Mystery of the ages

 

Before embarking on the other two urgent pleas from the apostle Paul, I would like to conclude the first urgent plea which is, “to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service;” by having a close look at the mystery of the ages.

I wonder how many of us who profess to be believers in Jesus Christ know, understand and believe the mystery of the ages which the apostle Paul made mentioned of by stating: “However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1Corintians 2:6-8).

So what exactly is this hidden wisdom of God in a mystery which if the rulers of this age knew, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory? The hidden wisdom of God in a mystery is how; “God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).

What they did not know is that, God would send His Son by whom all things were created that are in heaven and that are 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” to come and experience life like any ordinary human being, condemning sin in the flesh by not succumbing to sin, lived a perfect sinless life, then die to pay for the sins of all mankind and giving His flesh to eat and His blood to drink for the forgiveness of our sins (Colossians 1:16-17).

What eluded the minds of the rulers of this age is that, as God alone Jesus Christ could not die so He had to divest Himself of His glory and took on the nature of man so that He could pay the price of sin in man’s stead as explained by the apostle Paul who wrote; “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:9-11).

The apostle went further to explain saying; “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people: For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:14-18).

So the hidden mystery is that, not only would Christ die and pay the price of sin for all humanity but it goes further with the admonition which states; “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1John 2:1-2).

In conclusion, the hidden mystery is as follows; But of Him (God the Father) we are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God --- and righteousness (being our High Priest interceding on our behalf), and sanctification (through His flesh represented by the unleavened bread, the new and living way by which we draw near to the Father) and redemption (through His blood represented by the wine, the medium by which our sins are forgiven) that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD" (1Corinthians 1:30-31).

Unfortunately, the majority of professing Christians do not have a proper discernment of the mystery of the ages and the urgent call which states; “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16).

But truly, these times of ignorance God has overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATINGS6

To be continued 

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Why is the Lord's Supper such an integral part of worship service

 

The reason why this offering is so vitally important when having a holy convocation it is because, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness: If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1John 1:6-10).

Please not carefully that it is while we are having fellowship with one another and walking in the light and partaking of the blood of the covenant that, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. This cleansing is current, something which takes place whilst having the fellowship service and it is made possible through the cup of the New Covenant which Jesus blessed and gave to His disciples saying; “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).

Therefore, in order to fulfill the Apostle Paul’s urgent and fervent plea to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service; one must avoid defiling his /her body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit and cleanse one’s self from all unrighteousness because, God the Father chose us in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. In Jesus Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence

The earnest plea from the apostle Paul to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service is not a yearly, quarterly, monthly, or weekly phenomenon but one that is required on a daily basis, because God’s desire is to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life (Luke 1:74-75).

To serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness necessitates that we follow and practice the formula or the protocol which produces holiness and righteousness on a daily basis because, nature teaches us that in order to maintain the state of beauty, pristine and cleanliness of any physical object it must be cleaned on a regular basis and the spiritual aspect of things are no different: For since the creation of the world God’s invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that we are without excuse.

It is therefore incumbent on each one individually to come to the knowledge and understanding of how to maintain and develop the new nature in which we were created as we have been duly admonished saying; “and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

When we speak about true righteousness it does not mean man’s righteousness which is according to the law and regarded as filthy rags before God, but it refers to the righteousness which is from God by faith, the righteousness which when practiced, one becomes righteous even as Jesus Christ Himself is righteousness as we have been duly admonished saying; “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous” (1John 3:7).

This righteousness together with holiness is derived through the righteous act of Jesus Christ who gave the free gift to all men, resulting in justification of life. And so, whenever we eat the bread and drink the cup, which represent the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ we are proclaiming or reemphasizing the purpose, the rationale for the Lord's death till He comes and there are specific ordained times and occasions on which it has to be offered.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077M5T68T

To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Means of presenting ourselves holy and acceptable to God

The church is ordained to offer an offering to the Lord whenever there is an ordained holy convocation for we have been duly instructed saying; “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time.” There are specific times when we are to offer to the Lord the food for His offerings: For example, morning and evening as a thanksgiving offering for the Lord’s lovingkindness in the morning and His faithfulness in the evening, on the New Moon to commemorate the beginning of a new month and on the annual festivals (Numbers 28:2; 1Chronicles 23:30-31; Psalms 92:1-2).

This offering which should be offered whenever there is an ordained holy convocation is termed a peace or a fellowship offering and it is the medium by which members of the body of Christ have fellowship with one another and with the Father and the Son, because according to the apostle John; “that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1John 1:3).

And what grants us this fellowship is explained by the apostle Paul who wrote; “therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge for your-selves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread” (1Corinthians 10:14-17).

What classifies us as a church is when we come together to partake of the Lord’s Supper at the appointed times. The apostle Paul had to chastise the church in Corinth because of the manner they partook of it, He said to them; “For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you” (1Corinthians 11:18-22).

Please note carefully that, the chastisement was not for partaking of the Lord’s Supper when they came together as a church, which is the protocol and the rationale for having a holy convocation, but the chastisement was due to the manner in which they went about partaking of it and despising the church.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FV4WTWQ

To be continued, stay tuned

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Present our bodies a living sacrifice ,holy, acceptable to God

 

Apart from avoiding the defilement of our bodies in order to present it a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, there is also a practical way by which our bodies can be presented as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God by applying the principle God ordained and instructed Moses saying; “Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy” (Exodus 29:32-33).

Please note carefully that, it is by eating those things with which the atonement was made that one becomes consecrated and sanctified and, the Old Testament temple rituals were a copy and shadow of the reality, they were serving the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain" (Hebrews 8:5).

Now since God and His laws are immutable and God is impartial and shows no favoritism the same way Aaron and his sons attained holiness by eating of those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them which was the copy and shadow of the reality, in like manner, in order for us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, we have to eat of those things with which the atonement was made which is in reality, the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

I think that the apostle Paul made it abundantly clear when He wrote; “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:19-23).

Partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, with Jesus Christ serving as our High Priest is the new and living way by which we can draw near to the Father. People often quote the scripture which reads; “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”, but fail to understand the practical application of this scripture. Jesus is the new and living way to the Father through His flesh represented by the unleavened bread, He is the truth, as the Word of God Who is now seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for us, and He is the life through His blood. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and God has given it to us upon the altar to make atonement for our souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11).

It is also imperative to note that, the main objective for having a holy convocation is to offer the Lord the food for His offerings for this is what gives us access to the throne of grace, as we have been duly admonished saying; “These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day ---besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD” (Leviticus 23: 37-38).

Please note carefully that, the main objective for having a holy convocation is to offer the Lord His offering which is besides or in addition to any other gifts or offerings one would like to offer to the Lord and it is the new and living way by which one can draw near to the Father.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FV4WTWQ

To be continued stay tuned

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Urgent plea to all believers

 

In this day and age in which we live I wonder how many of us who profess to be believers in Jesus Christ are giving considerable thought to the apostle Paul’s urgent and fervent plea which states; “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

Here the apostle Paul is humbly beseeching the brethren to do three things in order to prove what that good and perfect will of God is and they are as follows:

1.  To present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God

Since God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:4-9).

Nevertheless, we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them and one of the good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in is that of presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God which is termed to be our reasonable service.

What we must first and foremost know, understand and believe is that, our human body is the pinnacle, the most successful point, the culmination of all of God’s creation as alluded to by the Psalmist David who wrote; “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?

For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen --- Even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalms 8:3-9).

But not only has God given man such dominion over His creation, He also created man’s physical body as His temple, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and so we are to continually reminding ourselves of the apostle Paul’s admonition which says; “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1Corinthians 3: 16-17).

We have been further admonished by the apostle Paul saying; “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (1Corinthians 6:18-20).

And so, in order to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service, we have to avoid defiling our body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And if sexual immorality defiles the temple of God and God will destroy the one who defiles it, what about the one who defiles the temple of the Holy Spirit with aborted fetuses with stem cells from all sorts of unclean creatures? Food for thought, the choice is yours.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00946KF6A

To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

God does not share His glory with no other

To avoid becoming a victim of deception, one must be able to make a clear distinction between what is genuine and what is counterfeited, what is God’s power and what is man’s wisdom because Satan has a counterfeit to everything that the Lord has established especially with regards to worship. The apostle Paul expressed deep concern with regards to this situation by stating; “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted --- you may well put up with it!”

He further said; “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” We therefore have been forewarned saying; “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand” (2 Corinthians 11: 3-4, 13-15; Matthew 24:24-25).

The stark reality is, both Satan and his ministers transform themselves as ministers of righteousness, and therefore, “the coming of the lawless one to whom Satan the dragon gave his power, his throne, and great authority will be according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

To avoid being or becoming a victim of deception one has to begin with the root cause of the problem which began with the first Adam whom the Lord God took and placed in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it, and the Lord commanded him saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Therefore to avoid being or becoming victims of deception, we must know, believe and practice the truth and take no pleasure in unrighteousness, because God from the beginning chose us for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called us by His glorious gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now there is only one truth, and that is Jesus Christ Who is the Word of God. Therefore, whatever the Lord has spoken, whether it is in the Old or the New Testament, they remain in force forever, unless an amendment, alteration, or a reformation has been made or instructed by the Lord Himself. Any other teachings regardless how appealing one might think they may be, are all blatant lies and remember, the Lord said quite distinctly; “I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images” (Isaiah 42:8;48:11).

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them, for truly, these times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XYGDD7M

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

 

Believing that God is a jealous God will avoid deception

 

3.         The truth about Jesus Christ who took on flesh is a jealous God

The third solid foundation in avoiding being deceived is to know, understand and believe the truth about Jesus Christ who before He took on flesh instructed us by saying; "You shall not make for yourself a carved image --- any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments,” He said again; “(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God): “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Exodus 20:4-6; 34:14; Deuteronomy 4: 24).

Now the term jealousy denotes having the feeling or showing suspicion of someone’s unfaithfulness in a relationship, and the way one expresses love towards God is by keeping His commandments as we have been duly instructed saying; “This is love that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (2 John 6-7).

The words that were told from the beginning stated that; “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” it also states that; “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).

Now the truth and the rationale for the Word becoming flesh and dwelt among us is principally to set us an example that we should follow His steps and so we have been duly instructed saying;

·         “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.

·         To release those who through fear of death were their entire lifetime subject to bondage.

·         For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.

·         Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

·         For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

·         For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

·         Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 2:14-18, 4:15-16). 

We can summarize the truth about Christ coming in the flesh and being a jealous God by stating that; He experienced life like any human being so that He could die to pay the penalty of sin in man's stead, for as God alone He could not die. He also set us an example that we should follow His steps, to this end we are told; “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6).

He left us a perfect offering which He as High priest offers to the Father, so that we can come boldly to the throne of grace, in order to obtain mercy and find grace in time of need. And therefore have been admonished saying, “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Imagine Jesus Christ having done all this for humanity and instead of worshiping Him the way He has ordained to be worshiped we blatantly rejecting it and instead worshiping Him in accordance to the customs and traditions of men, this surely must provoked the Lord to jealousy. But if we are steadfast and well established in the truth we will avoid being deceived by the craftiness of men.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FV4WTWQ

To be continued

With brotherly love 

Lucius Joseph