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August 27, 2023 - Treasures In Christ - Psalm 72 JEHOVAH-DIN AM TSEDEQ Our Lord God Who Governs His People In Righteousness Psalm 72:2 Let him judge and govern Your people with righteousness, and Your poor and afflicted ones with judgment and justice. https://biblehub.com/lexicon/psalms/72-2.htm Scriptures: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+72%2C+2+timothy+1-4&version=AMPC Going Deeper: https://www.openbible.info/topics/govern
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August 27, 2023 - Treasures In Christ - Psalm 72 JEHOVAH-DIN AM TSEDEQ Our Lord God Who Governs His People In Righteousness Psalm 72:2 Let him judge and govern Your people with righteousness, and Your poor and afflicted ones with judgment and justice. https://biblehub.com/lexicon/psalms/72-2.htm Scriptures: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+72%2C+2+timothy+1-4&version=AMPC Going Deeper: https://www.openbible.info/topics/govern
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The main ideas from this information are that God governs His people in righteousness, and His governing is perfect. He knows everything necessary and covers all aspects. It is His righteousness that governs us, and it is transferred via the Holy Spirit. The Psalmist asks God to give the king knowledge of His way of judging and to control all his actions. The righteousness and judgment of God bring peace, defend the poor, deliver the needy, and crush the oppressor. The purpose is for people to revere and fear God throughout all generations. August 27th, 2023. Treasures in Christ. Psalm 72. Jehovah Din Am Tizdak. Our Lord God who governs His people in righteousness. Psalm 72, 2. Let Him judge and govern your people with righteousness, and your poor and afflicted ones with judgment and justice. O Heavenly Father, we're grateful this morning that You woke us up another day. You kept us through the night, Father God, and You had purpose for this very day, or we wouldn't be in it. So we thank You for Your mighty hand of sovereignty that rules over every breath that we take. Oh, we know that not only do You hold our very breath in life, but You hold our eternal soul as well, as You are the shepherd of our soul. So we come into this place this morning, Father God, we desire You to speak to Your children, Father God. Speak to us today. Show us the way to go, because then we'll know You more as we're being transformed by Your Holy Spirit of power into the likeness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank You for the fact that You govern over Your people, Father God, with the righteousness that's found in Christ. It is the ruling power. It is the governing power. It is the very authority and sovereignty that is the kingdom that we want. So we thank You for this truth today, Father God. I ask that You'll transform me by it. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. Well, I was encouraged when I heard this characteristic of God. I didn't go much further, because when we think about governing, we think about things that govern us, and more times than not, we're never satisfied. We're talking in the human realm, in the fleshly realm. We can always find some way in some fashion that those that are in leadership and governing authority over us in the flesh go a little off course and go their own way. Well, the difference between that governing and the governing that God does over His children is that God's governing is perfect, and He has all aspects covered. He has all angles covered. He knows the beginning to the end. He knows everything necessary, everything required, everything that we could possibly need, we find in the secret place at the most time. And I love the fact that it's the righteousness that He governs us by. If it were by our perfection, then we would be in a bad way. We would truly be dead, and God would truly have forgotten what we deserved. So He can't be talking about our righteousness. It's His righteousness that He governs us. It's His righteousness that gives Him the ability to be the perfect judge in our life, to know exactly what our heart's motivation is. But it's that righteousness that we have in Christ Jesus is what actually governs us. That's why He is our Lord and Savior. So He leads us in the way because He lived righteously 100%. I just thought it was a beautiful characteristic of God, mostly because we just think so negatively of governing bodies, but here God is really the one who governs us. And if we're in obedience to God, then we're going to be pleasing to man. There'll be no law against us if we're operating in love, as God has called us to do. And it's His righteousness that He governs us. See, Jesus was the qualifying factor. So we're going to take a look here at Psalm 72, and just take a look and see what God's Word has to say today. We're going to look at the Spirit and truth on this. So we want to go deeper than what the words say, but we want it to be the Holy Spirit who moves us in the direction we live. Psalm 72, 1, it says, Give the king knowledge of your way of judging, O God. See, David's king at the time. And here he is the king in the flesh. He is the governing body in the flesh, but yet it's God's way that he wants. It's God's perfect judgment that he wants in his own life. David always just shows us a perfect example of sacrificial worship. David operates in the secret place. He had a heart after God's own heart after all. It says, O God, and the spirit of your righteousness to the king's son to control all his actions. And they say it's a psalm for Solomon, David wrote. And so God, he's praying for his son right here. And it's the righteousness of God that he's asking for. It's the judging of God that he's asking for to show him the way. Because when God comes in our life and we put our heart on the table to be judged by God, to be sanctified by God, it's going to purge away those things that are not pleasing to the Lord. And this allows us, gives us more clarity and discernment on which way to walk. As we know his way more, we'll know him more. And it's just a beautiful thing. It says, so let me read it all together. Give the king knowledge of your way of judging, O God, and the spirit of your righteousness to the king's son to control all his actions. See, I like the way they included the word the spirit of. Because see, when he mentions God, he's mentioning the over-lining sovereignty of the kingdom. But it's that spirit, and in truth, that is how humans have their encounter with God in the kingdom. So he has sanctification and the spirit of your righteousness. This is why we know it's not David's righteousness. It's God's righteousness. And it's transferred via the Holy Spirit. You know, Jesus is at the right hand of the throne, right? And it's the righteousness of Christ. So how do we get it? Oh, we get it via the spirit. The spirit gives us the righteousness of Christ and covers us. We're sealed, actually, by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. So it's that sealing that we have where God looks and sees us through his spirit and the blood of Christ, the righteousness of Christ. Verse 2, let him judge and govern your people with righteousness. And he's praying for Solomon here, but it's a reflection of what he just mentioned in verse 1, right? So it's a characteristic of God that he wants his son to have. He's not asking for spinner rims and fancy things and longevity or anything like that. He's simply asking for God's attributes to be in his son. Because God is the judge and the one that governs with righteousness, as we just read in verse 1. And he goes on to say, and your poor and afflicted ones with judgment and justice. And again, poor and afflicted could include all of them, including Solomon, including David. We are all in need of God. We should all be meek in recognizing our spiritual need for God. So we're poor in spirit, as some translations might say. And afflicted, we're afflicted when God brings judgment and justice. When God comes to sanctify and set us apart and God begins to holify us, this is an affliction that is there because it's the flesh that's wanting to go its own way. Well, the flesh is going to be afflicted. But we have to be in this place where we recognize our need for God. He's given beautiful brass tacks. I tell you what, I mean, you think it's just a book of Psalms, but it's really a book of doctrine and standing and operating procedures. He goes on to say, verse 3, the mountains shall bring peace to the people and the hills through the general establishment of righteousness. See, the love of God is like a mighty mountain. You know, it's a beautiful song. And when you think about the mountain and the high ground and the peace that comes when we're on the rock and we're in that place of safety and height, mountain represents height as it gets, the mountain rises above the ground closer to the heavens. So we can see this very symbolically as we grow in our relationship, our knowledge of God, as we read in Psalm, the first two verses, and we're in this sacrificial worship, recognizing our need for him. We're being covered by the righteousness of Christ. And he's going to say that, he says that at the end of this verse as well, because it's that righteousness that qualifies us. But it's the fact that God is bringing it in, that we're in that secret place, which is high and above, elevated towards the heavens. We have peace of mind in the process. What a beautiful truth. Verse 4, May he judge and defend the poor of the people, deliver the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor. Nothing changes here. This is all God's character and what he does for the kingdom. But this is the outcome. Man, I love the way David writes. There's the character of God in verse 4. Verse 5 is the outcome. So that, this is why God delivers. This is why God defends and judges and crushes the oppression. So that they may revere and fear you while the sun and moon endure throughout all generations. So we see the light of Christ, the sun, Jesus. I mean, we see all kinds of symbolism here throughout all generations. But where is sacrificial worship? It's in reverent fear and awe of God. And we're real good at the reverency. I think reverent, I think we've embraced reverency. But I think when it comes to the actual fear aspect, I think that we might fall short because we get confused a lot. Because the flesh fear is like, you know, something's going to attack, something's going to hurt me. But that's not the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is a reflection, a reverence to his power and dominion. And I love the way he uses the symbolism of the sun and the moon because that's reflective of our time on earth, our, you know, everyday sunrises, sunsets, the moon, you know. So as long as we have life, and then through all generations, that there's this reverent fear and awe of God. This is the purpose of what God does. God works in our lives in mighty acts in all of these things we read the other day. He does all of these things so that we understand and have a deeper reflection and comprehension of why we need to have reverent fear and awe of God, because he's a mighty God. And he goes, extends from generation to generation throughout all generations. Because in the kingdom, that's how we have to be. If we're not in reverent fear and awe of God in the kingdom, if we're not submitted, why would we submit our entire lives as our living act of worship if we didn't have some reverent fear and awe of God? And I like the fact that throughout all generations, there's an effect when people see others that are walking in reverent fear and awe of God, they are encouraged to stay in the super place as well. And again, I don't know that we really truly see this today. I don't. But you know, God's working on his children, each one of us. So there it is. And this is where he's bringing us. It says in verse six, may he Solomon as a type of King David's greater son be like rain that comes down upon the moon mowed grass, like showers that water the earth. And that is so beautiful. Because if you think you just mowed your grass, right, and then you get a nice good rain, that grass just goes boom and sprouts because it's just eager to grow some more. And it's like the showers that water the earth. I live with my cousin, you know, we've noticed that I mean, he can water all day with the water he has out of the hose. But it's like one rain, and there's so much more life that comes into the grass. So we're seeing this as a life giving place a place where fruitfulness can pour forth. God prunes us back and then you know, or he begins to rain that living water into our lives so that they will become more fruitful. And he's praying this prayer for Solomon that he'll be like the rain. So you know, as the scripture says, you know, rivers of living water pour forth from us, and it waters the pruned, fertile ground of those around us that are walking in sacrificial worship. And I've seen this take place. This is definitely a kingdom work. This is what the body of Christ should look like we we should be pouring out well, from us should be pouring out the living water of God. It should overflow us, you know, he's gonna, our cups can overflow. And it's not just to make the room messy. It's to overflow into others. There's so many symbolic verses that talk about this. And it's beautiful. And as that pours over, it's just not getting other people wet. It's bringing that that sustenance that they need to increase their fruitfulness. It's the power of God flowing through us into others, creating the fruitfulness in the kingdom that God desires. It's beautiful. What a beautiful symbolism. It says, verse seven, in his Christ's days, shall the uncompromisingly righteous flourish, and peace abound till there is a moon no longer. You see, and this is, he just continues on with the symbolism. So we see the uncompromisingly righteous is what God's looking for in his children. If we think that somehow we're going to be perfect, we've missed the beat. It's the perfect perfection of Christ in us, the righteousness of Christ in us. But it's our willingness not to compromise, not to say, okay, well, I'm gonna be a Christian a couple days a week, and then I'm just gonna do my own thing every other day. And never, you know, like, I'm not even sure what that would look like. But that's what he's talking about here. And because we're uncompromisingly underneath the righteousness of Christ, that we're gonna become fruitful, fruitful, fruitful, and the peace of God will be with us because he's fulfilling promises in our life, and he'll keep our mind at peace, knowing he's doing the transforming work. And I love the way he says it's abound, it says, in his Christ's day, in Christ's day shall the uncompromisingly righteous flourish, and peace abound till there is a moon no longer. And we think about the moon is reflective of the nighttime. The rising of the sun is a reflection of Christ. And so there's this sanctifying process where God is putting to death those dark deeds of the flesh, and this is what I believe he's talking about. So as the sanctification process continues, we walk more and more in the light of Christ, and the darkness that's in us is less and less. Verse 8, he, Christ, shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth. Christ's kingdom has no bounds. It's beautiful, and it's dominion, it's his sovereignty, it's his rulership, and there's no bounds. The kingdom has no fleshly limitations. It's not limited by space. You know, when we buy a house, we gotta know where the property line is, because there's limitation to our dominion. But this is a great symbolic expression of how there is no limitation in the kingdom. Christ rules over everything. Verse 9, those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. God will, God is sovereign, and those who dwell in the wilderness who choose not to walk in the kingdom are going to bow at the knee. Every knee shall bow, and his enemies shall lick the dust, another representation of bowing down. And this is the place of repentance, too. I mean, this is, it's not always, this could be potentially not just the doomsday verse. This could be a reflection of the depths, the lengths that God goes to humble the proud, to bring people into relationship with him. See, there's a, because you have to be in sacrificial worship to be in the kingdom. I mean, you can't operate in the kingdom if you're not offering your whole lives as living sacrifices, if you're not willing to submit under the powerful hand of God. Right? So, these are the basics of the kingdom. But he's making a reflection of those who've chosen to reject God and go walk their own way, and do their own thing, the thing that's counter to God, and that makes them an enemy. Anything against God is an enemy of God, even if they look really nice. And it does, just as in the people who wander around in forests and wildernesses, they're talking about people who are walking out of the kingdom. They're walking their own way. They're in enmity with God, which is the flesh. We know this is the flesh. But there's this bowing down before God now, submitting under his powerful hand. So, either they're going to do it one day before they go into eternity, or they're going to do it while they're here. So, I like to think of verse 9 to go both ways. It could show the eternal outlook, as well as the potential for repentance. Because if somebody's out walking their own way, as I've done in my own life, and I come back in repentance and come under the powerful hand of God, then this is happening. I'm bowing before him now. And I think the shall lick the dust is just another great symbolism to show the submission. Verse 10, the kings of Tarshish and of the coasts shall bring offerings. The kings of Sheba and Sheba shall offer gifts. There's no extent. It's going to all power. He's covering all the angles. Okay, verse 11 sums it up. Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him. See, there's no escaping this. There's no just riding through. You either choose God or you don't choose God. And if you don't choose God, it's going to end up in a bad way. But either way, whether you do or you don't, it takes this submission under his powerful hand, under his sovereignty. And it's a wonderful place to be. And well, I got ahead of the scripture. Verse 12, for he delivers the needy when he calls out the poor also and him who has no helper. He will have pity on the poor and weak and needy, and it will save the lives of the needy. He will redeem their lives from oppression and fraud and violence and precious and costly shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live and to him shall be given gold of Sheba. Prayer also shall be made for him and through him continually and they shall bless and praise him all the day long. See, these are what God does. We're like, man, God, such an oppressive God wants us to bow down. Yes, because in that place of submission, this is what comes. This is the heart of God. We're seeing the heart of God right here. He loves to help those who recognize their need for him. And truthfully, we all have a need for him. There's none that don't. But he shows mercy and all of these things. He brings deliverance, redemption. And I like 14 because it gives some insight to some of the angles that might be coming against us. He will redeem their lives from oppression. Have you ever been addicted to anything? Have you ever just had a bad habit of any type? It's oppressive. It's oppressive. And have you made the world think you didn't have it? It's fraud. And would you go and do whatever is required to take care of it? And these are the things he's bringing. And that leads us to violence because we push our own agenda when we have whatever. And it could be anything. I mean, not just drug addiction or alcohol addiction or chemical addiction, food addiction. It could be power addiction, church addiction. I mean, there are some that are so addicted just to having a church, just wanting to have that building. And they have good motivations, but it becomes this thing where they became focused on their agenda and not on really what God's agenda is. And so they continue to go that route. And it says, for he will redeem their lives from oppression and fraud and violence and precious and costly shall their blood be in his sight. See, it's our life that he's after. He wants that relationship. It says, and he shall live and to him shall be given gold of Sheba. Prayer also shall be made for him through him continually, and they shall bless and praise him all the day long. Sounds an awful lot like he's foretelling of the Christ right here, but of God either way. So we see the perfect blood of Christ, but our lives are worth that much to him. So we got to understand, yeah, it was Jesus's blood that was the price, but it was paid for each one of our lives eternally. Here while we're alive and while we go to eternity, the whole package. And I like that. Anytime you see gold referenced, you know, you can think of the heavenly purification process and to him shall be given sanctification. Prayer also, as he sits at the right hand of the father. Prayer shall also be made for him and through him. When we're praying for the body of Christ, we're praying for Christ. And we pray in Jesus name, right? I mean, I can just see some symbolism here and it's a continuous thing. It's a conversation with God. There's no end that you can, you don't even have to say words and they shall bless and praise him all the day long. Absolutely. As we walk in obedience to that voice and he works in our lives and as he works in our lives, we're filled with the joy of the Lord and that becomes our strength and our praise. There shall be abundance of grain in the soil upon the top of the mountains, the least fruitful places in the land. The fruit of it shall wave like the forest of Lebanon and the inhabitants of the city shall flourish like grass on the earth. And this is beautiful illustration to what Christ does in our life as he brings the fruitfulness forth. And I love it. You know, the least fruitful places in the land, yet right in our weakness, God becomes strong and the fruitfulness of God grows forth. It's actually a lovely passage. His name shall endure forever. His name shall continue as long as the sun. Indeed, his name continues before the sun. Yeah, because he created the sun, right? The sun is a good reflection that rises in the east. Our Savior rose. He is S-O-N. And men shall be blessed and blessed themselves by him. All nations shall call him blessed. Definitely spitting soliloquy about Jesus right here. He is eternal. His name shall continue as it has from the beginning. And men shall be blessed and blessed themselves by him. So being under his lordship is the blessing. And all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. And again, we see Lord God. He's tying it all together. The God of Israel, the fulfilled promise, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever. Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen. The prayers of David, son of Jesse, are ended. Wow, what a beautiful passage. It really shows us this truth of God's governing and how this all works and ties in. We have Jesus Christ. We have the fruitfulness he's bringing forth, the sanctification, the deliverance, the redemption, and all of the things that he's doing for us in this place. So we're going to go to 2 Timothy now. Again, my attention's turned to one of the going deepers here in 2 Timothy. So we're going to, and I just couldn't... The chapter I was looking at had a but. It started with a but. So I kept going back until I said, well, let's just read the whole 2 Timothy. So we take a look at this 2 Timothy 1. Paul, an apostle, a special messenger of Christ Jesus by the will of God. God calls us and gives us our calling. According to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, okay, that's the relationship, that's the eternal life, that's the gospel. To Timothy, my beloved child, grace. And notice how he feels towards those in the body of Christ who are coming into the body of Christ after him. You know what I mean? As he's walking in obedience to the Lord, and Timothy's coming along, he sees him as a child. And it's a beautiful expression of how we should see those newborn, those new babes in Christ, as some might say. Those who are in a newer, more recent relationship with God, we should see them as a child that's growing. There's a growth that's about to take place. There's a love there. So it's a reflection of seeing the potential. Grace, he goes on to say to Timothy, my beloved child, grace, favor, and spiritual blessing, which grace it definitely is. That's God giving us what we don't deserve. Mercy and heart peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord. Yeah, it's amazing, the gospel in a nutshell right there. Verse 3, I thank God whom I worship with a pure conscience. Worship, that's that. Offering his whole life as a living sacrifice. In the spirit of my fathers, when without ceasing, I remember you night and day in my prayers. In the spirit of my fathers. Somebody went a little deeper. So I'm going to say fathers would not be, because he says the spirit of my fathers, plural. So he's going to be talking about those who came into relationship with God before him now. As Timothy was considered a child, somebody who was newer in the faith, then he's making a reference to those who are older in the faith. And when without ceasing, I remember you night and day in my prayers. So there's a constant prayer. The offering of his whole life is the fact that he prays for them. You see, this is part of that offer your whole lives as a living sacrifice. And he says, well, I only feel like praying for him every so often, you know, maybe. But he says night and day. So he has to make this conscious effort on his part to put his flesh off and what it wants and do the thing that God tells him to do, and that is to remember them night and day in his prayers. And when, as I recall your tears, I yearn to see you so that I may be filled with joy. See, in the presence of God is the fullness of joy. And if God is operating in my life, and I'm filled with joy, Lord, and I come in the presence of someone else, if God's operating in their life right there, fulfilling promises, and they're full of joy, we see the fullness of joy. We see a fullness of joy. And that becomes our strength because we're being built up into a spiritual house, you see. That's why it's not a solo journey. It's not just some, you know, I'm going to go off and do this thing by myself. We're in the body of Christ together. It's an amazing truth. And he desires to be with them because, you know, they didn't have the same potential for connection that we do. You know, Paul could only write a letter, and he could only get news from somebody bringing him news. You know, I mean, so to be in personal, you know, physical contact is what he yearned for. Now, we're going to have that eternally speaking. So, like he died in prison, Paul did, and he wasn't able to see anybody. He was in prison. So, it's not like, oh, that sucks. No, because eternally now, we are together in the body of Christ, as the bride of Christ, in the kingdom of God. It makes sense why he's saying this. As I recall your tears, you see, having that concern, that compassion is more what I'm looking for. Having the compassion for others in the body of Christ, a love for others. And this is why they're constantly in his prayers. And why he yearns to be with them, so that, he says, I may be filled with joy. So, like I said, because we're two or more together, God is there in the presence. In the presence of God is the fullness of joy. That is why I would remind you to stir up and rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning the gracious gift of God. The inner fire that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands with those of the elders at your ordination. That is why I remind you to stir up, rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning the gracious gift of God. The inner fire that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands with those of the elders at your ordination. So, when they did this ceremony, as the gift of God comes into the individual, and they come in in agreement and unity, there's an invigorating thing that that does inside of us. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, of cowardice, or craven, and cringing, and fawning fear. But he has given us a spirit of power, and of love, and of calm, and well-balanced mind, and discipline, and self-control. Do not blush or be ashamed to testify to and for our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake. And that verse 7 is pretty straightforward. He doesn't give us a spirit of abrasion, and jerk, and arrogance. It's not that kind of power, and love, and sound mind. He's given us the power to operate in sacrificial worship under the powerful hand of God, loving others with self-control, well-balanced self-control. These are fruits of the Spirit. Do not blush or be ashamed to testify to and for our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake. But with me, take your share of the suffering to which the preaching of the gospel may expose you, and do it in the power of God. See, we stay in that place of power, and we take our place in sharing the suffering. And why he's reminding them, don't give into the flesh to blush and be ashamed. Just still live the life in God, and for God. And be a prisoner, nor for him a prisoner for his sake. See, the oppression that came against him, the attack that came against him for walking in sacrificial worship is going to come against us all. And we all must take our share of the suffering. But that's what the gospel exposes us to. But the reality is, in it, when we operate in sacrificial worship, we're operating in the power of God. For it is he who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness. See, because a lot of people get, see a little, to pull out, where is that one? Oh, verse 6. Unless you've had hands laid on you by the elders and get ordained, you don't, but see, we're not reading it in context, because it's a gift of God, for starters. And how God chooses to introduce us to it is totally up to God. This is not doctrinal, you have to have your hands laid on you in order to be ordained. That's not what this is saying. Because if we go down to verse 9, we start seeing it all in context as we start seeing this suffering and all of this stuff that we have, this spirit we have as a spirit of power and love of a sound mind. This is the gift we have in us, but we have to be willing to share in the suffering and any attack that comes against us for the sake of the kingdom, for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of our God. And we're going to be operating in the power of God, and for it was, it is he who delivered and saved us, okay, obviously because nobody or nothing can save us, including ourselves, and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness. See, that's the calling, to operate under the power of the God, which is under the power of the spirit, which is a transforming power, which is going to have some suffering involved with it. You see, so this is everything in context now. This is not a passage about the techniques on how to lay hands on people to, like we're some sort of a, you know, we can just pull out God's calling out of our back pocket and just give it to people. No, God gives it to them already. God's called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness. It's going to involve sanctification. And there I just got ahead of the scripture. To a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness. He did it, not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of, and to further his own purpose and grace and merit and favor which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began eternal ages ago. See, it's God that's doing everything. You know, when we come together and we lay hands on somebody, especially when we do it in community like we saw up there, it's very encouraging. See, it invigorates what God has already done inside of them. We're not actually giving them anything. God has given it to them. We're just there to come in love, in unity, in support of, loving them. And that's invigorating the thing inside that God has put in there. It invigorates that drive and zeal can be invigorated in this process. To remind us that we have a spirit of power and of love and of sound mind. I mean, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We can absolutely do whatever God has called us to do. And in the process still deal with all of the suffering, all of the accusations, all of the falls and shortcomings. All of these things can still be, we have the power to operate through, you know, continue through them. You know, it's a beautiful passage. It is that purpose and grace which he now has made known and has fully disclosed and made real to us through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. That's pretty straightforward. Who annulled death and made it of no effect and brought life and immortality, immunity from eternal death to life through the gospel. That's the good news, right? Because of Jesus' coming and dying on the cross and resurrecting and going to the right hand of the Father and giving us the keys of the kingdom and the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us. Now can come into us and seal us until the day of redemption for all eternity in relationship with God. It's a beautiful, it's a good news gospel after all. For proclaiming of the gospel, this gospel, I was appointed a herald, preacher and an apostle, special messenger and a teacher of the Gentiles. And this is why I am suffering as I do. Still I am not ashamed for I know, perceive, have knowledge of and am acquainted with him whom I have believed, adhered to, entrusted in and relied on. And I am positively persuaded that he is able to guard and keep that which has been entrusted to me and which I have committed to him until that day. And again, it's all coming from God. God gave it to him and trusted to him and will help guard and keep him in it, in the process, in the face of the attack that's going to come against him. And so I guess he wanted me to just encourage those in the body of Christ that just might feel like they don't really fit in to this modern Christendom thing we have. To just stay bunkered down in the secret place and know that God will guard and keep you because he has entrusted you with what he has given you. And you are going to face attack, slander, all these things, shame and things will be thrown at you. But God will guard and keep that which has been entrusted to you. I'm going to switch the verbage from me, Paul saying me, to you. Notice what God is guarding and keeping because remember the body is just going to die and go in the ground and become dirt again. It's the eternal purpose that we have in the soul of a man. He gives us our calling right there in the body of Christ which is the spiritual realm. That is being guarded and kept. So it's not, let's not get it twisted and think he's talking about he's going to guard and keep his physical body. He's not actually guarding Paul at all. He's guarding the thing that God gave him to do is being guarded and kept. And of which Paul has committed to him until that day. So Paul is not wavering, he's uncompromising, right? In his mindset, in his heart set, he's uncompromising. This is what he means by being uncompromising. Verse 13, hold fast and follow the pattern of wholesome and sound teaching. Which you have heard from me in all the faith and love which are for us in Christ Jesus. Hold fast and follow the pattern of wholesome and sound teaching. So what are they doing? This is discipleship. Yes, it has teaching, but it's a lifestyle that they're watching. Follow the pattern. Follow the pattern, okay? Follow the pattern and sound teaching, that's the spirit. So the pattern is the truth, the teaching is the spirit. Because we know in order to be taught something, it has to be sent out. Whether we read it, hear it, whatever it is. And then it's got to go inside of our mind and transfer into intellectual learning. Teaching. So teaching is something that happens, it's reflective of the spiritual. And to follow the pattern of wholesome, to follow the pattern is something that is more tangible. You can see a pattern. Teaching is a concept that goes from one person to another and goes from solid to gas to solid, I guess. When you think about that in terms of you're sitting in a classroom and a teacher is teaching. Opens their mouth and verbage comes out. And then it has to go through the air where you can't see it. And it goes into your mind and then it has to be transferred into learning. But the pattern is something you can see, you can follow a pattern. If you're making something and you're knitting something or sewing something and you've got a pattern, you're going to just follow the pattern. So I see spirit and truth in here. So you have to hold fast and follow the spirit and truth, right? Which you have heard from me in all the faith and love which are for us in Christ Jesus. See, and the faith and love is given to us. We've all been given a measure of faith and we can operate in love because we've been first loved by Christ. So he's given us, this is the brass tack of operating in the kingdom of God when it comes to discipleship. And there's going to be faith because without faith it's impossible to please God. There's going to be love because without our love for one another no one will ever see God. And so we see the things that are of value to the kingdom and it's a spirit and a true thing that we're doing. Verse 14, guard and keep with the greatest care the precious and excellently adapted truth which has been entrusted to you by the help of the Holy Spirit who makes his home in us. And that's what I just said. So that verse 13 is what I just said. I got ahead of the scriptures of course. But we have to guard and keep the precious and excellently adapted truth which has been entrusted to us by the help of the Holy Spirit. So the spirit and truth we've been given, we have to guard it and keep it. Things are going to want to bring us out. That doesn't fit what we've been doing traditionally. The church customs and traditions are this way. Like the one guy told me, he says when we're dead you can do it any way you want. Well I don't want to do it any way I want. I want to do it the way the spirit says to do it. I don't want to do my own agenda. I want to do God's agenda. That's his truth that's been given to me by the Holy Spirit. Right? I love it. Thank you Paul. Paul just, that's it. Spirit and truth is required and we have to guard it and keep it. That's the point in this verse. We have to guard it. It means something's going to come against it and we have to keep it. Which it means that there's a tendency to let it go. Right? And I know that's for sure. I've walked in his truth and then walked my own way. So I know that can absolutely be the case. Verse 15. You already know that all who are in Asia turned away and forsook me. You see, this is the falling away he's talking about. That's why we have to keep in guard this calling and this truth and teaching. Everything that God gives us is spirit and truth. You already know that all who are in Asia turned away and forsook me. By zealous and homogenies among them. May the Lord grant his mercy to the family of Onesiphorus. For he often showed me kindness and ministered to my needs, comforting and reviving, embracing me like fresh air. He was not ashamed of my chains and imprisonment for Christ's sake. No, rather when he reached Rome, he searched diligently and eagerly for me and he found me. May the Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that great day. And you know how many things he did for me and what a help he was at Ephesus. You know better than I can tell you. But I think I'm going to stop right here and we'll just get through that first chapter. It's all the same thing. The good news is God's Word doesn't change. It's coming from God. We have to guard it. We have to walk in it. We have to choose to stay uncompromising in it. You know, and that's what he's showing us here. That's what he's showing me here. And this is the same prayer David's praying for Solomon as we go up and read that many years before Jesus came. And then here now Paul is spitting lyrical on it after Jesus came. The truth is the truth is the truth. The gospel never changes. The truth of God never changes. And it's proof positive that Psalm 72 is a treasure in Christ. And that God is Jehovah ben Tizdek. Our Lord God who governs his people in righteousness. Oh Heavenly Father we're just so grateful for this truth today. There's a lot of brass tacks for the body of Christ about your governing in your kingdom. And what our role is in it Father God and how we have to guard and keep the very things that you've given us to do. The very callings that you've placed in our life. The ordinations that you've given us. And that we can guard it and keep it. And won't be wishy-washy. But I pray for the body of Christ today that we'll be uncompromising in this calling. As you govern your people in righteousness as we know there is no better governor. You are the ultimate of king of kings and lord of lords. You are the all sovereign God. And we need your guidance and direction. We need you to show us the way Father God and then we'll guard and keep it. As we walk in faith and love. The very tools that you've given us for life and godliness today. So I pray that for the body of Christ today that we'll be uncompromising in our walk with you today. I know that that will be transformative in nature. And I thank you for that truth. In Jesus name I pray. Amen and Amen.
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