Great is the Mystery of Godliness Part 8
Preached Among The Gentiles (nations), Believed on in the World Part 2
The Preachers
Why is this important?
Hebrews 2:1-4 “We must give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, LEST WE DRIFT AWAY.” I am afraid that the contemporary “church” is drifting away on a sea of “relevancy”. Vs 2&3 compare the awesome Mount Sinai giving of the law (notice–Spoken through angels) to the seriousness of the gospel of “so great a salvation”! The “penalty of neglect is severe! There is a “just reward, and that is a chastening and in some cases, damning reward for drifting away”
1. And what is neglected? This great salvation that was #1 “began to be Spoken by the Lord”, #2–“and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.” Vs 4 #3 God bore witness to this word “both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts/distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to His (God’s) Own Will.” The words of the witnesses , the words that we have heard, are not secondary or mere “sermon fodder”, they are FOUNDATIONAL.
2 Revelation 21:14 “Now the wall of the City (the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven-vs 10) had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb!” I Corinthians 3:9-11 would lend support for Paul being one of those twelve foundational Names, “as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation.” But the Foundation is crucial, more so than it’s builders, and Paul says in Vs 11, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ!!!”
The church has ignored, and in many cases tried to replace, the unique Apostolic Word and Ministry to it’s dilution, peril and destruction! God has a Plan and He is Working His Plan, and His chosen Apostles and their witness are integral to that Plan!!!
John 17 Our Lord’s High Priestly Prayer–probably shortly before His crucifixion.
John 17:1-5 Jesus prayer for His Father’s Glory. He had Glorified the Father in everything He said and did. Now He is asking the Father to “Glorify Me together with Yourself, with the Glory which I had with You before the foundation of the earth.” I believe He is praying for the Father’s vindication of all He said and did on the earth through the Resurrection by the Glory of the Father, the Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:4, 8:11) His Resurrection verifies that He is the resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), He is Eternal Life because He has Known the Father for Eternity like no other, being One With Him!! (Vs 3)
John 17:6-19 This section is specifically focused upon the Apostles, a truth often missed in our self-centered reading of the Word. We major on vs 3 and vs 20-26.
#1 Vs 6 The Apostles belonged to the Father and He gave them to the Son.
#2 Vs 7-8 Jesus gave the Words of the Father to the Apostles and they believed that Jesus was sent from the Father. (See I John 1:1-4)
#3 Vs 9-10 Jesus is specifically praying for them in this section! Repeating again that these men are the Father’s and He has given them to the Son, Verse 10 makes it plain that the Father and the Son are One, “And all Mine (including these men) are Yours, and Yours are Mine, AND I AM GLORIFIED IN THEM.”
Notice the phrase, “and I Am Glorified In Them.” Jesus, the Son of God Who became the Son of Man, is specifically and especially Glorified, that is manifested, “vindicated” in and through the ministry and witness of the 12 men that the Father gave the Son for this purpose!
#4 Vs 11-12 Jesus is going to His Father, (Received up into Glory), but His Witnesses are left in the world. Jesus Kept them in the Father’s Name while He was with them (Vs 11-His Prayer/”Our Father”), now He is praying the Holy Father to keep them through His Name in the earth. Notice, only Judas, the son of perdition wasn’t kept–“that the scripture might be fulfilled”, that’s the Plan.
#5 Vs 13 Jesus must come to the Father that , “that they may have My Joy fulfilled themselves.” And that is fulfilled in the coming of the Holy Spirit.
#6 Vs 14-17 The Witnesses are set apart (sanctified) by the Word which they shall preach, and they shall be hated for the Word, just as the Lord Himself was hated. Therefore, Jesus prays, “I pray that You should Keep them from the evil one.”
#7 Vs 18-19 Jesus is sending them into the world, just as the Father Sent Him into the world. It seems that the Son’s ascension to the Father’s Right Hand, His ultimate “sanctification”, His setting apart for His Eternal ministry as our High Priest and King, is essential to their setting apart to their ministry of The Word of Truth. You see, they are not just witnesses that a man died and was risen again, but as Peter says (II Peter 1:16), “but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty”. They witnessed Jesus “receiving honor and glory from God the Father” on the Mount of Transfiguration.
#8 Vs 20 “I do not pray for these alone (Apostles/6-19, but also for those who will believe on Me through their word.” Their word is what the writer of Hebrews is talking about in 2:1-4! The neglect of the Apostles Doctrine is a slippery slope that leads to destruction! The early church grew in vitality and boldness as, “they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and prayer.” (Acts 2:42) It is in this Spiritual environment that “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (2:47)
What of the Apostle Paul, is he one of the twelve?
Acts 9:17 Ananias says that, “the Lord Jesus Who appeared to you on the road as you came.”
Acts 22:13-16 Paul recounts his “commission” before the Jerusalem mob.
Acts 26:16 In his defense before Agrippa, Paul says that Jesus told him, “arise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of things which I will yet reveal to you.! (Surely referring to the “mystery” of Ephesians. Read on to Acts 26:22-23. What about Matthias? I don’t know, I’ll ask him when I see him.
I Corinthians 4:9-13 “For I think God has displayed us, the Apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, (notice!) to angels and to men!” Take note, the Apostolic ministry was as much for angels as for men! Carefully digest vs 10-13!
Matthew 16:18 When Jesus said, “I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”, He was initiating His “Omaha beach” offensive in the world!!! This being Memorial Day weekend, I recall a veteran I was taking to a medical appointment at the VA. He was missing a leg. In conversation, he told me he lost his leg on Omaha beach. Medical personnel were in tents on the beach, treating the wounded, the thousands of wounded. There were piles of amputated limbs beside the tents, waiting for the burial team to come by.
The Apostles were the Lord’s “Normandy Invasion” into satan's “world”. Paul says in I Cor. 4:9, “God has displayed us (His Plan), the Apostles, last, as condemned to death.” We know from tradition and history, that only one Apostle John, died of natural causes. They literally and spiritually, “fought the good fight, they have finished their course (their part in God’s Plan), they have kept the faith.” (II Timothy 4:7)
To forget it’s fallen warriors, to disparage it’s soldiers, to let their sacrifice be forgotten, that is the death of a nation. Even more so is it true of the professed church of Christ. His foundational warriors went to battle with “only” the words of what they saw and heard (I John 1:1-4), the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. But their words bear witness to their Lord and King. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Give more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, LEST WE DRIFT AWAY!!!
Preached Among The Gentiles (nations), Believed on in the World Part 2
The Preachers
Why is this important?
Hebrews 2:1-4 “We must give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, LEST WE DRIFT AWAY.” I am afraid that the contemporary “church” is drifting away on a sea of “relevancy”. Vs 2&3 compare the awesome Mount Sinai giving of the law (notice–Spoken through angels) to the seriousness of the gospel of “so great a salvation”! The “penalty of neglect is severe! There is a “just reward, and that is a chastening and in some cases, damning reward for drifting away”
1. And what is neglected? This great salvation that was #1 “began to be Spoken by the Lord”, #2–“and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.” Vs 4 #3 God bore witness to this word “both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts/distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to His (God’s) Own Will.” The words of the witnesses , the words that we have heard, are not secondary or mere “sermon fodder”, they are FOUNDATIONAL.
2 Revelation 21:14 “Now the wall of the City (the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven-vs 10) had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb!” I Corinthians 3:9-11 would lend support for Paul being one of those twelve foundational Names, “as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation.” But the Foundation is crucial, more so than it’s builders, and Paul says in Vs 11, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ!!!”
The church has ignored, and in many cases tried to replace, the unique Apostolic Word and Ministry to it’s dilution, peril and destruction! God has a Plan and He is Working His Plan, and His chosen Apostles and their witness are integral to that Plan!!!
John 17 Our Lord’s High Priestly Prayer–probably shortly before His crucifixion.
John 17:1-5 Jesus prayer for His Father’s Glory. He had Glorified the Father in everything He said and did. Now He is asking the Father to “Glorify Me together with Yourself, with the Glory which I had with You before the foundation of the earth.” I believe He is praying for the Father’s vindication of all He said and did on the earth through the Resurrection by the Glory of the Father, the Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:4, 8:11) His Resurrection verifies that He is the resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), He is Eternal Life because He has Known the Father for Eternity like no other, being One With Him!! (Vs 3)
John 17:6-19 This section is specifically focused upon the Apostles, a truth often missed in our self-centered reading of the Word. We major on vs 3 and vs 20-26.
#1 Vs 6 The Apostles belonged to the Father and He gave them to the Son.
#2 Vs 7-8 Jesus gave the Words of the Father to the Apostles and they believed that Jesus was sent from the Father. (See I John 1:1-4)
#3 Vs 9-10 Jesus is specifically praying for them in this section! Repeating again that these men are the Father’s and He has given them to the Son, Verse 10 makes it plain that the Father and the Son are One, “And all Mine (including these men) are Yours, and Yours are Mine, AND I AM GLORIFIED IN THEM.”
Notice the phrase, “and I Am Glorified In Them.” Jesus, the Son of God Who became the Son of Man, is specifically and especially Glorified, that is manifested, “vindicated” in and through the ministry and witness of the 12 men that the Father gave the Son for this purpose!
#4 Vs 11-12 Jesus is going to His Father, (Received up into Glory), but His Witnesses are left in the world. Jesus Kept them in the Father’s Name while He was with them (Vs 11-His Prayer/”Our Father”), now He is praying the Holy Father to keep them through His Name in the earth. Notice, only Judas, the son of perdition wasn’t kept–“that the scripture might be fulfilled”, that’s the Plan.
#5 Vs 13 Jesus must come to the Father that , “that they may have My Joy fulfilled themselves.” And that is fulfilled in the coming of the Holy Spirit.
#6 Vs 14-17 The Witnesses are set apart (sanctified) by the Word which they shall preach, and they shall be hated for the Word, just as the Lord Himself was hated. Therefore, Jesus prays, “I pray that You should Keep them from the evil one.”
#7 Vs 18-19 Jesus is sending them into the world, just as the Father Sent Him into the world. It seems that the Son’s ascension to the Father’s Right Hand, His ultimate “sanctification”, His setting apart for His Eternal ministry as our High Priest and King, is essential to their setting apart to their ministry of The Word of Truth. You see, they are not just witnesses that a man died and was risen again, but as Peter says (II Peter 1:16), “but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty”. They witnessed Jesus “receiving honor and glory from God the Father” on the Mount of Transfiguration.
#8 Vs 20 “I do not pray for these alone (Apostles/6-19, but also for those who will believe on Me through their word.” Their word is what the writer of Hebrews is talking about in 2:1-4! The neglect of the Apostles Doctrine is a slippery slope that leads to destruction! The early church grew in vitality and boldness as, “they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and prayer.” (Acts 2:42) It is in this Spiritual environment that “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (2:47)
What of the Apostle Paul, is he one of the twelve?
Acts 9:17 Ananias says that, “the Lord Jesus Who appeared to you on the road as you came.”
Acts 22:13-16 Paul recounts his “commission” before the Jerusalem mob.
Acts 26:16 In his defense before Agrippa, Paul says that Jesus told him, “arise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of things which I will yet reveal to you.! (Surely referring to the “mystery” of Ephesians. Read on to Acts 26:22-23. What about Matthias? I don’t know, I’ll ask him when I see him.
I Corinthians 4:9-13 “For I think God has displayed us, the Apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, (notice!) to angels and to men!” Take note, the Apostolic ministry was as much for angels as for men! Carefully digest vs 10-13!
Matthew 16:18 When Jesus said, “I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”, He was initiating His “Omaha beach” offensive in the world!!! This being Memorial Day weekend, I recall a veteran I was taking to a medical appointment at the VA. He was missing a leg. In conversation, he told me he lost his leg on Omaha beach. Medical personnel were in tents on the beach, treating the wounded, the thousands of wounded. There were piles of amputated limbs beside the tents, waiting for the burial team to come by.
The Apostles were the Lord’s “Normandy Invasion” into satan's “world”. Paul says in I Cor. 4:9, “God has displayed us (His Plan), the Apostles, last, as condemned to death.” We know from tradition and history, that only one Apostle John, died of natural causes. They literally and spiritually, “fought the good fight, they have finished their course (their part in God’s Plan), they have kept the faith.” (II Timothy 4:7)
To forget it’s fallen warriors, to disparage it’s soldiers, to let their sacrifice be forgotten, that is the death of a nation. Even more so is it true of the professed church of Christ. His foundational warriors went to battle with “only” the words of what they saw and heard (I John 1:1-4), the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. But their words bear witness to their Lord and King. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Give more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, LEST WE DRIFT AWAY!!!