unity in this world! So many organizations have been created all over the world to create unity between people, peoples and nations. But it does not take long, then there’s war again. Go read up on history and make your own conclusion. There will not be unity in Christ in any area, not between you and your spouse, neither between you and your children, nor between you and your fellow church members, if one party is in Christ and the other one not. The believer will love the unbeliever, but unity will not be in their midst until both are in Christ.

“Christ is all and in all” for He is the Word from which everything came about. First read John 1: 1- 14 carefully and note that all things originated by Christ as “the Word”. The whole creation was created by God through His Word. And Christ is the Word (Rev. 19: 13). Hebrews 11: 3: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible”. Hebrews 1: 2 “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.”

“Christ is all and in all”. He is your peace (Ephesians 2:14). He is your salvation (2 Tim 2: 10; Col. 1: 14). He is your life (Col. 3: 4; Phil 1: 21), your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and salvation (1 Cor. 1:30). Yes, He is your everything! Without Him you can do nothing (John 15: 5). It also means that anything you do outside of Him is worth nothing, it will be to no avail. Only what has been done in Him, as the Word, will remain forever and ever. 1 Pet. 1: 23-25 “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you”.

I will understand if you think this chapter is difficult to understand. But ask your Father out of a sincere heart to make it alive in your spirit.

14. The Sabbath as a sign between God and us

In Volume 3, I also write about the Sabbath and I refer in particular to the benefits of the Sabbath to humankind. Jashuah says that the Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). However, in this second Volume, emphasis is placed on what the Sabbath means to God and the importance of keeping the Sabbath. God’s word tells us in Ezekiel 20 that the Sabbath is a sign between Him and man. There are various aspects in which the Sabbath is a sign.

A first sign is that man also rests from his works that, by the flesh, he seeks to do in order to please God. Hebrews 4 compares this rest with the rest of God after completing the whole creation. As He rests from His works, we, as believers in Him, also rest from our works. He has finished working and He is resting now. So we have also finished working so we also rest from our works. However, there are other works from which we will never rest, just as the Father is continuing with other works. Read John 5:17. Now the question is, what works does He want us to rest from and what works should we still do? First, the works we should not do any more. These are the works through which we try to please God. These are the works of the law, man’s own efforts to maintain God’s commandments. He gave us enough time to prove whether we can maintain His laws and thereby meet His demands by our own efforts. The law served no purpose other than being our tutor to Christ. Our inability to maintain His law taught us only one great lesson and that is: Go to Christ to fulfil the law on your behalf. He already has fulfilled it on our behalf and therefore it is no longer necessary for us to fulfil it, otherwise He died unnecessarily as Gal. 2:21 rightly says. When this truth breaks through into your mind and heart, unprecedented peace will fill your mind and soul. The opposite is also true, for as long as you think that you can change yourself and make yourself a better person, you will only experience more and more that it’s an impossible task. You will become so tired in your spirit and soul that even your body will become drained. Oh, how many years I tried to get it right! And how exhausted it made me! People talk about ‘new year’s resolutions’ but I had resolutions every day I could not execute. How many days did I decide by myself to not be too quick to speak and to speak less, but with no success? How many times did I plan not to judge and condemn people, but to rather forgive and love them? And yet I could not get it. I was disappointed in myself daily and had to say, like Paul in Romans 7, that when I want to do good, evil is present with me (Verse 21). In this passage, Paul also says that all his failures to please God left Christ as the only One who can please God. Christ is the only one who will deliver Paul, and also you and me from the body of sin and death (Verse 24). For him, the law was therefore his tutor to Christ (Gal 3: 24-25), and so it is for us as well.

I still remember the evening, in a prayer meeting, when the great truth, that Christ is my righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30), broke through into my mind and I realised that my Father in heaven no longer expected me to do any good works in order to please Him. A peace and a rest broke through into my heart that is still indescribable to this very day. I could feel the joy of Jashuah and my Father clearly in my spirit. He certainly said at that moment: Finally, my child, you got the truth about the work of salvation being done by Jashuah for you! At last you stopped trying and you can now enter into My rest. Oh, if we could only know how happy it makes the Father’s heart, and also Jashuah, who through His death brought about our reconciliation with the Father, and also became righteousness for us.

Next, we must look at the works we still have to do, works that were prepared by God for us to walk in. Here you have to read Ephesians 2: 10. To increase and grow each day in these good works and to do them more abundantly has already been prepared by your Father in Christ: these are the works of faith that James writes about (James 2: 14-26): Faith Without Works is Dead

¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! ²⁰ But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²² Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? ²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. ²⁴ You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.²⁵ Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?²⁶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.

In John 6: 28-29, Jashuah says that the works of God are to believe in the one He has sent. Thus it means to believe Jashuah in every word He spoke while He was on earth and also after He ascended to heaven, words that He spoke to us through the apostles in the New Testament. So if you ask what works we should then do, the answer is: “If you know these things (these are the things that are written in the Scriptures), bless you if you do it” (John 13:17). James also says that we must become doers of the Word and not only hearers who deceive themselves (James 1: 22). So doing the Word is the work we still have to do and will also do forever and ever.

Jashuah says that we will do the work He has done and that we will do even greater works than He because He goes to the Father. He knew that when He died at the cross and was raised from the dead, and ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, He would receive the Holy Spirit to pour out on His disciples. They were already waiting in the upper room for the promise of the Holy Spirit, which He then poured out on them on the day of Pentecost. He knew that after being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 1-36), they would receive power (Acts 1: 8) to do even greater works than He (John 14: 12-14). Therefore He said it is beneficial to them if He ascends to His Father (John 16: 7-15). Not only beneficial to the disciples themselves but also to all who could receive eternal glory through this Word they would proclaim. What a wonderful gospel, what an indescribable salvation? And all of it by grace. No merit was involved except what Jashuah earned on our behalf!

15. Our thoughts taken captive to obedience to Christ

There are several places in the Bible where we read of God’s requirement that man will obey Him. Saul died after being deprived of his kingdom because he was disobedient to God (1 Sam 15). Samuel said to Saul that obedience is better than sacrifice (Verse 22). In the New Testament, Scripture says in Acts that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32). When Moses, the man of God, did not obey God in the finest detail, he could not enter the Promised land, even though God promised him it before.

In my own life, there have been many situations where I saved myself from humiliation by disobeying Jahweh. Likewise, I have ended up in many humiliating situations because I chose to obey Him rather than the people. In Acts 4: 19 and 5: 29, the disciples and apostles say to the Jewish counsel that they themselves must decide whether it ispreferable to obey God over the people (4:19). Through the centuries many Saints, that were martyred because they chose to obey God, could have saved their lives. Instead they chose to die for the sake of the Name of Jashuah, and thereby obtain a better resurrection (Heb 11:35), rather than having the enjoyment of the world for a while (Heb 11: 24- 25).

Disobedience begins with a thought. Therefore, the apostle Paul says that we must capture every thought into the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10: 5). It is part of the Armour of God referred to by Ephesians 6: 10-20. It does not help you to have the full armour of God but there is one part that you refuse to put on, namely the “helmet of salvation” (Verse 17). These are the thoughts of the flesh, the carnal thoughts, that eventually result in death (Rom 8: 5-8). The thoughts of the Spirit are the things from which life comes (Rom 8: 6). If Scripture says that we have “the thoughts of Christ,” He means that we have the mind of Christ. This means that Christ thinks in us and through us and not the flesh. Therefore, Paul says in Colossians 3: 1-3, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”. He gives this word in the finest detail: consider the things above where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God (Verse 1). He also says in Philippians that we must think about everything which is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, everything with virtue and which is praiseworthy – meditate on these things, and also everything you learned from Paul’s life, and the God of peace will be with you. Read Philip 4: 6-9.

These thoughts of ours, which must be directed to Christ and to the Father, are something that God requires of us and He has the right to require it because He is God the Creator and we are His workmanship. Today, we see many advertisements where “T’s & C’s apply” and we assume that there are conditions from the seller for each buyer to meet. If the Scriptures say that two cannot walk together unless they are first agreed (Amos 3: 3), it means that we will first discuss the terms and conditions upon which we walk with God and hear what He expects of us, and then accept it before we can walk together. There is only one method by which we can fulfil His conditions and it is to accept and believe that we are crucified with Christ and that we no longer live. And because we died, or rather died with Him, we can no longer think with our own thoughts. To come to this point, take years and years of pursuing it, but if every day you put on the armour that Eph 6 and 2 Corinthians 10 refers to, you will experience that your thoughts become more and more full of Jashuah, and less from your own mind. These are the two kinds of wisdom referred to by 1 Corinthians 1: 17-31. The natural person does not understand these things (1 Cor 2:14), but if you can receive grace from your Father to understand and pray for it, you will experience how Jashuah’s thoughts streams through your life, thinking through you, also hearing, acting and walking through you. Then you can say that “Christ is my life” (Col 3: 4).

Abraham the father of the believers (Rom 4: 11-12) obeyed God, and this obedience arose from his faith in the Word of God, or did his faith stem from his obedience when God told him “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Gen 12:1-4)? In fact, faith and obedience are synonymous. Read the passage in John 3 verse 36 (Amplified Classic translation) and come to your own conclusion as to whether belief and obedience are exactly the same things. Would you obey someone’s instructions if you think he’s a liar? And remember that in a previous chapter I said that unbelief makes God a liar.

Now read 2 Corinthians 10 verse 6 and notice the words “when your obedience is fulfilled…”. It is one of the great things God looks forward to: the day when our faith and obedience is fulfilled. Because He is our Creator and because everything is from Him and through Him and to Him, He has the right that we fully obey Him and believe Him. If we want to make Him happy and wish to please Him, it will be our passion throughout our lives to obey Him and to love Him.

This “Helmet of Salvation” that I wrote about here is, of course, part of “The armour of God” that I wrote about in Volume 3 Chapter 18.

There is a song that I would like to share with you. It was written in the 1800’s by one of the old saints, Kate B. Wilkenson. Let the words be alive in your heart:

“May the mind of Christ, my Saviour, live in me from day to day,

By His love and power controlling, all I do and say …….”

May the Word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour,

so that all may see I triumph only through His power …. “

Amen