Faith Comes by Hearing A Note to You…

January 24, 2025

The Misery of the Damned in Full View of the Redeemed

Filed under: Uncategorized — mike @ 2:54 pm

Isaiah 66:24 – And they shall go forth , and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die , neither shall their fire be quenched ; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Doctrine: In the text, we see Isaiah contrasting the everlasting blessedness of the redeemed in contrast to those that are eternally miserable. From this text, I posit: One – that those in a glorified and heavenly state are in full view of those that are in a wretched condition and; Two – that the sight and review of miserable souls in torments causes no anxiety to the redeemed. 

The overall theme of Isaiah’s text shows Israel under judgment for disobedience to the word of God and following His statutes. The book opens with the vision of Isaiah declaring that Israel does not know their Sovereign and King and has not considered the One who has cared tenderly for them and strengthened them through their tribulations. It was the will and plan of God to bring His own people from Egypt after many years of bondage and show His glory to mankind through the preservation of His own.

As the narrative takes us through the plagues of Egypt and the subsequent delivery via the Providence of the Hand of God, we see that the pharaoh which suffered the personal loss of his firstborn in Exodus 12 asking the Israelites to leave, plundering the Egyptians in the process but still having favor in their sight verse 36. It was in the open and before the eyes of all men in Egypt that day that the LORD had delivered Israel out of bondage.

Throughout the Old Testament and in the New Testament, it is not unlike GOD to deliver His own from affliction in the sight of those that had tormented them, and even with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, there were upwards of two hundred witnesses that had seen Jesus in the flesh after the crucifixion. When GOD works, Isaiah 43:13 shows us that “Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?” and what GOD does is not hidden or done in secret, but before the eyes of men so that all may know to glorify the LORD of glory.

One: To our point of that those in a glorified and heavenly state are in full view of those that are in a wretched condition, we shall look at Luke 16 &cf. where Jesus accounts the death of a certain rich man and another certain beggar named Lazarus. As Jesus is accounting this to the listeners, he is using the term of a certain two people, which may have been known to the listeners at the time he is accounting this. Had Jesus spoken a parable, he would have not used the term of a “certain” man, leaving us to the idea that both persons would have been known and contemporary to the hearers. In chapter 15 of Luke Jesus is seen addressing the publicans and sinners while his disciples were with him. At the beginning of chapter 16 we see Him addressing His disciples also, and it is not shown whether these chapters represent two separate times or a single discourse, but we do know that the disciples were in His hearing.

In the account of Lazarus in Luke 16 verse 23 we see the rich man now in his state of misery seeing Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham afar off. The rich man in torments makes requests of Abraham but to no avail as in Abraham’s reply to the rich man in hell in v.31 that they have Moses and the prophets and to hear them, and even if One had arisen from the dead they would not have been persuaded.

It is from this account that the Savior shows that the occupants of the miserable place of hell have the ability to see in full view the blessedness of the saved and redeemed as they are being comforted. It is not enough that they are in full view of the damned, but that a great chasm has been fixed between the two and they are afar off so that the rich man in his torments clearly understands that under no course would he ever be allowed to attain to the blessedness of the beggar resting blessedly in the bosom of Abraham. It is in this scripture from the lips of Jesus that we know for certainty that the damned will be able to view the blessed yet be unable to attain their blessedness making their misery complete, and while there is only one account of this type in scripture, one accounting of this from the mouth of the Son of God cannot be measured against all of the wisdom over the ages of mankind; the accounting of this from Jesus is truth because His Word is Truth.

This is also a picture of the redeemed and the unbeliever – they are separated and far off from each other as objects of either the blessedness of GOD or the displeasure of Him. Those that are under condemnation are dead in trespasses and sin, and those that are being redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ are alive evermore – and the difference is such that scripture makes the distinction of using the words live and dead as we have experientially understood these two terms from our daily lives.

Two: Now that we see the validity of the point that damned souls can see the blessed, we must now turn our attention to those that are in a blessed state viewing the misery of the damned. A scripture in Isaiah 66 is showing us of the new heavens and the new earth. GOD has redeemed His own, and they are now in a blessed state. The nature of our time with Him will be spent in worship and blessedness. Isaiah shows us in verse 18 that all men will be gathered together to see the glory and brilliance of the LORD of Glory in His abode ruling the new heavens and new earth. There are verses here that tell mankind that there will be nowhere to hide on the eventual day where the sin of man is reckoned against his soul.

In Isaiah’s 66th chapter, GOD is telling of those He regards, and those that He will not- and how the actions of those that will be damned testify against them. The contrasts brought about in the early part of the chapter show the magnificence of our LORD and Creator, that the heaven is His throne and the earth is a mere foot stool for Him; and further asks what man could contribute or build for His glory and majesty. There is nothing that man can build for the glory of GOD nor can the hand of man create anything that compares to those works that were spoken into existence eons ago by His Word, and the life that still continues into the nostrils of mankind thousands of years after our Creator breathed the breath of life into one soul. Man withers and fails absolutely before the LORD of glory!

There is one thing that our chapter in Isaiah notes and the one thing that the LORD will have regard to: that is the man that is poor and contrite in spirit and trembles at the Word of GOD. All of the efforts of religion and doctrines will not suffice when the LORD is looking for a poor spirit and the regard and obedience to His Word. Further more in the same chapter, we see the regard that the LORD has for those that are poseurs in religion: the actions of those showing religious fervor without faith in the author of salvation are seen as those that thinking they are going through religious motions – and in this case the act of an animal sacrifice of an oxen – to be seen as the equivalent sin of committing murder. It is a humble thing to draw near to Jesus, and every effort should be made in being certain that our heart is right before GOD.

The ungodly are also at peril of having their eyes blinded when they refuse to hear GOD. Hebrews 12:25 warns that not to “refuse Him that speaketh.” There is a day of hearing both from GOD and from the Word of GOD, but there will come a day that GOD will refuse to speak to your heart because you have refused to consider and hear His Word any longer. We see from Isaiah 66:4 that when GOD had spoken to you, the refusal of GOD was in your heart, and you closed your ears both to His Word and the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to you in love. GOD will speak in love calling you only so long, then GOD will speak to you in His anger and hot displeasure. Furthermore, this verse shows that GOD will chose things that bring a delusion to you – “I will choose their delusions” because you “chose that in which I delighted not”. Deuteronomy 32:36 is telling you that “their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.” GOD Himself is choosing that day that has decided in His heart He has had enough of you and your refusal of Him, and those days are coming faster by every moment that you draw in breath as His enemy. In John 7:6, Jesus said “My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.” The end purpose of these verses is the Glory of God – whom has glory in Himself, yet is glorified in all things. He is glorified in the elect as well as those not elect, and even in those in Isaiah 66- all things work toward His eternal glory – and to display His glory to all souls including the redeemed and other inhabitants of Heaven.

When GOD comes, He will come in fury and anger – verse 15: “For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire”. Today, GOD is speaking with Truth, Grace, and Love, although it will not always be so, as there is coming a day that GOD is preparing for and his arrows are bent toward you because He has pleaded with you long, and spoke to you quietly and lovingly for a long time, but that day is drawing to a close for you because you have made yourself an enemy of the Most High GOD. Holy GOD has said “If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me, Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.” Deuteronomy 32:42-43. GOD shows mercy to His own people, and will torment those who do not belong to Him.

The torment and everlasting destruction of those who reject GOD and His Christ will be a matter of display and a reason for celebration. Consider Isaiah 66:22-24 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.”

There will come a day where part of the worship of GOD will be reviewing the ongoing ruination of those that transgressed against GOD by refusing Jesus Christ. We do not understand yet and have a limited capacity for fully knowing what it means to refuse Christ, and the heinousness of the sin of rejecting GOD, His Son Jesus, His Word, every prodding and conviction of the Holy Spirit – but a day will come for the redeemed of Christ to fully recognize and see the value of being in Christ. The redeemed will share in God’s holy perspective, loving what He loves and hating what He hates. This includes a perfect hatred for sin as rebellion against God, rather than a personal animosity toward individuals.

Days of celebration are set by the LORD where the reprobate who can already see the redeemed are also viewed by those upon whom Christ set His affections, and this is not an occasion of sadness, but a joyful celebration. One may say “if I see my relative in hell, that will spoil heaven for me.” Nonsense. You will be in Heaven and in the presence of the resurrected Christ Whom is sitting on the right hand of the Father in glory, and you will experience complete joy without the mixture of sin and the flesh that now burdens us. You will have perfectly Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” and have the ability to see sin for what it was, and how by God’s grace you were saved by faith in Christ.

You will know and understand how every joyous word written in the Bible was written for you and for your benefit, and how every curse against the ungodly carried a full penalty of the payment for sin. You will see sin the way that GOD always saw it, and have the same perfect hatred for sin and those that sinned against GOD, and you will not feel disappointment in their everlasting pain and destruction. As Heaven is the ability to see God in all His Glory, your beatific view will not be dimmed by the punishment of the wicked. In 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 –“Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your’s; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your’s; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” If indeed all things belong to the believer – including things to come – then the punishment of those that disobeyed and rejected GOD’s Christ are also a benefit to the redeemed, else GOD would have withheld something from His children. Judas Iscariot has been in torment for 2000 years, and should bring the believer peace and awe to see the perfect justice of God displayed in the retribution of those who rejected Christ, knowing that His judgments are holy and righteous. In John 6:60, the disciples remarked that the teaching of Jesus was a “hard saying; who can hear it?”

There are many hard sayings in the Gospel, and in John 6 after hearing hard sayings of Christ, “many” of His disciples “walked no more with Him” according to verse 66. Not all scripture is pleasing to the ear, and causes the believer to come to conclusions that are contrary with the world and flesh; all scripture is profitable for the called in Christ Jesus including the verses that are not easy to reconcile- and many Christians stumble with difficult passages because it requires the believer to reconcile beliefs that run contrary to their inward feelings. Our inward feelings may change, but the Truth of the Gospel is unchanging.

But why is it thus? Is it unfair to have the blessedness of the redeemed in heaven seen by the damned, and is it equally unfair to have the saved in Christ watching the suffering of the damned? Our guidance is here in Romans 9: 9-23

“9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.

10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;

11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)

12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,”.

In these verses we see why GOD does this at all. It is for the good of the good. GOD has prepared vessels beforehand “fitted” for destruction with the capacity to endure eternal flame and torment that He may make known His blessings onto the redeemed. Is it fair? Absolutely it is, as it’s the plan of a Holy GOD to visit everlasting blessedness onto those who are called by His Name, and He will eventually prepare a body for you capable of enduring the blessings of Heaven, as well as preparing you an everlasting home promised by Jesus Christ Himself.

While a difficult doctrine that causes believers to tremble, the redeemed in Christ should consider it all joy that the future state of the believer includes seeing the heinousness of sin, those rejected by GOD, and what the redeemed have been eternally saved from. Romans 5:8 reminds us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, demonstrating God’s love even as His justice is magnified. His love still extends to mankind today. Amen.

November 21, 2024

2 Peter 3:9 “all should come to repentance”

Filed under: Uncategorized — mike @ 8:47 pm

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Often this verse is used in the context of the Lord wanting and desiring all men to be saved. If the Lord is not willing that any should perish – that is it’s not the will of God for mankind to be relegated to eternal torments – and that it’s the hope of God that every man born would come to the savior. Coming to the open offer of the gospel to all mankind seems to be the emphasis of this text, that God is desirous that men should be saved. Is the truly what this verse is saying?

Context matters in this case, and taking a single verse to build a case for universal opportunity to hear and decide for Christ is not where the text leads us. First we need to know who Peter is addressing and why. In verse one he is addressing the beloved, or the church. The church is called “beloved in other places. In Romans 1:7 we see: “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The beloved here mentioned are those beloved of God, so they cannot be unconverted sinners. Further, they are “called to be saints”, which is not a term used for the unbeliever; there is not a single case in holy scripture where the unbeliever is ever referred to as being called to be a saint or beloved, so in this case and in these verses, the group addressed is a group of believers that Peter writes to. In 2 Peter 3:2, Peter addressed the listener to be mindful of words spoken by holy prophets and commandments of the Lord and Savior. The words of Christ and the prophets of old were precious gems and pearls, which is forbidden to be cast before swine. Matthew 7:6a commands “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine”, and in this case that which is holy are the words of God, and the pearls spoken of here are the pearls of great price which Christ encourages us to sell all and acquire Him for eternal gain. Christ encourages us to be diligent to give all for and to Christ.

In 2 Peter 3:3-7, we understand the world being ripe for judgment as men walk after lusts and scoff at the delay of Christ to return. In these verses, Peter makes his point that the forgetfulness of men is making them ready to be judged as the world was judged the first time by water, and the next time by fire.

Now in verse 9, Peter is bringing the hearer to a point and stands as a bridge between verses 8 and 10 where Peter returns to the theme of end times, judgment, and destruction – encouraging men to be holy in all godliness and conversation or lifestyle. The same treatment is given to verse 9 which is our concern here, and the first part of the verse continued the theme of the preceding and latter verses, that God has made promises, and is not slack or negligent in those promises as some count slackness. The verse is also telling us that God is longsuffering. By reading the verses that bracket verse 9, we can now that God is going to judge the world, and this judgment is promised, but does exercise longsuffering. This brings to mind Romans 9:22, “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction”. We see in both cases, God is exhibiting patience or longsuffering with sin that will eventually be judged. God is ready at any moment to open the chasm of hell to cast the wicked in, but He still is showing patience at this time.

In 2 Peter 3, we see that God is longsuffering. This is directed “toward” as a preposition pointed at the personal pronoun of “you”, meaning that the preceding verses building up to verse 9 were written to Christians in a church which were believers being mindful of the words of Christ and the prophets to be prepared while God is exercising patience and longsuffering with the wicked. Our word “willing” in Greek is boulomenos or “resolutely resolved” to a decision made at some point in the past. We see that God decided in some time past that He was going to judge the wicked as He did in the flood and how He will with future fire, but is now being “makrothymei eis hymas”or “patient toward you”, who are the ones address in 2 Peter 3. Those being addressed are believers, the elect of God chosen before the foundation of the world – in the past, because God is going to bring fully into His storehouses all whom He is planning to save so that none are lost. God will save all His elect without fail. The use of “choresai” or “to come” is aorist tense, which in Greek is an action that has a starting point that continues forever into the future with no stopping point. This means those that are repenting and coming to Christ are also sealed forever when they come to Him. They are forever secure in Him.

This scripture of 2 Peter 3:9 cannot be addressing people in general hoping that there will be an offer generally of the gospel to all mankind where men will make decisions for Jesus Christ; because the subject of the chapter is addressing the elect children of God in the church of God that are chosen by God. Before the world is to be judged, all His elect will be saved. All the elect will come to repentance. All the elect will exercise the grace of faith. All the elect will close with Christ fully and finally.

To use this verse in any other way is to remove it from context, and add meaning that isn’t in the original text – remember the  warning of this in Revelation 22:18-19. “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

May God be honored and pleased with His children as He (God) exercises longsuffering toward us as the elect are repenting and coming fully to Christ.

September 26, 2024

The Important Things…

Filed under: Uncategorized — mike @ 5:16 pm

This will be short and sweet. The LORD placed us here to come into a relationship with His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. When Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” in John 14:6 – He (Jesus) was stating a narrow path of exclusivity.


There is no other way to Heaven. There is no other way to have a relationship with your Creator. There is no other way to live forever / have eternal life. No other way.

Jesus speaks of a “narrow way” in Matthew 7:13-14 ” Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Jesus also says that they way to destruction is broad and many go there. I know from my own personal experience that many people want to follow the crowd, do what everyone else is doing. I can recall being asked as a child, if all your friends were jumping from a bridge, does that mean you should do it? This hyperbole was intended to promote individual thinking followed by courageous action to do the correct thing even if it is unpopular.


Which brings me forward. Being convicted in conscience to be obedient to what God has told you do to has a cost. Most often, the cost is high and will mean change. In Acts 26 we see the Apostle Paul in front of King Agrippa and read the dialogue. Paul testifies of his persecution of the early Church, and his subsequent conversion – where he was told by Jesus to preach the Gospel. In Acts 26:19, Paul states to Agrippa ” Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision”. At the outset of the events of 2020 and 2021, the world had become divided over philosophy. You are either a “true believer” in “science” or something else. It is a shame that the current science cannot be questioned. I recall in school that for something to represent science, it had to be observable and repeatable – and that science was not a settled matter. History tells us that Galileo Galilei was imprisoned by the holy see in Rome for saying the Earth revolved around the Sun. More information and more light reveals more truth, and old feelings about what used to be science have changed. The other concern is that science cannot be settled. Science that cannot be questioned is propaganda, and you need look no further than WWII Europe to see that experiments were carried out on innocent people in the name of “science”.


I have another concern with the “science”, that it has become a religion, and it’s orthodoxy cannot be questioned. Masks are the magic talismans, agency heads are the high priests, chemicals put into your body by a needle are communion – and those that are not “part of it” are the “unbelievers” that are constantly proselytized by the media to become “believers”; and that the woes of the planet are to blamed for the “unbelievers”. If you read enough 1939 history, the next thing coming is to wear an emblem on your garment so you can be “recognized” and shunned. We are in a concerning place, and the last century is far enough in the rear view mirror for younger generations that they are on the precipice of repeating mistakes of prior generations.


God spoke to my heart early through His Word in 2020. I needed to avoid some of the popular science then. God gifted me with one body and one chance to keep it pure. The last number of months have been months of introspection and taking a hard look at what I believe. Do I believe God can Heal? Yes. Do I believe that God can protect me? Yes. Do I believe in body integrity? Yes.


Getting back to Acts 26. God spoke that I needed to not follow the “popular” opinions and should be separate from “what everyone else is doing”. Difficult? Absolutely. Does it have a cost? Yes.


I stand with St. Paul – I was not disobedient to my heavenly vision, and yes – the way truly is narrow and few find it. It’s narrower than you think.

July 18, 2024

Christ’s “Little Ones”

Filed under: Uncategorized — mike @ 6:49 am

Doctrine: The Little Ones of Christ are believers and not to be offended because Christ shows favor to them as citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Full Text: Matthew 8:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!” (NASB1995)

Focus Text: Matthew 18:6 particularly “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (NASB1995)

In Matthew 18, the disciples of Christ are asking who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It may have been a discourse between them for position, or possibly to know if there are preeminent spots in heaven whereas some have greater degrees of honor. It is not said the origin of the conversation in Matthew. What we do know is that Christ called a child over and set him as an example to the disciples. There are a few qualities that Christ calls out in this example.

  1. “are converted”. The call is for conversion, which is the essence of election. It is Christ whom called the child to Himself as the example. No one comes to Christ unless the Father draws him in, and it is not a decision made by the converted, but is a action based on a positive decree of God.
  2. “become like children”. This is not a declaration of pediatric innocence as all are sinful in Adam, but a responsibility of the converted to become like children – coming to Christ after He calls you in, living in innocence, having faith in and believing the Word of God, in obedience, diligence, and honor. It is right for a child to obey and honor his father, and in this case to his heavenly Father.
  3. “then humbles himself”. There is no place for pride for the child of God, but to be humble with an abased self-attitude toward heaven.

The first two points above are the conditions of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. First to be converted, then to exercise the faith to follow Christ and honor Him in your life. This will be the hallmark of your ownership to God, with the proof being a humble life – with the simple point being made to make one great in the kingdom of God. A child is not encumbered with many cares in the house of his father, only to enjoy working for and pleasing his father – as all of his needs are met by his father, and he is cared for under the roof and protection of his parent – so much more should we have this child like humble attitude as a child of our Heavenly Father.

As for the kingdom of heaven, John the Baptist proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, meaning it was ready on that day and available for those who would repent and believe. This kingdom of heaven is a present reality as noted in the Beatitudes “is the kingdom of heaven”, which is not a far-off place, but a present reality for the believer. What does it mean to “enter the kingdom of heaven”? This is the entrance into the family of God through the gift of the new birth applied to God’s elect which was determined in eternity past, and paid for in full by the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross once and for all time. In the following verses, Christ is speaking as if the kingdom of heaven is in the life of the believer, as there would be no need to concern over stumbling in the presence of God’s eternal throne in the third heaven, as those impediments do not exist there. So then – we can see that Christ is speaking about the kingdom of heaven that the redeemed live in while yet on earth.  

Point 1. As an emissary of Christ “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me”. We are an emissary of Christ on this earth, and Webster describes this word as a person send on a mission to act as a representative – with the Latin root of emittere, meaning to “send out”. As ambassadors of Christ, we are to represent Him as an ambassador of a foreign country would be. A foreign diplomat is not a citizen of the country visited, but of his own country… and in this same sense, the Christian is not a citizen of the world any longer, but is made a citizen of a land whose maker and builder is God. The diplomat is to represent in the best way his home country, and to speak what his leader would which him to speak, and act in a manner that would please the ruler of his home country – carrying out his leaders’ wishes and speak to the foreigners as if the leader was speaking himself. This is the picture used in Matthew 18:5. We are an ambassador for Christ in a foreign land.

Point 2. Ownership of the emissary by the home country. Again in this discourse, Christ is not specifically discussing pediatrics, although it could reference young children that are elect in God. The major emphasis in this verse and in other uses of “little ones” is of active believers in Christ of all ages. For example:

  1. Matthew 10:41-42 in the commission of disciples at the beginning of Matthew 10, there are rules given of Christ to his disciples. At the end of the chapter, He once again uses the term “little ones” of God’s prophets being given a cup of water in the name of a disciple, they will not lose reward. Christ’s prophets, disciples, and followers are considered Christ’s little ones based on docility of spirit and obedience to their Heavenly Father.
  2. Matthew 10:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven” NASB95. It is a comfort to know that God has assigned certain of the heavenly host to view the face of the Father continually. Our life as an emissary is not to disappoint the One Whom sent us on our journey of faith in this world, as our angel do see the Father in all of His glory all of the time without slumber or sleep.
  3. In Matthew 13 and 19, the term “hundredfold” indicates a state of blessing to the believer and not used in context with the reprobate. In Matthew 18:12, Christ has a hundred sheep, and one has gone astray. The sheep belongs to Christ and has wandered off, and the Good Shepherd goes off to find the one lost sheep because He values it and does not want it lost. The found sheep is a cause of rejoicing because it was found. The next verse is important as it says “So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish”. The sheep sought of the shepherd is considered one of Christ’s “little ones”, and can be counted into the emissaries in Matthew 10 – the use and language are the same.

Point 3. The protection of Christ’s “Little Ones”: “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” Mt 18:6 NASB95. Christ can and does protect His own – those whom He has paid for with His own blood on the cross. Those little ones have a high value to Him, and He is willing to protect those whom were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1), by seeking after them when they are lost, and to protect them from those that would harm them. In a tighter focus, and the point at hand is those that cause Christ’s little ones to stumble.

Uses of the term stumble / stumbling block:

  1. In Matthew 16:23 Christ speaks to Peter to get behind him as he is a stumbling block doing the work of satan trying to thwart the work of Christ – so we can see that unknowingly Peter stood in the way of Christ’s ministry. Probably Peter was unaware of what he was saying at the time, but in that moment his heart was not right, causing Christ to address him as an emissary of the enemy at the moment. At the moment Peter was speaking, he had not come fully to Christ.
  2. Matthew 18:7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!” There is a pronouncement of woe upon the world bringing stumbling blocks before Christians – the “little ones” spoken of in the prior verses. The world brings stumbling blocks onto the child of God – sometimes as a test, and sometimes to bring that child closer to his heavenly Father. Christ pronounces this woe to the world, that is everything outside of the kingdom of heaven, where Christ began this chapter. The verse also states that that it is “inevitable that stumbling blocks come”. We know that if anything is inevitable, it is God Himself that makes it inevitable. Lamentations 3:37 “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?” It is insolence to believe that anything comes to past except by a divine ordination and a positive decree of God. Those stumbling blocks that cause Christ’s little ones to stumble are placed there by God who is the ordainer of all things.
  3. Stumbling blocks cause the unpardonable sin to the unbeliever. “it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” The language unpardonable sin is not specifically used here, but there is no hope for a person weighted down by a heavy millstone and drowned. The word “drown” means a final death, and though unpardonable sin isn’t used here, the action as a final descent to ruin is used as there is no hope for the person mentioned here, both in this world and the one to come. It would be better if this person is destroyed because there is nothing they can do to improve their cause, and their immediate destruction – “it would be better” – shows that if they continued to live, they would be heaping wrath upon wrath onto themselves making the flame of hell worse by every miserable moment they lived.

Point 4. The purpose of stumbling blocks. The child of God is elect / chosen before the foundation of the world by an active decree of God in His everlasting mercy and good pleasure. The price for the elect was paid by the Son of God with His own precious blood at Calvary, thereby sealing the elect forever as an act that cannot be changed, lost, or diminished. The elect are citizens and emissaries of the Kingdom of Heaven, both here in the present life and eternally sealed in heaven. Nothing can separate the saint of God from Christ, lest the blood would be of no effect, but we know that the power of Christ’s blood taken into the heavenly temple and offered once to the Father caused the final payment for the sealing of the elect.

Romans 8:28-32: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” If indeed all things work to the good of them that love God, it also stands that even stumbling blocks – ordained and placed by God – also work for the good of the believer. We know that stumbling blocks come, but the question remains – why?

Romans 9:22-23 gives us the reason. “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory”.

Those stumbling blocks ordained by God by a positive decree to be placed into the way of a child of God are placed there for the good of the Christian and the demise of the reprobate. If all things work for our good, so do the stumbling blocks, and so does the destruction of the wicked, and it works for the blessing of the elect of God – those vessels of mercy – those that have received the promises of God and are citizens of the kingdom of heaven bought and paid for by the blood of Christ. Those stumbling blocks are placed of God, but the stumbling is caused by the wicked person’s own will and devices and evil heart, and God is not the efficient cause of the person’s fall – only the divine ordainer of the obstacle. The fall is the exercise of a reprobate will and action against the child of God.

Point 5. The final stumblingblock. Romans 9:33 “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” That stumblingblock spoken of in Isaiah 28:16 is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ – the ultimate stumbling block and stone of offense. In 1 Peter 2:8 we see “And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.” – this showing that Jesus being the rock of offence causes stumbling to those that are stumbling and disobedient to the Word, yet the reprobate is appointed unto this stumbling. The appointment is a positive decree from God to set Christ as the Chief Cornerstone and the Rock of Offence, and other stumblingblocks are place in life that the unbeliever stumbles over to their final and complete demise.

May you find yourself not stumbling over the person and work of Christ, and if you are not in Christ, may you not be the efficient cause in causing a child of God to stumble thus causing your final and irreparable ruin.

The Bottom Line…

Filed under: Uncategorized — mike @ 2:47 am

You have one life. What will you do with it?

Many say they are “living their truth”. This is a worldly philosophy and does not align with the Holy Bible. John 14:6 says “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Only one Truth exists, and that is the truth in Jesus Christ.

February 9, 2012

Genealogy

Filed under: Uncategorized — mike @ 9:55 pm

Online for over 23 years.

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