Romans 4:11 "And He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet circumcised. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickened the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he night become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be."
God made this promise to Abraham long before circumcision was introduced. Abraham just believed God, that's all. God saved Abraham by faith alone. There is no merit in faith itself. There was nothing around Abraham in which he could trust, nothing that he could feel, nothing that he could see. ALL ABRAHAM DID, WAS TO BELIEVE GOD. He put his confidence in the promise because of the One who gave it and in this way he worshiped God - glorified God. You see, man was created to glorify God, but by disobedience he did the opposite. The only way that we can glorify God, IS TO BELIEVE HIM, We are to take God at His Word - TRUST HIM.
Hebrews 1:1-5 "God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power; when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son."
WHO ARE THE FATHERS?
They are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua, Moses, David, Isaiah, etc. These are the fathers but they are not my father - and they may not be your father either. Obviously this was written to those people who could call Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob their fathers, and that is why it is called the Epistle to the Hebrews. But God is also the God of the Gentiles and we can be very thankful for that. God spoke in time past through the prophets. A prophet is one who speaks for God and he could speak of things that were in the future. God spoke through many men who were tremendous and they gave tremendous messages. It took all of them to put the Old Testament together and then they only gave us a partial revelation. But now we see that God has spoken finally, completely and assuredly in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
GOD HAS SPOKEN HIS LAST WORD TO THIS WORLD THROUGH HIS SON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Matthew 17:5 "While he yet spake, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; HEAR YE HIM."
God has spoken His final Word to you and to me as well. Christ is superior to all the Old Testament writers - fathers.
CHRIST HAS FULFILLED ALL THE OLD TESTAMENT AND HE HIMSELF GIVES GOD'S FINAL WORD TO MAN.
John16:15 "All things that the father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you."
I WILL BE TO HIM A FATHER , AND HE SHALL BE TO ME A SON." This is a quotation from
2 Samuel 7:12-14 "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son."
This is God's promise to David when He made a His covenant with him. THIS REFERS TO CHRIST. HE ALONE FULFILLED IT.
Romans 1:3 "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was mode of the seed of David according to the flesh."
This is God's promise to David when He made His covenant with him. God told David that He was going to set up His seed and that He would establish His kingdom for ever. This is tremendous and it REFERS TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. HE ALONE FULFILLED IT. Do you remember that at His resurrection the Lord Jesus said to Mary,
John 20:17 "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God."
God is the Father of Jesus Christ because of His position in the Trinity. God is my Father because of regeneration.
John 1:12 "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."
Oh dear friend do you believe on His name? If not, then ask Him to reveal Himself to you, right now.
GOD ALONE IS THE FATHER. He is the God and Father of the Gentiles also.
FATHERS.
Who are the fathers?
1 John 2:13 "I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one, I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father."
There are three degrees of spiritual experience that the apostle John speaks about. They are
1) The fathers.
The fathers are those who have known the Lord for many years and they have grown in Him and have become fathers - mature saints. David, is a fine example of a father because through out his life he learned to trust God and to lean on Him. He walked in constant fellowship with the Father and he must have written Psalm 23 when he was an old man. It must have been after he had gone through many trials and many dangers that he could write,
Psalm 23:1 "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want."
David, I feel sure, could look back over his life, back to when he was just a shepherd boy, and he could well remember all the many times that God had delivered him out of all his troubles. He believed that God even in the future, would always deliver him and that he would never want for anything. He remembered how God had always forgiven him and restored to him the joy of his salvation. David truly loved God and the book of Psalms is the very living proof of that. David trusted God implicitly and he knew how to pour out his heart before the Lord and tell Him everything that was in it. The book of Psalms is really a HIM book. A book all about Him, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:10 "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the power of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.
This is what makes one a father in Christ. How do you get to know someone? It is by living with them day by day. The only way to get to know the Lord Jesus is in the Word. The Word of God reveals Christ Jesus to us. We need to study the Word of God daily as it is the Bread of Life. If we are to know Christ we need to live in Him in His Word as we go through the joys and sorrows of this life.
2) The young men.
The young men are not as mature as the fathers but they are strong in the Lord because the Word of God abides in them. They have learned the secret of overcoming the enemy - that wicked one - through the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way to overcome in this world is by the Word of God. When we read and study the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will reveal Christ to us and He will teach us about Him.
Ephesians 6:17 "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."
These are our weapons. Our weapon of offense, is the sword of the Spirit - the Bible. We need spiritual food to make us strong.
3) The little children.
3) The little children are those who have never grown up. Although these folk are physically mature they are spiritually immature. Some of them have gray hair and have been church members for years. They are the ones who are constantly being tripped up by the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
We are living in the LAST DAY. It has been the last day for a long time now but the Word of God tells us in
2 Corinthians 6:2 "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation."
We are to be saved TODAY, that is, right now. TODAY is the day that you must answer His call and accept Him as your Saviour. Oh my dear friend, do you hear God's voice pleading with you to accept HIS WAY OF SALVATION? Please come to Him now if you have not already done so. Come, while there is yet time. Tomorrow, might just be too late. Listen to the words of the song
Softly and tenderly. Sung by Losinda.
Verse 1.
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling -
Calling for you and for me;
Patiently Jesus is waiting and watching -
Watching for you and for me!
Come home, Come home,
Ye who are weary Come home,
Earnestly, Tenderly Jesus is calling -
Calling, O sinner, Come home.
Verse 2.
Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading -
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies?
Mercies for you and for me?
Come home, Come home,
Ye who are weary come home,
Earnestly, Tenderly Jesus is calling -
Calling, O sinner, Come home.
Verse 3.
Time is now fleeting, The moments are passing -
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, Death beds are coming -
Coming for you and for me!
Come home, Come home,
Ye who are weary come home,
Earnestly, Tenderly Jesus is calling -
Calling, O sinner, Come home.
Verse 4.
Oh for the wonderful love He has promised -
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned He has mercy and pardon -
Pardon for you and for me!
Come home, Come home,
Ye who are weary Come home,
Earnestly, Tenderly, Jesus is calling -
Calling, O sinner, Come home,
AMEN.
Oh dear reader the Lord Jesus is calling people to Himself right now. HE IS CALLING THEM OUT OF THIS WORLD. He is also calling you and me to come to Him right now even if we have wandered away from Him. When I woke at 3am this morning, I was feeling very lonely and sad because yesterday I had wondered far from God and I was so exhausted last evening that I fell fast asleep when my head touched the pillar. The Lord Jesus let me sleep, He kept me while I slept. But He woke me Himself, very early at 3 am, with His soft and tender voice calling me to come to Him and I can truly say with full confidence,
Verse 1.
That calls me Lord, To Thee,
For cleansing in Thy precious blood
That flowed on Calvary.
I am coming, Lord!
Coming now to Thee!
Wash me, Cleanse me, In the blood
That flowed on Calvary.
Verse 2.
Though coming weak and vile,
Thou dost my strength assure:
Thou dost my vileness fully cleanse
Till spotless all and pure.
I am coming, Lord!
Coming now to Thee,
Wash me, Cleanse me, In the blood,
That flowed from Calvary.
Verse 3.
Tis Jesus calls me on
To perfect faith and love
To perfect hope, and peace, and trust,
For earth and heaven above.
I am coming, Lord!
Coming now to Thee!
Was me, Cleanse me, In the blood
That flowed on Calvary.
Verse 4.
Tis Jesus who confirms
This blessed work within,
By adding grace to welcomed grace,
Where reigned the power of sin.
I am coming, Lord!
Coming now to Thee!
Wash me, Cleanse me, In the blood
That flowed on Calvary.
Verse 5.
And He the witness gives
To loyal hearts and free
That every promise is fulfilled,
If faith but brings the plea.
I am coming, Lord!
Coming now to Thee!
Wash me, Cleanse me, In the blood
That flowed on Calvary.
Verse 6.
All hail, Atoning blood!
All hail, redeeming grace!
All hail, The Gift of Christ our Lord,
Our strength and Righteousness.
I am coming, Lord!
Coming now to Thee!
Wash me, Cleanse me, In the blood
That flowed on Calvary.
AMEN.
As I write this page, my joy is completely restored. The Lord Jesus is truly the only joy we need to face each new day. He satisfies our every longing and He keeps us singing as we go out into the world. His Word to us is all the comfort we need in this dark world of sin, sin that continually rubs off on us. People and things that pull us away from Christ Jesus. If perhaps you are out of fellowship with the Father as I was when I woke this morning, then He is also calling you to COME HOME. If you have never yet come to Him and asked Him to come into your own heart or asked Him to dwell with you and keep you, then you can open your heart to Him right now because he is earnestly and tenderly calling you to Himself. I know this, because I believe God's Word, that all His little children do come home. They come home, because they are the sons of the Father. The sons of the Father are never happy in the pig pen, they long for their Fathers home.
Sometimes a little pig will come and live in the Fathers house and enjoy getting all cleaned up with a blue ribbon round her neck. But before long the little pig is no longer happy in the Fathers house and longs for her old man the devil and the pleasures of this world - wallowing in the mire. A pig will soon show its true colors because it is a pig and it will withdraw from the Fathers house and return to the pig pen. The true children of God always return to the Father and when the Father sees them coming a long way off, HE RUNS TO MEET THEM. He always carries them home on His shoulders and He always prepares a banquet for them. God only disciplines his children when they are in the far country. He showers them with blessings when they come home. He longs for their return so that He can spoil them with all the good things from His table. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, is all goodness and all mercy. HE ALONE IS THE REAL TRUE JOY IN THIS WORLD.
Listen to this wonderful chorus by Losinda.
If you want JOY, Real JOY, Wonderful JOY,
Let Jesus come into you heart,
If you want JOY, Real JOY, Wonderful JOY.
Let Jesus come into your heart,
Your sins He'll take away,
Your night He'll turn to day.
YOUR HEART HE'LL MAKE OVER A NEW
AND THEN CONE IN TO STAY.
If you want JOY, Real JOY, Wonderful JOY,
LET JESUS COME INTO YOUR HEART.
Home.