Epistle v11 --- Prologue I write to you, beloved enemy of God, found on the highways and along the fences, as a slave of Christ Jesus and an ambassador for Christ, sent to proclaim the invitation to the wedding feast of the King's Son. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:10; Luke 14:23; Romans 1:1; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Matthew 22:2-3; Romans 1:7) I give thanks to God for you into whose hands this letter has come, for the word has gone out even to the highways and along the fences, and it found me there too. What is true of you is true of what I was: dead in sins, a child of wrath, without excuse before the God who gives breath. That is why I write — not as one better than you, but as one who was once the same. (Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 1:20; Philippians 1:3) I come in the name of the One who sent me, as an ambassador for Christ, and I tell you plainly that I am praying for you: that God would grant you repentance and faith, that He would open your heart to pay attention to the things spoken, and that Christ would dwell in your heart through faith. My heart's desire for you is your salvation. (2 Corinthians 5:20; Romans 10:1; Acts 16:14; Ephesians 3:16-17) --- Chapter 1 Beloved enemy of God, you already know these things, and you have known them for a long time. You know it is appointed for you to die once, and after that comes judgment. You know that what you chase does not fill you, that vanity of vanities is written over all of it, that there is no rest in you and no peace for the wicked, who are like the tossing sea that cannot be quiet. You have covered this knowledge, but covering it has not changed it. (Hebrews 9:27; Ecclesiastes 1:2; Isaiah 57:20-21; Romans 1:19) The mask does not change the face under it. There is a way which seems right to you, but its end is the way of death, for your heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick — who can understand it? Even your knowing has been darkened: though you knew God, you did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but you became futile in your thoughts and your foolish heart was darkened, and so you stand alienated from the life of God, having no hope and without God in the world, because of the ignorance that is in you, because of the hardness of your heart. (Proverbs 14:12; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 1:21; Ephesians 4:18; Ephesians 2:12) I do not come to argue with that mask, and I do not write as one better than you, but as one who was once the same — dead in sins, a child of wrath, blinded in heart, hating the very God who gave me breath. I come with a weapon that is not mine, divinely powerful for the tearing down of strongholds, and I lay before you the only foundation that can be laid, which is Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:1-3; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5; 1 Corinthians 3:11) God is God. He made all that is and ordered it as it is; He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together, and He upholds all things by the word of His power. You breathe because He gives you breath; in Him you live and move and exist. That order is the miracle, and you stand inside it every hour, whether you acknowledge Him or not. (Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:3; Acts 17:25; Acts 17:28) Do not think you are without knowledge of Him, for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes — His eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that you are without excuse. He has set eternity in your heart, and nothing under the sun fills it. Yet this knowledge has not humbled you; it has only testified against you. (Romans 1:20; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Ecclesiastes 1:8) For knowing Him did not make you love Him. God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who has insight, anyone who seeks after God, and He finds none: there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks for God. The mind set on the flesh is hostile to God — it is at enmity toward Him — and by nature you do not love Him, but despise Him. This is where every man begins, and where you now stand: estranged from your Maker, an enemy, storing up wrath for the day of wrath. (Psalm 14:2-3; Romans 3:10-11; Romans 8:7; Romans 5:10; Romans 2:5) You stand under wrath, and it rests on you now. Every sin you have kept to yourself, He has seen, for all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom you have an account to give. The wages of sin is death, and he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (Hebrews 4:13; Romans 6:23; John 3:36) Does this offend you, that you cannot choose to save yourself? Do you rise up to accuse God of injustice, because you are condemned without Him? What say you, O man? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart — the word of faith which is preached: that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. So simple, so near, so free — the perfect gift of God, offered to all who believe. (John 6:61; Romans 9:20; Romans 10:8-9; Ephesians 2:8) But hear this: the God you hate has shown mercy. God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Though none seek Him, He seeks His own; though none choose Him, He has chosen a people for Himself from before the foundation of the world, and He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 1:4; John 3:16) Look then upon Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. See Him crucified: bearing our curse, condemned in our place, drinking the cup of wrath to the dregs, Himself bearing our sins in His body on the tree, made sin on our behalf who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, delivered over on account of our transgressions. See Him risen: vindicated by the Father, designated as the Son of God in power by the resurrection from the dead, destroying death, the firstborn from the dead, raised on account of our justification. Behold Him exalted: seated at the right hand of God, interceding for those who draw near to Him, able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them — for through Him God was pleased to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross. Here is your hope, here is your righteousness, here is your life. (John 1:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 4:25; Romans 1:4; Colossians 1:18; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; Colossians 1:20) There is salvation in no one else; there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. Do not look within yourself, for nothing dwells there but death and deceit. Do not look to the world, for it is passing away with its lusts. Do not look to works of your hands, for by the works of the law no flesh will be justified. Look to Christ. He is the author and perfecter of faith; He is the anchor within the veil; He is the one Mediator between God and man. (Acts 4:12; Jeremiah 17:9; 1 John 2:17; Galatians 2:16; Hebrews 12:2; Hebrews 6:19; 1 Timothy 2:5) This salvation is not in you. It is not of your will, nor of your striving, nor of the one who runs, but of God who has mercy. He takes out the heart of stone and puts in a heart of flesh — I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you — and He does it for enemies: if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 9:16; Ezekiel 36:26; Romans 5:10) Yet how shall you believe unless you hear? And how shall you hear unless one proclaims? I am such a witness — an ambassador of Christ, not a savior, but a herald sent to declare that there is salvation in no one else, as God is pleading through us: be reconciled to God. This gospel I have proclaimed to you is the very power of God unto salvation, and if you hear His voice today, it is not my words but His call, for the wind blows where it wishes — you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so is everyone born of the Spirit, and unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (Romans 10:14; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Romans 1:16; John 3:8; John 3:3) This is where the invitation finds you: dead on the road, unable to walk to the feast, for you are dead and the dead cannot walk to a feast. And still the King who gave a wedding feast for His Son sends word into the streets and lanes, and out to the highways and along the fences: Come, for everything is ready now. The poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame are brought in — and that is what you are. Therefore I plead with you: hear His voice. For the sheep hear Him and follow, and He gives them eternal life, and they will never perish. You are now confronted with His Word. Will you continue in rebellion, or will the mercy of God overthrow your enmity? For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Ephesians 2:1; Matthew 22:2-3; Luke 14:17; Luke 14:21; Luke 14:23; John 10:27-28; Romans 10:13) Here then is the gospel: that all your sins are forgiven in Christ — if you believe. This is no baseless claim but the very truth, for it rests on Christ Himself, who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, who was buried, and who was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their transgressions against them; through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins. Upon this rock stands your salvation or your condemnation. You were already without excuse before this letter came to you; this letter leaves you confronted. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Acts 10:43; Romans 1:20) So I ask you: do you believe this? More still — can you believe this? Can you accept that you are forgiven, not by your works, not by your worth, but only because Christ bore your sins in His body on the tree? Can you rest in the truth that His resurrection is life for you? Here is the judgment of God: he who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (1 Peter 2:24; John 3:36) Therefore repent, and believe the gospel. For here before you lies the forgiveness of your sins, purchased in blood and sealed in resurrection. Refuse it, and your condemnation is just. Receive it, and you will live. (Mark 1:15; John 3:18; John 5:24) --- Chapter 2 A dead man does not give birth to himself. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His great mercy, causes us to be born again to a living hope; in the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved. (John 1:13; 1 Peter 1:3; James 1:18; Ephesians 2:4-5) He did not decide it yesterday. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world; the Lamb was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God. This is the good news into which angels long to look. (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Peter 1:12) And when God makes a man alive, He does it by His Word. He speaks, and the dead hear. If you are born, you will be born the same way — by His will and not by yours, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. The same God who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, says it again in the dark of a man's heart. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. (James 1:18; John 5:25; John 1:13; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Hebrews 3:15) The first evidence of that life is this: he believes. Life comes first, for a dead man cannot believe; God makes him alive by His Word, and the living man looks at Christ and trusts Him, and turns from what he was — and repentance and faith are themselves His gifts, for God has granted even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life. (Acts 16:31; Acts 20:21; Acts 11:18; Philippians 1:29) The moment he believes, he is declared righteous before God. Therefore, having been justified by faith, he has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I have that peace, because God has justified me; if you believe, that peace will be yours. The war is over. The hostility that once ruled your heart is slain at the cross, and the wrath that hung over you has been borne by Another. He stands no longer as a stranger, but as a son; no longer as a rebel, but as one reconciled, clothed in a righteousness not his own. (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:16; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 2:19; Galatians 4:5; Romans 5:10; Philippians 3:9) This peace is not a feeling you conjure, but a reality secured by Christ's blood, for he is forgiven before he has done one good thing — God justifies the ungodly. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. What the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did — sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so 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. His judgment seat has become his place of refuge. (Romans 4:5-6; Romans 8:1-4; Romans 5:10) He is not only forgiven. He is brought home. The enemy is made a son. See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we would be called children of God — and we are. He is no longer a slave in fear, but a son in freedom, for God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into his heart, crying, Abba! Father! And a child is an heir: all the promises of God are now his in Christ — yes and amen. The Father's house is his home; His table his portion; His kingdom his inheritance. That is the feast you are invited to. (1 John 3:1; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6-7; 2 Corinthians 1:20; John 14:2; Matthew 22:2) And he is joined to Christ. This is the mystery now revealed: when Christ died, he died with Him; when He was buried, he was buried with Him; when He rose, he also was raised with Him to walk in newness of life. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. His old man was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be done away with, that he would no longer be enslaved to sin. This is not symbolic only, but a reality accomplished by the Spirit, for by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. The death of Christ became his death; the grave of Christ his grave; the life of Christ his life. He is not merely pardoned — he is made new. (Romans 6:4-6; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore he reckons himself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. He does not let sin reign in his mortal body, to obey its lusts; he does not yield his members as instruments of unrighteousness, but yields himself to God as one alive from the dead, for sin shall not have dominion over him, for he is not under law but under grace. Here lies his freedom: he has died, and his life is hidden with Christ in God; when Christ, who is his life, is revealed, then he also will be revealed with Him in glory. No longer bound to Adam, he is bound to Christ. No longer chained to death, he belongs to life. (Romans 6:11-14; Colossians 3:3-4; Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 6:23) God seals him. The Spirit Himself lives in him, the mark that he belongs to God — if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. He is the pledge of his inheritance, the guarantee that what has begun in him will be brought to completion in the day of Christ; He testifies with his spirit that he is a child of God, and He intercedes for him with groanings too deep for words, helping his weakness when he does not know how to pray. (Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9; Romans 8:16; Romans 8:26; Philippians 1:6) All of this is a gift: by grace he has been saved through faith, and this not of himself, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast. And the one who is born loves One he has never seen — though he has not seen Him, he loves Him, and though he does not see Him now, but believes in Him, he rejoices with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving as the outcome of his faith the salvation of his soul. (Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Peter 1:8-9) This is how anyone gets into the wedding hall: not by walking in strong, but by being born into the King's house. As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. The guests at the Son's wedding are the King's own children. (Matthew 22:10; John 1:12-13; John 3:5) --- Chapter 3 What is born has to grow. A man does not grow to become a child of God; he grows because he is one. I did not grow to become His child; I grow because I am one. Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation — the same Word that begot you feeds you. (1 Peter 2:2; John 1:12; 1 John 3:1; 1 Peter 1:23) And growing is certain, because He is the One doing it. He who began a good work in him will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Sanctification is not optional, but inevitable — for Christ Himself dwells in him, and He will not deny the work of His own hands. (Philippians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Colossians 1:27) The child walks, then, as one who was bought. He was not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from his futile conduct inherited from his forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. He is not his own. He conducts himself in fear during the time of his sojourn, as a sojourner and an exile. (1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 Peter 2:11) The child drinks the Word, and the Word is sweet — sweeter than honey to my mouth. It keeps him: how can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word; Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You. It lights the next step: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path; the unfolding of Your words gives light, it gives understanding to the simple — which is what children are. So the child asks Him, as he reads, to open his eyes, that he may behold wonderful things from His law. (1 Peter 2:2; Psalm 119:103; Psalm 119:9; Psalm 119:11; Psalm 119:105; Psalm 119:130; Matthew 18:3; Psalm 119:18) Here the road divides between the wise and the foolish. The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding, but ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline. Both hear the same words; one does them and one does not. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock; everyone hearing these words of Mine and not doing them may be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (Proverbs 9:10; Proverbs 1:7; Matthew 7:24; Matthew 7:26) The wise child is the one planted by the water. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of Yahweh, and in His law he meditates day and night, and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither. (Psalm 1:1-3) The mind is not made new once for all. Even while the outer man wastes away, our inner man is being renewed day by day, and so he comes back to Christ, again and again. The Lord's word to His branches stands: he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 4:16; John 15:4-5) Abiding is eating and drinking. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. To come to Him is to eat, and to believe in Him is to drink, for He is the bread of life, and the one who comes to Him will not hunger. Abiding, then, is nothing less than living by faith — continually coming to Him, continually believing, continually feeding on Him as your life, today and tomorrow and the day after — for the righteous will live by faith. (John 6:56; John 6:35; Romans 1:17; Hebrews 3:13) He feeds on Him by His Word: man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. He lets the word of Christ dwell in him richly. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. (Matthew 4:4; Colossians 3:16; John 17:17) And he speaks to Him. The Lord's promise to the one who abides stands: If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. He tells Him what he fears; he confesses what he did; he asks, and receives, so that his joy may be made complete. He gives thanks. He rejoices always. He prays without ceasing. In everything he gives thanks, for this is God's will for him in Christ Jesus. (John 15:7; Philippians 4:6; 1 John 1:9; John 16:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Yet do not mistake this for a new requirement to keep yourself saved. The Shepherd does not cast off His sheep. Even when his abiding falters, His does not — if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. His hunger and thirst, then, are not failures. They are the appetite of the new life, and they press him to return again and again to Christ, where every lack is supplied. He hungers, only to be filled; he thirsts, only to be quenched. (2 Timothy 2:13; Matthew 5:6) For the milk of the word is the first taste of the table the King is setting. Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. (1 Peter 2:2; Isaiah 55:1) --- Chapter 4 This growth cannot be stopped, because it is not yours. The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows — how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. (Mark 4:26-28; Philippians 1:6) The one who is His walks by the Spirit, and he will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Notice this: the command is real, but the promise is bound to it. The flesh still sets its desire against the Spirit, but it cannot prevail where the Spirit leads, for God is at work in you, both to will and to work. Let no one suppose, then, that he can summon the Spirit by his will, as if He were a tool in his hand. He is the Lord; He moves as He wills. The child does not wield Him — He carries the child. To walk by the Spirit is to yield to His pace, to keep step with His leading, to surrender the mind to His voice through the Word. For Christ lives in him, and the life he now lives in the flesh he lives by faith in Him. (Galatians 5:16-17; Philippians 2:13; John 3:8; 1 Corinthians 12:11; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:25; Romans 12:2; Galatians 2:20) Here lies the narrow way: neither striving in the flesh nor slumbering in presumption. Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never be! Both are lies. The truth is this: he walks, but not alone; he moves, but not apart from Him. Paul's word stands as the pattern: I labored — yet not I, but the grace of God with me. (Matthew 7:14; Galatians 3:3; Romans 6:1-2; Philippians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 15:10) Now understand where this battle is truly waged. Your heart has been made new — God Himself promised it: I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you — and that heart is not the fountain of evil it once was, for the Spirit of God dwells there, causing you to walk in His statutes. Why then does he still stumble? Why this inner war? Because the battlefield is the mind. The heart is made new in a moment; the mind is made new every day. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The old patterns still whisper, the remnants of flesh still press, and so every thought must be taken captive to the obedience of Christ. (Ezekiel 36:26-27; James 3:2; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 4:16; Romans 7:23; Galatians 5:17; 2 Corinthians 10:5) No one stands in neutral ground, free to serve whichever master he wishes. When a man presents himself to someone as a slave for obedience, he is a slave of the one whom he obeys. There is no free will as the world defines it; the will is bound — once to sin, now to Christ. The child is not his own; he was bought with a price. Here, then, is his life: he sets his mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth; he aligns his thinking with the new heart God has given; what he once yielded to sin, he yields now to righteousness; what once served impurity, serves now holiness. (Romans 6:16-19; Colossians 3:2; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Holiness is the family likeness: like the Holy One who called him, he is holy also in all his conduct, because it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. And He has not left him to do it alone: I am with you always, even to the end of the age — so He promised His own. Abiding shows itself in obedience and love — if you love Me, you will keep My commandments — for His law is written on the new heart: I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it. And His command is this: that they love one another, just as I have loved you. By this love the world will know whose you are. (1 Peter 1:15-16; Matthew 28:20; John 14:15; John 15:12; Jeremiah 31:33; John 13:35) Fruit comes as a branch bears when it stays on the Vine. Fruit is not coin with which to purchase favor from God — His grace cannot be bought, and the child's righteousness is Christ alone. But though fruit does not purchase salvation, it inevitably flows from salvation, for he is His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. And what is this fruit? Not mere deeds that men applaud, but the very character of God formed in you: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. These are not achievements to boast in, but manifestations of His Spirit within him; they glorify the Father, bless his neighbor, and testify that he is truly His disciple. One yields thirty, another sixty, another a hundredfold — but the root of all is Christ. To strive in his own strength is to wither; to rest in Him is to flourish. With the fruit comes His own joy: these things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 15:4-5; Galatians 5:22-23; Mark 4:20; John 15:8; Matthew 5:16; John 15:11) He will still stumble, for all stumble in many ways. When he falls, he does not hide. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He does not cast away His sheep; His rod corrects, His staff restores, and His blood cleanses still; and the very grief he feels for sin is His gift, for godly sorrow produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation. (James 3:2; Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9; 1 John 2:1; John 10:28; Psalm 23:4; 1 John 1:7; 2 Corinthians 7:10) His growing does not hang on the thread of his own resolve — it is the Shepherd who keeps His sheep, and no one will snatch them out of His hand. Some sins God removes in an instant, as a proof of His power; others He allows to linger, as a means of humbling and training. Paul pleaded three times for the thorn to be removed, but to the weak He says: My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Even should he foolishly set his mind to sin, he will not have peace there: the Spirit within him will war against it, his conscience will burn, and when he keeps silent about his sin his bones will waste away through his groaning all day long, day and night His hand heavy upon him, until he acknowledges his sin to Him. He may stray, but he cannot be lost. He may stumble, but he will be lifted up. Christ will not abandon the work of His hands, nor forsake the purchase of His blood. (Philippians 1:6; John 10:28; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Psalm 32:3-5; Galatians 5:17; Psalm 119:176; Psalm 37:24) Sometimes He cuts him. Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. This pruning is not punishment, and it must not be mistaken for wrath: wrath consumes, pruning refines; wrath destroys the tree, pruning strengthens the branch. This cutting is not the axe laid at the root of the tree that bears no fruit, for every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire — but for those who are in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation. When the Father cuts, He does not cast away, but cleanses: He disciplines us for our benefit, so that we may share His holiness; those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. This is not condemnation but confirmation — he is His child. If He cuts, it is to heal; if He removes, it is to give; if He wounds, it is to make him whole — not merely that he bear fruit, but that he bear more fruit, and that his fruit should remain. (John 15:2-3; Matthew 3:10; Romans 8:1; Hebrews 12:6-10; John 15:8; John 15:16) The seed does not stop growing until the harvest, and the harvest is the wedding. He who began a good work in him will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because Yahweh is the One who sustains his hand. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it. (Mark 4:29; Revelation 19:7; Philippians 1:6; Psalm 37:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:24) --- Chapter 5 He gave Christ as head over all things to the church, and she is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all; she is the household of God, the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. She exists to hold up the truth, to be the place where the Head is seen in His members, and to be the bride made ready. (Ephesians 1:22-23; 1 Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 5:27) No one who is His grows alone. When God makes a man alive, He puts him in a family — speaking the truth in love, he grows up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ. (Ephesians 4:15-16; Ephesians 2:5; Ephesians 2:19) The one who is His loves them. I know that I have passed out of death into life, because I love the brothers. I love, because He first loved me; if God so loved me, I also ought to love them. Love is patient, love is kind, is not jealous, does not brag, is not puffed up — and the child forgives, just as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven him. (1 John 3:14; 1 John 4:19; 1 John 4:11; 1 Corinthians 13:4; Ephesians 4:32) For above every gift, above every calling, above every work, there is love. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am nothing but noise; if I prophesy and know all mysteries, if I give all I possess to the poor, if I surrender my body to be burned, yet have not love, it profits me nothing. Do you see it? Gifts may dazzle, callings may exalt, works may impress — but without love they are empty. For love is not a gift among others; love is the fountain from which all gifts must flow, the measure by which every work is judged, for the love of Christ controls us — and this love is not sentiment but the Spirit Himself: the love of God has been poured out within the heart through the Holy Spirit who was given to him. (1 Corinthians 12:31; 1 Corinthians 13:1-3; 2 Corinthians 5:14; Romans 5:5) There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord; there are varieties of workings, but the same God who works all things in all persons. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit together furnish the body of Christ, so that no member lacks, and all are bound in one life — and without love the gifts are nothing, so through love they serve one another. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-2; Galatians 5:13) Consider first the gifts at hand. The gifts differ according to the grace given, and each one who has received is to exercise his accordingly — whether service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, or showing mercy. These do not require a heavenly vision nor a sudden power from above; they are given throughout the body and may be walked in at any moment by faith, for as each one has received a gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. These gifts are always at hand, waiting only for love to set them in motion. (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:10) There are also appointed gifts, entrusted by the Spirit alone. To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is profitable — one is given prophecy, another healing, another tongues, another the interpretation of tongues. These no man chooses, for the Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. The Spirit supplies as He wills, in the measure He wills, so that Christ is glorified and His people strengthened. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) And beyond these, Christ Himself appoints callings of service: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers — given for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, for the building up of the body. Not all are called to the same work, yet every member is necessary, from the least to the greatest, for the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary, and God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked. See then the wisdom of God: the gifts at hand train His people in love, the appointed gifts supply His people in need, the callings of service order the body for its growth — yet all come from the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God. And though one may serve as teacher, another as prophet, another as evangelist, the calling given to one does not make the others servants of a different grace, for it is God who works all things in all. For His people are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that they would walk in them. (Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Corinthians 12:22-24; Ephesians 2:10) No one is extra. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. The foot does not stop being part of the body because it is not a hand, nor the ear because it is not an eye; if all were an eye, where would the hearing be? God has appointed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. No member is misplaced; his role is not an accident. God gives more honor to the parts that seem weaker, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And what then is Apollos, and what is Paul? Servants through whom men believed, even as the Lord gave to each one; neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. The church is God's field, God's building. (1 Corinthians 12:15-18; 1 Corinthians 12:21; 1 Corinthians 12:24-25; 1 Corinthians 3:5-9) But this body is not only an image of function — it is an image of union. From the beginning God said the two would become one flesh, and Paul unveils the mystery: this mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. She is His bride, joined to Him in one Spirit, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, and the invitation is to a wedding. And she is a house too: living stones, built up as a spiritual house, fitted together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. No stone stands alone; each supports and is supported, until the whole rises as a holy sanctuary to the Lord. (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:30; Ephesians 5:32; 1 Corinthians 6:17; Revelation 19:7; 1 Peter 2:5; Ephesians 2:21-22) Therefore love is pursued, and in love the child walks in every grace set before him; he earnestly desires the gifts, yet never despises the lesser. He does not neglect the gift that is in him, and he kindles afresh the gift of God which is in him, for gifts are not static treasures but entrusted graces, meant to be stirred, exercised, and offered — like embers in the hearth, they must be fanned into flame; to neglect them is to let the fire grow cold, to stir them is to let the body be warmed and strengthened. Yet this stirring is not self-will, as though he could force the Spirit's hand, for the gift is His, the power is His, the timing is His; his part is to be faithful — a vessel ready for the Master's use, sanctified, useful, prepared for every good work. And how is faithfulness shown? By love: whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves, is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. He is not the source but the steward, and to whom much is given, much will be required. (1 Corinthians 14:1; 1 Timothy 4:14-15; 2 Timothy 1:6; 1 Corinthians 12:11; 2 Timothy 2:21; 1 Peter 4:10-11; Luke 12:48) And all things are done for edification. When the church assembles, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation — let all things be done for edification. The measure of any gift is not how impressive it seems, but whether it strengthens: if a gift builds up, it is of God; if it tears down, divides, or exalts the giver, it has departed from love. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, and all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner. Order does not quench the Spirit, but reveals Him — and when gifts are exercised in love and discipline, the unbeliever who enters may fall on his face, declaring, Surely God is among you. Thus gifts become a testimony, not of human power, but of the presence of the living God in His people. (1 Corinthians 14:26; 1 Corinthians 14:33; 1 Corinthians 14:40; 1 Corinthians 14:25; Ephesians 4:16; Matthew 5:16) Remember always that gifts are temporary, but love is eternal. When the perfect comes, the partial will be done away: prophecies will cease, tongues will be stilled, knowledge will pass away — for these are scaffolds, given until the building is complete. Then love alone will remain, for God is love. This is the greater mystery: that all the gifts, all the callings, all the works exist so that God Himself might be seen in His church — His body, His temple, His bride — through whom the manifold wisdom of God is made known, until the knowledge of His glory covers the earth as the waters cover the sea, until Christ is all, and in all. The whole body, being joined and held together by what every joint supplies, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. Look at who sits at that table: a household, a body, a bride — for Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless. (1 Corinthians 13:8-10; 1 John 4:16; Ephesians 3:10; Habakkuk 2:14; Colossians 3:11; Ephesians 4:16; Ephesians 5:25-27) --- Chapter 6 Hear what the King promises those who are His. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. He promises them two things: that He will come again, and that they will suffer until He does. The promise runs from the first book to the last: in the garden it was spoken over the serpent — I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. (John 10:27; John 14:3; John 16:33; Genesis 3:15; Revelation 2:10) If you believe, do not be surprised when trials come upon you, as though some strange thing were happening. Through many tribulations the King's people enter the kingdom of God. Christ Himself foretold it: if they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; a slave is not greater than his master; the world hated Him first. Paul confirmed it: indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And Peter exhorted the beloved not to be surprised at the fiery ordeal among them, but to the degree that they share the sufferings of Christ, to keep on rejoicing. (Acts 14:22; John 15:18-20; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12-13) This has been the way from the beginning. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Abel was killed for his righteousness; Joseph was sold by his brothers; David was hunted; they experienced mockings and floggings, chains and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were put to death with the sword — men of whom the world was not worthy. The Son of God was crucified. Shall His body not follow the Head? When the apostle was called, it was spoken over him: I will show him how much he must suffer for My name. To the very end the souls under the altar cry, How long, O Master, holy and true? — and are told to rest a little while longer, until the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were to be killed even as they had been would be completed also. And to the church in Smyrna the word is the same: do not fear what you are about to suffer; be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Psalm 34:19; Isaiah 53:3; Genesis 37:28; 1 Samuel 23:14; Hebrews 11:36-38; Hebrews 11:4; Hebrews 11:37; John 19:18; Acts 9:16; Revelation 6:10-11; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 2:10) Trouble comes, and it is not a mistake. For to those who are His it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake — and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, for as His physical body suffered, so His spiritual body will suffer with Him. (John 16:33; Philippians 1:29; 1 Corinthians 12:26) Nor has God left His people without warning. The prophets condemned those who cried, Peace, peace! when there is no peace. False teachers promise prosperity and ease, but the true word of the Lord has always foretold affliction. Whoever cries, Peace, peace, when there is no peace, speaks the false teachers' word, not the Lord's. (Jeremiah 6:14; Ezekiel 13:10) Only let the suffering be for the right thing. Let none who is His suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be put to shame, but is to glorify God in this name. The child has need of endurance, so that when he has done the will of God, he may receive the promise. (1 Peter 4:15-16; Hebrews 10:36) The suffering is fellowship. If they suffer with Him, they shall also be glorified with Him. To persecute His people is to persecute Him — Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? This is what it means to be conformed to the image of His Son: knowing the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. To the degree they share the sufferings of Christ, they keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory they may rejoice with exultation — as they went away rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for the Name. If a man is insulted for the name of Christ, he is blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on him. (Philippians 3:10; Romans 8:17; Romans 8:29; Acts 9:4; 1 Peter 4:13-14; Acts 5:41) It refines. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The testing of your faith brings about perseverance, and let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (1 Peter 1:6-7; James 1:3-4) And not all suffering comes from the hatred of the world; some comes directly from the hand of his Father. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. Do you see it? Affliction is not always wrath; often it is love. Wrath casts away, but discipline proves sonship: it is for discipline that you endure; God deals with him as with a son. (Hebrews 12:5-7) Those who are His do not suffer alone. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. In the furnace in Babylon there were four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm. Of all the Father has given Him, He loses nothing — and nothing in it can tear them away: who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction, or turmoil, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. (Isaiah 43:2; Daniel 3:25; John 6:39; Romans 8:35; Romans 8:37) The faith that comes through fire does not shine for itself alone. The suffering of the saints turns out for the greater progress of the gospel; they are brought before rulers for His sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles; and the one who suffers and still believes says to the world: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Philippians 1:12; Matthew 10:18; Philippians 1:21; Matthew 5:16) If you are His, do not shrink back when the fire comes, nor stumble when the storm rises. Take courage: our momentary, light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, and if we endure, we will also reign with Him. The road to the wedding runs through suffering, and the King's slaves have always walked it — those who would not come seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33; 2 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Timothy 2:12; Matthew 22:6; 1 Peter 4:12) --- Chapter 7 I must warn you. Paul's charge stands: proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that every man may be presented complete in Christ — and not everyone who walks toward the wedding hall is going in. Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves; you will know them by their fruits. False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves — and in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Paul warned the elders that from among their own selves men would arise speaking perverse things, and the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith. Their smooth words will lull some into false security. (Ezekiel 33:7-9; Colossians 1:28; Matthew 7:15-16; 2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 2:3; Acts 20:29-30; 1 Timothy 4:1) Some of them will not even know what they are. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. They sat among the children and were never born: they went out from us, but they were not really of us, for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us. Judas himself walked with Christ, saw His power, and was sent out with the twelve when Christ gave them authority over unclean spirits and to heal every disease, yet was never His — Christ Himself said of him: one of you is a devil. (Matthew 7:22-23; 1 John 2:19; Matthew 10:1-4; John 6:70) God allows them among His people so that the true are made plain. There must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Their deception does not frustrate His purpose; it exposes and refines the church — warnings harden the unbelieving, but they secure the faithful, driving away the wicked yet drawing nearer those who know their faith is from God. (1 Corinthians 11:19; Matthew 3:12; Jude 4) The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all workers of iniquity; Yahweh tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. What if God, wanting to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath having been prepared for destruction, and in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory? Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. We were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest — but God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, demonstrated that love toward sinners and reconciled me while I was an enemy. Do not think lightly of His patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance. (Psalm 5:5; Psalm 11:5; Romans 9:22-23; 2 Peter 2:3; Ephesians 2:3-4; Romans 5:8; Romans 5:10; Romans 2:4) There are those who come very close. They are once having been enlightened and having tasted of the heavenly gift and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come — and then they fall away. We have had good news proclaimed to us, just as they also; but the word that was heard did not profit those who were not united with faith among those who heard. They tasted, but they did not eat; they beheld, but they did not believe; they stood near the fire, felt its warmth, even desired its light, and yet were never born again. Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. (Hebrews 6:4-6; Hebrews 4:2; Matthew 7:21; 2 Corinthians 13:5) I tell you this not to drive you away, but to drive you to Christ. Do not rest in what you once saw or heard or felt. Rest in Him. Examine yourselves — not to weigh your fruit as though it were a scale for salvation, but to see whether you are in the faith at all. And if you believe, I am convinced about you of things that are better and that belong to salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For true saving faith is the gift of God, not the product of man's will: faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ; by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. (Hebrews 6:9; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Romans 10:17; Ephesians 2:8; John 6:37) There will be some at the wedding hall who came in without a wedding garment. They sat close to the table; they looked like guests; the King will find them out. Do not come in your own clothes. (Matthew 22:11-12; Isaiah 64:6) --- Chapter 8 Hear what death is. From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. Man ate, and that day he hid from the presence of Yahweh God and was driven out from the way to the tree of life. That is the death you were born into — dead in your transgressions and sins. (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:6; Genesis 3:8; Genesis 3:24; Ephesians 2:1) The wages are paid in full: the wages of sin is death, and it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. After the first death comes the second. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire; this is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. For the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:14-15; Revelation 21:8) It is permanent. These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. It is the place where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. It is separation from the presence of the Lord: these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might. Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:48; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Matthew 10:28) That is the outer darkness of the parable, with weeping and gnashing of teeth — and it is already resting on you if you will not have the Son, for he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (Matthew 22:13; John 3:36) Now hear the gospel in the middle of all this death. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, for the Son died for our sins — and whoever believes crosses over: he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Not will pass. Has passed. (Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3; John 5:24) I give thanks to God for this: in Christ there is no condemnation. I am not left in that death, and I tell you that I am praying for you — that you would not walk one more day toward the second death, that the God who made me alive together with Christ would make you alive today, that He would open your heart, and that you would hear and pass from death into life, to the praise of His glory. (Romans 8:1; Ephesians 2:5; Acts 16:14; John 5:24; Ephesians 1:6) Two ways stand before every man. The gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life. One end is the outer darkness; the other end is the wedding feast. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority. The one who hears and believes has passed out of death into life, and over him the second death has no authority. (Matthew 7:13-14; Matthew 22:13; Revelation 19:9; Revelation 20:6; John 5:24) --- Chapter 9 If you believe, your hope will not be in this world, nor in yourself, but in Christ who was raised from the dead. Lift your eyes, you who would believe, for those who believe are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused His own to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in heaven for them. (Colossians 3:2; 1 Peter 1:5; 1 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 2:17) This hope is living because He lives. It is not a wish that may disappoint, nor a dream that fades, but a certainty secured by His empty tomb: I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die — ever. The One who conquered death holds the future of His own, and His victory is theirs. If Christ is risen, then the hope of the one who believes cannot die. (1 Peter 1:3; John 11:25-26) Do not be deceived by the fleeting promises of this age. Riches perish, kingdoms fall, pleasures fade, and even the strongest flesh withers — but Christ lives forever, and the inheritance of His own is guarded in Him. It is kept, and those who believe are kept for it, through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, out of reach of moth and rust and thief. God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, guaranteed it with an oath, in which it is impossible for God to lie — not written in shifting sands, but in the blood of the Lamb and the word of His oath — for Christ entered through His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. Therefore it cannot fail. (1 Peter 1:5; Matthew 6:19-20; Hebrews 6:17-18; Hebrews 9:12) So fix your eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen; for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us. Do you see? The anchor of the one who believes is not cast into the shifting seas, but into the Holy of Holies, fastened to Christ Himself. He has gone before him, and his soul is bound to Him. Therefore, though winds rage and nations shake, his heart need not be moved: the anchor holds where sight cannot reach, and its chain cannot be broken. (2 Corinthians 4:18; Hebrews 6:19-20) His sheep will not fall out of His hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. The believer lives with his face toward home: his citizenship is in heaven; he does not love this world, because it is passing away; he does not fear death, because the One who holds the keys has gone through it ahead of him. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (John 10:29; Hebrews 11:16; Philippians 3:20; 1 John 2:15; 1 John 2:17; Hebrews 2:15; Revelation 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:55) This hope is not for tomorrow only; it steadies the one who has it today. For the storms are many, and the waves beat hard, yet the anchor holds. In hope His own have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if they hope for what they do not see, with perseverance they eagerly wait for it. Hope fixes the eyes beyond the trial to the joy set before them: as their Lord endured the cross for the joy before Him, so they endure affliction for the glory to come. Without hope, suffering would crush a man; with hope, suffering refines him. (Romans 8:24-25; Hebrews 12:2) And this hope is sealed. In Him, you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, they were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of their inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. The Spirit is no mere token, but the Father's down payment, the firstfruits of the harvest, the guarantee that the full inheritance will surely follow; if a man has received Him, he already tastes the powers of the age to come. So the word stands to His own: hold fast the confession of hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful — hope is their anchor, their compass, and their song, until faith becomes sight and hope becomes possession. (Ephesians 1:13-14; Hebrews 6:5; Hebrews 10:23) Hope is the bride looking down the road for the Bridegroom. Peter's word to the beloved stands: having girded your minds for action, being sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20; 1 Peter 1:13) --- Chapter 10 The newborn longs for milk, but a child does not stay on milk. The word rebukes those who have become dull of hearing and remain infants, for solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern both good and evil. Leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. (1 Peter 2:2; Hebrews 5:11-14; Hebrews 6:1) Solid food is not a different gospel. There is no other gospel; the mature do not move on from Christ to something else — as they received Christ Jesus the Lord, so they walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and being built up in Him and having been established in their faith, just as they were instructed, and abounding with thanksgiving. (Galatians 1:6-9; Colossians 2:6-7) The Father who feeds the son also trains him, and the training goes deeper. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him, for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He flogs every son whom He receives. Some suffering comes from the hatred of the world, and some comes straight from the hand of the Father: it is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (Hebrews 12:4-8; John 15:19) Even when the trouble comes through the rage of men or the malice of the devil or the weakness of the flesh, it is not outside the Father's rule, for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. He let Israel be hungry and fed them with manna, to make them know that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh. (Job 1:12; Job 2:6; Romans 8:28; Deuteronomy 8:3) All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; but to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Submit to the Father of spirits, and live. The end of the discipline is His holiness and His company: He disciplines us for our benefit, so that we may share His holiness — and if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. (Hebrews 12:11; Hebrews 12:9; Hebrews 12:10; John 14:23) Since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29) The child who drank milk now sits at the table with his Father. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? The milk was the first taste; this is the table itself — communion with Christ and with His body, at His table, until He comes. (1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:26) --- Chapter 11 Remember what He has done. He found a man dead, and made him alive. He found an enemy, and reconciled him. He found a barren branch, and made it bear. He found a beggar alone on the road, and set him in a family. He tested him, and refined him. He gave him a hope, and anchored it inside the veil. Why? For the man, yes — but above all, for Himself: from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (Psalm 103:2; Ephesians 2:5; Romans 5:10; John 15:5; Luke 14:21; Ephesians 2:19; 1 Peter 1:7; Hebrews 6:19; Ephesians 1:6; Isaiah 48:11; Romans 11:36) He is the God declaring the end from the beginning. He fixed this end before the world was made, by predestining His own to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace. Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made. He will not share it: I am Yahweh, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images. Not to us, O Yahweh, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth. If a man boasts, let him boast in Him. (Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:4-6; Isaiah 43:7; Isaiah 42:8; Psalm 115:1; 1 Corinthians 1:31) Where is this glory seen? In the face of Christ. He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature. The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. To look at Christ is to look at the glory of God — and looking at Him, His own are changed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 4:6; Hebrews 1:3; John 1:14; 2 Corinthians 3:18) Suffering is inside this purpose too. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us — and the God who leads His own through the fire is the God who called you to His eternal glory in Christ. (Romans 8:18; 1 Peter 5:10) Those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified. Even the gifts end in His glory, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and might forever and ever. Amen. Whether His own eat or drink — whatever they do, they do all to the glory of God. (Romans 8:30; 1 Peter 4:11; 1 Corinthians 10:31) They will see Him. Now His own are children of God, and it has not been manifested as yet what they will be; they know that when He is manifested, they will be like Him, because they will see Him just as He is. Even the creation waits to be set free into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. The day is coming when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed — for the whole earth is full of His glory. (1 John 3:2; Romans 8:21; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; Isaiah 6:3) The city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created. (Revelation 21:23; Revelation 4:11) This glory is the wedding itself: let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. The Son is marrying the enemies He reconciled to God by His death. (Revelation 19:7; Romans 5:10) --- Chapter 12 Lift your eyes to the wedding. I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things passed away. (Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:2-4) The city is the bride. Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb — and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. The bride is the body, for Christ is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body, and His own are members of His body. The body is God's dwelling, a holy sanctuary in the Lord, and in the city God and the Lamb are its sanctuary: I saw no sanctuary in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary. It is sown a corruptible body, it is raised an incorruptible body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. He will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory. There will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will serve Him, and they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 21:9-10; Ephesians 5:23; Ephesians 5:30; Ephesians 2:21-22; Revelation 21:22; 1 Corinthians 15:42-43; Philippians 3:21; Revelation 22:3-4) Even now, those who believe have come near to it. You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. Once one reclining at the table said, Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God! — and the answer given him was the parable of the dinner, ending: none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner. But to those who come it is written: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. These are true words of God. (Hebrews 12:22-23; Luke 14:15-16; Luke 14:24; Revelation 19:9) The wedding does not end at the door. The wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. When the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes. He was in the hall. He sat at the table. He had heard the same call everyone else heard and walked through the same door. But he came in his own clothes. The King said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:10-14) The man was speechless. He had nothing to say for himself, for all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. Do not come trusting in what you bring. Come to be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own which is from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ. Come to be clothed. I can only say: He has clothed me with garments of salvation; He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness. At the marriage of the Lamb it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints — and even those righteous acts were given, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Whatever I wear at that table, I did not weave it. (Matthew 22:12; Isaiah 64:6; Philippians 3:9; Isaiah 61:10; Revelation 19:8; Ephesians 2:10) John wrote to those who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that they may know that they have eternal life. Not hope to have it — know that they have it, for he who believes has eternal life, present possession. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have that life. If you believe, you are not the man without clothes: he was found out because he was never united with faith; the one who believes is found clothed because he is united with faith. So believe, and you will know. Right now the Son is held out to you. (1 John 5:13; 1 John 5:12; John 6:47; Matthew 22:11; Hebrews 4:2; Philippians 3:9; John 3:16) You do not have to clean yourself up first. The King sent to the highways, not to the palace; He is not waiting for you to become worthy. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. I came, filthy, and He did not cast me out. He will not cast you out. (Luke 14:21; Matthew 22:9; Romans 5:8; John 6:37; Isaiah 64:6) Do not put it off for another day. The table is set, and the door is open now. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Turn from your sin, and believe Him, and you will live. (2 Corinthians 6:2; Luke 14:17; Mark 1:15; Ezekiel 18:32) The Master's command still stands: Go out into the highways and along the fences, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. I plead with you to come, to fill my Master's house. The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let the one who hears say, Come. And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes receive the water of life without cost. You were an enemy, and you are invited. Everything is ready. Come to the feast. (Luke 14:23; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Revelation 22:17; Romans 5:10; Matthew 22:9; Luke 14:17; Matthew 22:4) And now I will tell you what I am praying as this letter ends. I am thanking God for the sure word that He has spoken, and for you who have read it to the end. I am thanking Him that He justifies the ungodly, that He begets the dead, that He feeds His children and trains His sons and keeps them through the fire and brings them home. I am praying that He would open your heart, beloved enemy; that He would clothe you in the garment He gives; that He would seat you at the table of His Son. And I am convinced — for myself, and for everyone who is His — that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate His own from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:19; Romans 4:5; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 Peter 2:2; Hebrews 12:7; Isaiah 43:2; John 14:3; Acts 16:14; Isaiah 61:10; Revelation 19:9; Romans 8:38-39) Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)