“The remnant of Israel shall do no iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth for they shall feed and lie down and none shall make them afraid.”
The day of the Lord is not discernible by the standards of man. Adam cannot find out the beauty and wonders of this time of Jehovah for it is not subject to the control or restrictions of time. His day is the day of His power. It is manifested in the creation of all things, the sustaining of all things by the power of His will, His sovereign command and exquisite control of every thought, word and deed and His majesty and truth in the revelation of Jesus Christ. He has set forth the differences of His what He has made and fashioned from the beginning. He separated the light from the dark, the day from the night, the heavens from the earth and the land from the sea. He established the labors to be assigned and the subjects to perform the tasks. Unto each He gave the necessary and appropriate attributes and skills within the earthen vessel commensurate to their purpose. Before the world was formed or ever a living thing upon it, Almighty God had a people in Him whom He loved with an eternal love, called His Bride, and a people whom He hated, identified as the wicked.
The wicked have no part in the spirit, conduct or heritage of the children of grace. They are without God having no hope, therefore, their conduct, being in accordance to their nature, falls short of the glory of the perfect holiness of God. They are of their father the Devil, they dwell in vessels outfitted for destruction, they have been created and reserved unto that day and they act accordingly. They do the works of their father, who is a murderer from the beginning and the father of all lies, they dwell in the kingdom of darkness and love the darkness because their deeds are dark. They have no right, no portion nor memorial in the kingdom of God, though for a moment some may be given to taste of that heavenly thing (Hebrews 6:1). Nevertheless, the inhabitants of this world walk according to the lusts and desires of the flesh being blind to their being dead in trespasses and sins and deaf to the Word of God.
“Woe to the oppressing city that is filthy and polluted”
The affluent and influential of the world are astonished at the collapse and corruption of the religious entities of the world. They appear to be so blessed of the Lord as their numbers begin to swell, their coffers overflow and they begin to have an ‘impact’ upon their community and the world. This is the example of the nation of Israel as God brought forth twelve sons of one man as a nation from Egypt and made them mighty. He redeemed this people unto Himself and raised them up in might, strength, wisdom and prosperity through commerce and when they became fruitful, they forgot Jehovah. They followed that which was right in their own eyes and became like all the other nations, first assimilating the customs and traditions of the people of the land, then desiring a king and finally, forgetting the out-stretched arm of God, they forgot the fatherless, afflicted the widow and oppressed the stranger. Because this oppressing city had no ears to hear, she obeyed not the voice, she received not correction, she did not trust in Jehovah and she did not draw near to her God. She acted according to the nature within. His Word was not for her because she was none of His. She did not have the ear to hear and, from the beginning, she was a stiff-necked and rebellious people.
To this stubborn and hard-hearted people, God gave the pattern of the perfect Law at Mt. Sinai. The pattern given in the mount set forth that Adam is incapable of measuring up and hitting the mark of the standard of perfection demanded of God. It also stood as a daily reminder that in obedience to the commandment of God to keep His Law, man was condemned. The handwriting of ordinances was the ministration of condemnation and death because no flesh could ever be justified by the deeds of the law. The transgressing of the law is sin and the keeping of the law a reminder of the same for “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”.
The nation of Israel, in testimony to the nature of Adam, became the mother of all harlots, confusion by mixing, prosperous by corruption and wickedness. The merchants of this world that prospered along with her in her capitalizing on the commerce and trade of this world using the influences and splendor of that which God had given to her in the types of the law, watched in amazement and wonder as the judgment of God was manifested upon her in the day of His wrath. But in the midst of her decay and corruption was a remnant according to grace. This is the remnant that should be delivered and Christ was in the midst of her. Therefore His name is called, Zerubbabel, coming forth out of confusion.
This remnant is the seed born from above dwelling in an earthen vessel afore prepared unto glory. They have been and always shall be in Him. He created man after His image, male and female created He them, demonstrating that His Bride, was in Him from the beginning. He created man with his seed in him, after his kind, as a testimony to the fact that His incorruptible seed was in Jehovah God from before the foundation of the world. He separated Eve from Adam in manifestation that His Bride became partaker of flesh and blood and when Eve was deceived, being tempted and overcome by the lusts of the flesh, He set forth the type of His people whose heritage after Adam was dead in trespasses and sins. But the Lord was always in her as she was in the midst of the filthy and oppressing city, covered with the dust of the ground, awaiting for the sound of His voice calling unto her.
The day that Jehovah God sent forth His servant as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of His people of every kindred, nation, tribe and tongue, she was awakened from this slumber in national Israel (Isaiah 52:1). Though Israel had become as the sands of the sea, yet a remnant according to grace was delivered from her before the judgment of God was enacted upon her (Romans 9:27). This remnant was called forth to shake off the dust and put on her beautiful garments, which is the imputed righteousness of the Anointed Salvation of Jehovah. She was granted the right to wear these garments of fine linen, clean and white, because she was His Bride. She had the portion or inheritance of God, being born from above (Romans 8:17), and has the memorial or testimony of the Faithful Servant who finished the work in righteousness (Revelation 12:17).
She lives, moves and has her very being in the nature of that incorruptible seed being born of God. She is created in Christ Jesus unto good works and He has placed His Spirit within her causing her to walk according to His commandments and statutes. Though for a wile she was in silence in the earthen vessel as it walked according to the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, yet He reveals Himself in her at His appointed time and she comes forth by the power of His will. It is not by the might, strength or will of Adam that she lives, walks or is adorned in her beautiful garments, it is by the Spirit within that she acts, therefore there can be nothing that defiles or makes a lie.
Because she has the lot of her inheritance, which is God, being a rightful heir of grace and joint heir in Messiah, she does not fail in the duty set before her. The Beloved is without spot or blemish, she has no perversion, depravity or guilt in her, therefore she cannot do any injustice or wrong. Everything that she does hits the mark or is to the perfect measurement of the Holiness of Her Lord. She cannot speak or make a lie for this is the way of Adam and unto her it was granted to shake off that dust. There is no deceit or treachery in her mouth for she speaks the Word of truth. Her affections are for Jerusalem from above and she longs for the return to that land of promise.
Now some may say; How can these things be and yet there be sin in my life? Some have even stated that the commission of sin is the habitual engagement and enjoyment in lascivious living. This is the point of view of many theologians who speculate first that Adam is reborn and secondly that when the Spirit of God works upon a man, then that man has the power to perform the works set before him. Conversely, he also has the power to reject those works and bring upon himself the chastening hand of God. This is the doctrine of the mind and emotions of Adam. If this be the case then it is no more of grace but of works and the reward is due unto Adam for his cooperation with the Spirit. But we have not so learned Christ and His love.
In Adam all have failed and are separated from God by this failure. Adam does not have faith, for it is a gift of God and a manifestation of the Spirit within, and he has not the ability to measure up to God perfect demands. He was formed from the dust of the earth, delights in the fields of this world and is drawn away after the lusts and desires of his flesh. This earthen vessel is not a proper habitation for the seed born from above; therefore, a work must be done upon it to make it suitable for habitation. The house must be cleansed of all leaven, the leaven must be removed from the territory and the house must be identified as being afore prepared to receive the seed. The Lamb of God stood, as it had been slain, from the foundation of the world. His blood covered the sin of His people (atonement) and identified the vessels (consecrated). He removed that sin as far as the east is from the west before man was created, Eve was tempted or man was disobedient. This deficiency and depravity can never again be called into account for a reckoning as God promised; “I will remember them no more”.
He afore prepared the vessels for glory but He did not elevate the vessels above the dust of the earth. Adam is still drawn away by the lusts and desires of the flesh and when these desires conceive they bring forth the testimony of the body of this death. He is of the earth, earthly and natural. He has been taken from the dust of the earth (dug from the pit) and to that dust he shall return. But that which is born of God is His Holy seed born of Jerusalem from above, the mother of us all who believe.
This Holy seed is the perfection of Holiness and the dwelling place of Almighty God. There is nothing lacking in the seed for it is IDENTICAL to the Rock from whence it was hewn. It cannot fall short of the glory of God, it can never leave nor forsake the Godhead and it cannot deny itself. Since all the works of God are verity and truth performed in complete righteousness, the works of the children of God are the same. He that is born from above cannot commit sin for He has the Spirit dwelling within and the fruit of the Spirit is faith. Therefore since he has faith he cannot sin for “whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). He has the power of God and therefore he cannot transgress the Law of God because “sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4) and he has the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in him; “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4).
“Sing O daughter of Zion, shout O Israel, be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem” (Zepheniah 3:14)
The Lord Jesus Christ has overcome the world, fulfilled the law in righteousness and is seated at the right hand of the Father. His children have done the same in Him. They have overcome this world by faith and that not of themselves. They are blessed to be seated together with Him in the heavenlies and they cannot do any wickedness or evil. Jehovah God has taken away the weight and sin which was contrary to them in Adam and has given them a change of raiment. He has brought His people forth into His banquet house where He has prepared a table for them and His banner over them is love. He is the father to the fatherless who are not of the prince of the air, Satan. He is the Bridegroom to the widow who was widowed with the death of the first testament in the handwriting of ordinances and week and beggarly elements and He is the fellow companion to the strangers and sojourners of this world. He has walked the path that we trod even now. He has born our sorrows and felt our grief and pain. He has been tempted in ALL points like unto we are yet without sin. He has ordained all things for the good of them that love Him and He has promised that He will never leave nor forsake His people.
“In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear thou not and to Zion, let not thy hands be slack. Jehovah thy God is the midst of thee is mighty, He will deliver. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over YOU with singing.” (3:16)
“And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure” (I John 3:3).
Your servant in Christ,
(Elder) chet Dirkes
June 16, 2013
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