PROLOGUE:
The Church today possesses a catholic understanding of the humanity of Christ.
An understanding developed through misinterpretations of the true Godhead.
A desperate need exists of casting off the mental images
that false teachings have painted of our only hope and anchor,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
May this study be a tool to bring us into the reality of the son of man
that we may enter into His true sufferings being obedient unto perfection.
MADE OF A
WOMAN
#250.0101
scottSTANLEY
I’m praying to move
into a closer relationship with my Heavenly Father and to give the good news to
whoever has ears to hear. And our news is continually being updated because the
Lord continues to shine light on His character and I pray that we’re continuing
to grow in our understanding of who He is. As we endeavor to understand Him,
there is a concept the scriptures bring out dealing with that very thing of
knowing God – what it means to know Him, and the mechanics of knowing Him, I
should say. The one that comes to my mind is found in Romans chapter 11,
reading from verse 33.
33
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Another scripture,
Isaiah 40, verse 28.
28
Hast thou [Have you] not known? hast thou [have you] not heard, that the
everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not,
neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
And one other
scripture found in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 8.
8
Unto me, who am less
than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Here it’s pretty
obvious isn’t it, that if we’re going to know God, He has got to reveal Himself,
because He is unsearchable, meaning we’re not going to figure Him out. We’re
not going to even take this book and search it and discover all of these things
about Him. Because it doesn’t work like that. He doesn’t think the way we
think. He is as different from us as the heavens are high above the earth and
to walk in the heavens in His understanding means, we’ve got to be open to hear
Him. And if we’re going to grow in our understanding of Him, He must reveal
that to us and confirm the concepts in our heart as He delivers the truth.
Whether He uses the book to speak to us or another person, however He chooses to
convey truth, He will confirm it in your heart if it’s truly from Him and you’ll
have a free conscience that you know the things that you’re understanding are
accurate.
Now let me say
again, He is unsearchable. Remember Romans 11. His wisdom and knowledge, both
of those things are unsearchable. Paul says, I want to preach the unsearchable
riches of Christ. Now what is key for us is that that same word of
“unsearchable” is applied to humanity, to your own heart. Look at Proverbs 25,
verse 3.
3
The heaven [heavens] for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings
is unsearchable.
That word is applied
to the human spirit. Remember Zechariah 12:1 where he talks about spreading out
the heavens, laying the foundation of the earth and preparing the spirit of man
within him, or creating man’s spirit. The heavens and the earth together are
symbols of what is between our ears. And again, he says the heart of a king is
unsearchable. Let me tell you what that means. Playing off of the last three
studies entitled “A Fountain of Gardens,” you’re not going to understand how to
correct yourself through psychology, the study of the mind. That is
impossible. That is a fallacy. Just as God Himself is unsearchable, but a
Trinitarian will try to explain to you things about God because they’ve searched
it out in the book, you’re no different if you think you’re going to somehow
figure out the problem areas in your life, the foundational things that make you
who you are. That’s impossible. I want to show you another verse that is even
more powerful than what we’ve read in Proverbs 25:3. Reading from Jeremiah
chapter 31, I want to start reading at verse 37.
37 Thus
saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the
earth searched out beneath [if that’s possible], I will also cast off all the
seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
What does he mean by
that? If it were possible for you to search out and know yourself, if that were
possible he said, I would cast you off forever because there would be no reason
for living in the condition and staying in the sinful condition that you’re in;
if it were possible to search your own heart and deal with it. But it isn’t
possible. Again, if that were possible, he says, I would cast you off. But he
doesn’t cast us off, because it is impossible. He is unsearchable and you are
unsearchable. And it takes a hearing ear to let Him reveal yourself to you.
And as He reveals Himself, you can see yourself, and you can see the contrast.
There are ways of
determining who we are so that it can be rectified because He will not leave us
in this condition if we choose to follow and allow Him to make the changes in
our lives. You know, in the last three studies “A Fountain of Gardens,” Studies
1, 2 and 3, I was trying to develop the idea of Christ in Gethsemane as a
bullock, having to die to self, and the fact that we are to continue to grow in
our understanding of that person before He reached a completed perfection.
Because, if you can see Him as a human being, if you can see how much like us He
really was, you should then flourish with hope. Because, if He was like us and
reached a completed perfection, then we can reach that perfection also.
And that is what
this study is about, continuing to develop this person of Christ, what He faced
as a man; I could say, continuing Christ, a development of understanding the Son
of Man. Exactly how much like us was He? And how can we apply the mechanics of
salvation and reach a completed perfection like unto Him, following the Lamb
whithersoever He goes. How could you follow the Lamb where He goes if He isn’t
like you? He has to be like us and I pray as we go through this study, that our
eyes begin to open up and we begin to understand more of the depth that the Son
of God endured as a man, so that we can reach unto the height that He was
brought to, a completed perfection. And again, you follow the Lamb
whithersoever He goes, and Ephesians 4 says you’ll reach the measure of the
stature of the fulness of Christ – a perfect man, a complete person like that.
So let’s turn to Psalms chapter 18 and reading from the very last verse of that
chapter, verse 50,
50
Great deliverance giveth [gives] he to his king; and sheweth [shows] mercy to
his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
Now, if you want to
take this to be speaking of the literal King David, that’s up to you to make
that decision. But if this verse is talking about the literal King David, then
it’s talking about his literal seed. But if it’s talking spiritually, we’re
talking about Christ. Great deliverance gives He to His king, to His anointed
and to the seed of the anointed forevermore. If you can put this spiritually,
you’ll see it’s talking about the church and the Lord of the church, Jesus
Christ. But if it’s talking about Christ, it’s talking about giving Him
deliverance. What deliverance would He have ever needed in His life?
Carrying the
Trinitarian background that I’ve had, had you asked me that a few years ago,
“what deliverance would Christ have needed,” I would have thought, you know,
being resurrected from the dead and that type of thing. But the Lord is helping
me understand something more than that. The Lord is helping me see, again, that
Christ was more like me than I’ve ever dreamed. And I have to say again, the
Trinitarian baggage, all of the thoughts and ideas that the trinity answered for
me, those things need to be erased. Those things need to be forgotten. And the
Lord needs to rebuild the structure. There is a scripture in Philippians 2,
starting at verse 5. We have read this many times.
5
Let this mind [or this way of thinking] be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus:
6
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery [or something to be
grasped] to be equal with God:
7
But made himself of no reputation [but emptied himself. Now King James has put
“made himself of no reputation.” It’s just simply, He emptied himself.], and
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross.
9
Wherefore [or, that is why] God also hath [has] highly exalted him, and given
him a name which is above every name:
10 That
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things [of beings] in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.
Now think about
that. This word “glory” is something I talk about on nearly every study. The
root word of “glory” has literally been translated “to think.” “To think” is an
action. “Glory” is a noun. Glory equals the thoughts you think, the opinions
you have, the ideas that come into that mind -- to think and glory. We are to
confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What does that
mean? It means that whatever He is inwardly, was created by our Heavenly
Father. The Son of God was birthed in eternity and created inwardly. Our
Heavenly Father created the Holy Spirit that was given at Pentecost, because
it’s the mind of Christ. And we are to confess Christ as Lord to the glory of
the Father.
That is something a
Trinitarian cannot do, because in a Trinitarian’s mind, the Father and the Son
are all equal. Listen, whether it’s a Trinitarian or the oneness concept,
however people are looking at the Son of God in that mystery God frame, they see
the Son is equal to the Father -- and anything about the Son is because He is
God. But we are to confess Christ as Lord to the glory of the Father. In fact,
this sounds almost like a command doesn’t it. Listen one more time.
(Philippians 2:11)
11
And that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.
It was the Father’s
thoughts and opinions given to His Son that made the Son what He has become. We
have got to consider ourselves in the process of being saved. We are working
out our own salvation and the Father is giving us His will and what He wants
done and how to do it. The will and what to do.... But there is something
we put forth and that is the action of doing it. A Trinitarian cannot say
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. That’s an impossibility. It
contradicts their whole concept of the Father and Son. And when we read in
Psalms 18, again, turning back to Psalms 18,
50
Great deliverance giveth [gives] he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his
anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
Great deliverance
gives he to his king, to his anointed, and to the seed of the anointed, because
we’re all in the same boat. I want to reveal to you what the Lord has revealed
to me. I want you to see the Son of Man and come to grips with who He was. And
notice, I say “was.” Because He reached a completed perfection and is no longer
in that place. But He was more like you and like me than I have ever dreamed.
And again, I’ve been carrying the baggage of my understanding of God, in all the
roads that trinity concept takes you down when you start trying to understand
who the Father and the Son are and the Holy Spirit. All of those things have
been muddled in our understanding. And I’ll guarantee you, that is the
veil in your sanctuary that separates you from the holy place and the most holy
and the Son of God is going to bring us understanding and pass beyond that veil
and help us see who He was and is. Because if you can understand the
depth of who He was as the Son of Man, it will open up avenues of thought
concerning our Heavenly Father that we’ve never understood before in His love
for us in bringing us to perfection.
Again, going to
Psalms chapter 18, I want to read this because it’s talking about the
deliverance given Christ and if we can see Him like unto ourselves, then we’ll
understand the deliverance He is bringing us. What about this word
“deliverance?” What is it in Christ’s life that He needed deliverance from?
What did He need to be delivered from? In this chapter of Psalms 18, the King
James has taken the English word “deliver” and used various forms of it from
“deliver,” “delivered,” “deliverance.” All of these things are in here.
But there are
various Hebrew words that they have stuck that English word on. And the Hebrew
words paint different pictures. Now two in particular, two of these Hebrew
words in particular that we’re going to look at (and as we read the chapter, I’m
going to point out which one it is) but these two particular words translated
“deliverance” -- one word means “to take away from”-- in other words “deliver.”
Just reach out and snatch you, take you away from the problem, to deliver you
that way. The other word “deliverance” means “to make you slippery.” And I
want to read from Psalms 31 because this is that word “deliverance.” In Psalms
31:1
1
In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy
[your] righteousness.
Now here is that
word “to make slippery.” But He makes you slippery from the enemy within. The
enemy that we’re going to be talking about in this chapter are those thoughts
that come against the knowledge of Christ that you possess. It is your
passions, the struggles. All of these things that you deal with. That is your
enemy. And this word “deliver” means “to be made slippery” in His
righteousness. His righteousness equals His thought. As He gives you glory,
as He gives you truth, as He gives you righteousness inwardly, it helps you
understand the sin problem you’re facing; the sin problem you’re dealing with.
And hence, you will be delivered.
For instance, let’s
say that I have a problem with finances. One deliverance God could give me is
let me win the lottery ticket tomorrow, and zing, all my problems are solved,
I’ve got plenty of money to deal with what I need – no problems anymore. I’m
loaded. That’s one deliverance. Another deliverance is, He could give me
insight into how I’m spending my money and as I increase in knowledge and in His
wisdom, after say, six months, a year, two years, maybe more, I discover I’m
delivered from that financial stress, from that problem. You see, He can let
you win the lottery, or he can give you understanding, He can make you slippery
where the enemy cannot grasp you by His righteousness. And as you understand
the way He understands, you come out of the problem.
Smoking is another
one. You know, the Lord can just take that from a person so they don’t desire
any more to smoke. But there’s another way. The Lord can give you insight into
His will, and He can give you insight into what He wants you to do and the
direction He wants you to go to get there. And then He leaves it up to you to
deal with it. Think of the Son of God in Gethsemane. His prayer was “Father,
you can do all things. Take the cup.” You see, He was asking for that lottery
ticket. He was wanting the Father to take the cup. “I don’t want to go through
with this. Stop this.”
But instead, the
Father gave Him an insight, an understanding, what His will was, and what He
wanted the Son to do. And then He allowed His Son to sweat blood to get it
done. Why would He do that? Because see, you need to consider yourself. What
lottery tickets have you been asking for that you want Him to just deal with and
take it from you? And yet He chooses not to do that.
Remember in Hebrews,
the Son of God was made perfect through suffering. He is going to perfect the
Son through suffering. He did perfect the Son through suffering; He’s
perfecting us the same way. There is a reason why He doesn’t just take it from
you. He doesn’t just give you everything all at once. It’s because as we go
through that suffering of performing His perfect will, we’re manifesting our
love for Him. We are being sealed in our understanding. He is giving us an
understanding that is creating in us a perfect man. That’s exactly what He did
to His Son.
Think of the Son of
God in Gethsemane and consider with me if you will, the Son of God being born in
eternity past in a perfect atmosphere, taught by a perfect person, His Father --
no negative influences around, because nothing has been created yet. Take that
mind, put that mind in Gethsemane. Would He have had the struggles that He was
facing in Gethsemane? Now what’s happening to me -- I’m thinking of this
Catholic picture that I’ve had of this perfect Son of God and I see Him as a
child. You know, even the pictures of Him as a child people have painted, He’s
glowing. He does nothing wrong; there’s no instance in His life of anything
ever having been corrupt or anything wrong. He’s never sinned. And we have
this picture in our minds of Him and yet I’m telling you, if that was the person
who resisted unto blood in Gethsemane, then it brings us to a crossroads.
Because the decision has to be made.
In Gethsemane, was
He preparing to die to appease an angry God or was He preparing to die to slay
the old man? Because if He was going to appease an angry God, then we have the
fact, the Father then would have to lay on Him my guilt, all of my sin. And
that’s what’s happening with Him in Gethsemane. He’s struggling, resisting
because He’s having my sin laid on Him. But if He isn’t dying for that reason,
then what’s happening with Him in Gethsemane? If He is not dying to appease an
angry God and fulfill the law (because the law says if you sin you die, He’s got
to die) if He isn’t doing that, if what He is going through is a decision
whether to go to Calvary, now you’ve got a completely different person here.
You don’t have that Catholic picture of this holy man God who never has a
problem, always does everything perfect. Suddenly you’ve got a man making a
decision to go through with what the Father wants Him to do. And He’s asking,
“Father, take the cup. Not my will, but yours be done.”
The catch is, He
prayed that three different times. This wasn’t something He just settled on and
went and did it. If it were that perfect mind, there would have been no
problem. It would have been,
“Jesus, let’s go to
Calvary.”
“All right, let’s
go.”
But that isn’t how
it was. And I’m telling you, that is a Catholic concept and it is not the Son
of Man as the Father is beginning to reveal His only begotten Son.
I want to share
something with you out of Luke. Reading from chapter 2, verse 21,
21
And
when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name
was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the
womb.
22 And
when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were
accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
23 (As it
is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth [opens] the womb
shall be called holy to the Lord;)
24 And to
offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair
of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
Now, what I want to
do, is take you to Leviticus 12 so that you can see exactly what the law
stated. Because there is something here about Mary that will begin to help us
understand Jesus. Reading from Leviticus 12, verse 1
1
And the LORD spake
[spoke] unto Moses, saying,
2
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and
born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of
the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.
3
And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Drop down to verse
6.
6
And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter,
she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young
pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation, unto the priest:
Now drop down to
verse 8.
8
And if she be not able [if she isn’t able] to bring a lamb, then she shall bring
two turtles, or two young pigeons; ...
Now my point is,
Mary brought the two turtledoves. She was not able to bring a lamb. And if I
look at that spiritually, and remember, playing off of the last studies, the
offering of a bullock is greater than that of a lamb, and a lamb is greater than
that of two turtledoves. And it works all the way down to the ephah of flour.
Each one costs more. Each one is a picture of the riches, the understanding we
possess. And Mary was not able to bring a lamb. She brought the two
turtledoves. And again, let me remind you, the people who wrote this book wrote
it for us upon whom the end of the world is come. And the Lord does not think
the way we think. The Lord has got to reveal to us that He is telling us where
Mary was in her understanding. He is revealing to us, she could not offer the
lamb. She only possessed the turtledoves. She did not have the understanding.
Now, take this thought, go to the end of Luke, chapter 2 reading from verse 48
48
And when they
saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou [why
have you] thus dealt with us? behold, thy [your] father and I have sought thee
[you] sorrowing.
49 And he
said unto them, How is it that ye [you] sought me? wist ye not [or don’t you
know] that I must be about my Father's business?
50 And
they understood not the saying which he spake [spoke] unto them.
Now, think about
this. Here we have the Son of God telling His parent (who by the way are law
keepers) that “I must be about my Father’s business,” and they didn’t understand
what He was talking about. Look at the next verse. Luke 2:51.
51 And he
went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his
mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
Think about it.
Mary and Joseph did not understand and the Son of God was subject unto them.
What is that telling us? That is telling me that just as they were law keepers,
they taught Him to be a law keeper too. And when He finally came to the place
where He recognized for instance, the Sabbath is not a day; the Sabbath is an
experience that I have in my Father. He had to go through that same gut
wrenching struggle that every one of us have been through in recognizing the law
is spiritual. Don’t tell me Mary and Joseph had no influence on their son
growing up. He might have recognized the truth at an earlier age than we did,
but He still had to face it. It makes more sense now when the apostle Paul
writes, Christ was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He
was tempted in all points. That means, He was a man. That means, He had an
understanding as a man given Him by His parents.
Think about it. Our
Heavenly Father allowed His only begotten Son to be birthed in Bethlehem;
birthed that mind, birthed into dust, and allowed earthly people to have an
influence on His Son. The next verse says
52 And
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
How could He
increase in wisdom? I know He continued to awaken to who He was, but let me
show you another scripture. This one found in Galatians, chapter 4:3
3
Even so
we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
4
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a
woman, made under the law,
5
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of
sons.
What does it mean,
“made of a woman?” Do you think that only means birthed? Let me tell you, that
woman influenced Him and at His birth she could not offer the lamb. She did not
understand, even when He was twelve years old, “I must be about my Father’s
business.” And she raised Him all of His life, all of His life growing up,
awakening, until you come to His ministry, she influenced Him. He made Himself
subject to these two people who did not understand. Don’t tell me that when
they taught Him as a child, it just blew off of Him, it was like water off a
ducks back; He didn’t receive any of it; He only knew the truth. That isn’t
accurate, because I’m telling you again, when we come to Gethsemane and we see
the struggles He is going through, His struggles are what He was dealing with
concerning what He learned as a human being taught by earthly parents. Again,
if it were this perfect person, taught by a perfect person, in a perfect
environment, what struggle would He have had?
Here we see a man
sweating blood in agony, resisting unto blood. Resisting what? Well this is
what Psalms 18 reveals to us. Recognizing again, our Heavenly Father allowed
His only begotten Son to be birthed again and this time it isn’t a perfect
environment. This time He’s taught by imperfect people who don’t understand and
He has to grow up just like us and recognize the truth as it is in His only
Father, His Heavenly Father – recognizing that truth. He was made under the
law to redeem them who are under the law.
You see, there isn’t
a struggle you’ve had that He has not also had and He is victorious in all these
struggles. He was a man. He was the Son of Man. He had a connection with His
Father who led Him through all of this unscathed by sin. But nevertheless, He
had the struggles. Now when we read Psalms 18, again, let’s turn back to Psalms
18 and read that last verse, 50.
50 Great
deliverance giveth [gives] he to his king; and sheweth [shows] mercy to his
anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
Here I’m talking
about our king, the deliverance given David. If you take this back and read it
literally, David is writing of the deliverance God gave Him from Saul.
Question. Who is Saul? Spiritually? Saul is that king; he’s governing the
land. He won’t get off the throne after God has anointed His own King David.
Think about it. Consider what I’m saying. David wrote of the deliverance given
him from Saul after God had anointed him. That’s a picture of everyone of us,
that we have our own “self,” our own king of Saul on that throne, even after the
Father anoints David, brings the Christ into our life. And He is trying to give
us deliverance from Saul.
Jesus Christ had His
own struggles to deal with. He never sinned. That does not mean He didn’t have
temptations. Again, He’s tempted in all points like as we are, yet He’s without
sin. Now that’s beautiful. And it becomes increasingly precious to me when I
see my heavenly Father allowing this to take place, allowing my Savior to be
raised by individuals, to be influenced by individuals who did not understand.
And those two people, Mary and Joseph, helped form and fashion the Son of God
like unto us because they were imperfect people.
Looking at Psalms
18, again recognizing we’re talking about the deliverance given Christ. And I
hope by this time in the study I really have your attention and you’re focusing
on this with me, because the Lord has things to tell us, to bring us completely
out of the confusion, the Catholic understanding we’ve carried all these years.
He has things to reveal to us. I pray you’re focused, you’re ready to go, you
want to hear what the Lord is going to tell us and as we read Psalms 18, this is
one of those Psalms that I know is revealing my Savior in what He dealt with as
a man. This chapter begins with
1
I will love
thee, O LORD, my strength.
Now, there are two
concepts that come into my mind when I read this. I will love thee. If this is
the Son giving glory to His Father, praising His Father, speaking to His Father
– the first one that comes to my mind is 1 John 5, verse 3, the definition of
love,
3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments
are not grievous.
The other one is
Psalms 91, starting at verse 14.
14
Because he
hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: [there is that “make
slippery”] I will set him on high, because he hath [has] known my name.
15 He
shall [will] call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in
trouble; I will deliver [draw out] him, and honour him.
16 With
long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
Now personally, I
believe Psalms 91 is a message from Christ where He is speaking about humanity.
But if He turns to the Father and sets His love on the Father, this would apply
to Him too – that the Father would give Him great deliverance -- because He has
loved Me, I will deliver Him. And what was love? This is the love of God, that
we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous. And this
Psalms 18 begins with the Son of God making that declaration and to put it in my
own words, when He says, “I will love thee O Lord my strength,” what He is
saying is, “I will obey every command you give me and I know you will deliver me
because I am walking in obedience to thee. You are my strength.”
Psalms 18, again
let’s go back and read starting at verse 2.
2
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my
strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, [that word “buckler” simply means
“shield”] and [he is] the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
Now for me, this
better defines, in fact, it’s like letting the Son of God speak for Himself, His
relationship with His Father. Look at the words used in just this one verse.
“My fortress, my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I trust.” All of these
concepts, all of these descriptions that the Son of God uses to describe His
Father are descriptions we use to describe Christ. But I want you to look at
the relationship that He had. He recognized that He was to be in submission,
and He recognized His strength was in the only true and living God.
There’s only one God. But this idea is also seen in Hebrews 2, and I want to
point this out for you because I don’t know that I’ve ever expressed this in a
study. Reading in Hebrews, let’s start at verse 10.
10 For it
became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things,
in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
[complete] through sufferings.
11 For
both he that sanctifieth [sanctifies] and they who are sanctified are all
of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12
Saying, [Now, he’s quoting the Old Testament] I will declare thy [your] name
unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
[That’s from Psalms 22]
13 And
again, [See, this is Christ speaking. Paul is saying this is what Christ is
saying.] I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which
God hath [has] given me.
So consider, that
this is even a New Testament concept that the Son of God put His trust in His
Father. Now that’s old hat to us. We know that He was trusting in His Father,
but here you have a scripture that I’m reading, I pray the Father is confirming
in your heart, and where else in the Old Testament does He say, from the Son to
the Father, “I put my trust in you?” Again, looking at Psalms 18, we’re seeing
a marvelous insight into the thoughts of the Son of God in His humanity. Verse
3, Psalms 18,
3
I will
call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from
mine enemies.
And again, let this
be an insight for us to be saved from the enemies within. How do I do it? I’ll
call upon the Lord, so shall I be saved from my enemies. And again, the
salvation He gives us could be the lottery ticket. I know I’ve experienced that
in my own life. I’ve experienced the Lord just taking something from me. But
more often He gives me understanding. He gives me deliverance in
righteousness. That happens more often. And here, both of those words are seen
in this chapter concerning the Son of God. And we’ll get to them as we read
this chapter. But we see the Son of God saying, “I’m going to overcome my
enemies. I’ll be saved as I call upon the Lord. So shall I call upon the
Lord.”
That is a key to our
deliverance – seeking Him. And I mean being in constant communication with our
Heavenly Father as to the workings of what we need, when we need it and all
along, in every step of our lives. Back to Psalms 18, verse 5 and 6. As we
read this, we’re on holy ground.
4
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
5
The sorrows of hell [or the grave] compassed me about: the snares of death
prevented me. [went before me. King James has put “prevented.” It means
it went before me]
6
In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice
out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
Now, this text of
Christ crying out to the Father and being heard reminds me of another text found
in Hebrews 5, verse 7.
7
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, [out
of death. King James has put “from.”] and was heard in that he feared; [or in
your margin, He was heard for His piety]
These connections
like this continue to support for me the fact that this Psalm is about Christ.
There are just too many ways it ties in with Christ. Another way, by the way,
that this ties in, in Psalms 18, if you’ll look at verse 43
43 Thou
hast [You have] delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou
hast [you have] made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not
known shall serve me:
You know, many years
ago I saw that this Psalm was dealing with the Son of God but I just couldn’t
answer why He would need the deliverance He needed and the other things this
Psalm talks about. But like I say, the more you read this, the more you’re
going to discover how it ties in with His life. And notice in Hebrews 5, it
was in the days of His flesh He was crying out to the Father -- you see, that
experience that He was having as Jesus in contrast with that of Michael, what He
had to learn to be brought to a completed perfection.
Psalms 18, starting
at verse 7, we’re going to see how the Father answers Him. And I want to read
the next series of texts carefully. I want you to listen carefully. And at the
end of this text, the last one I read, I’ve got a question for you as to exactly
what this is talking about. Now it’s going to use a lot of symbols and you’re
going to see how the Father comes down, bringing deliverance to Christ.
Starting at verse 7,
7
Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and
were shaken, because he was wroth.
8
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, [by his nostrils...King James has put
“out of.” It’s “by his nostrils”] and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals
were kindled by it.
9
He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his
feet.
10 And he
rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
[That word “wind” is [7307] “spirit.”]
11 He
made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark
waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 At the
brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones
and coals of fire.
13 The
LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail
stones and coals of fire.
14 Yea,
he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and
discomfited them.
Now let me ask you a
question. In this last verse, “he sent out his arrows and scattered them, he
discomfited them,” what is the word “them” referring to? In the text I’ve just
read, what would you connect “them” to? What is he talking about? What about
Christ had to be scattered? What is it about Christ that had to be, as he has
put it, discomfited with lightnings or flashes of light? Well, if you’ll back
up again to verse 7, it connects with this word “foundations.”
7
Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and
were shaken...
This word
“foundations” is rooted in the word used in Psalms 2, translated “take counsel”,
in verse 2, Psalms 2:2 -- “they took counsel.” And in our past studies we saw
where that meant foundational instruction. Now when you look at Christ, and you
see that the Father comes down delivering Him, or scattering the foundations of
the hills, foundational teachings...what does it mean “foundations of the
hills?” This word “hill” is the same word translated “mountains” in the Old
Testament. Those are the same words. The King James in places has put “hills”
and in other places put “mountains.” When you look at Mount Zion, this is the
same word that they’ve translated “hills” in this place. And a mountain is a
symbol of a kingdom. You could say, a mountain inwardly represents those high
places in your life, those places that you get the most pleasure from, or the
most meaning from. The mountains. Israel when they would worship idols, would
go up into the high places and bow to their idols. So here he’s talking about
the foundations of the mountains.
Now let me tell you
something. Any foundation of Jesus Christ that needed to be destroyed was not a
foundation laid by His Heavenly Father. It has to be bringing in His humanity.
And I’ll tell you, in Gethsemane as you read this psalm of Psalms 18, you are
getting precious insight into Gethsemane and what He was dealing with. Again,
let me say that had He been that perfect person, the way we have defined
perfection, and the Father gave Him a command, it would have simply been carried
out. But the Lord is revealing to us the struggles of the Son of God.
And I’ve got to say
this again; it’s important you get this. His struggle was in making the
decision to go forward. His struggle was not because our guilt was being laid
on Him. His struggle was dealing with the fact the Father was asking Him to go
forward and give His life and separate, allow the Father to separate from Him,
to go through with this. In fact in Psalms 18 where he says in verse 4, “the
sorrows of death compassed me and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid, the
sorrows of hell (or the grave) compassed me about, the snares of death prevented
me (or went before me)”...let me ask you. What are the snares of death? And
put that inwardly. What is it about death that would snare anyone, except for
the fact that you don’t want to face it. You don’t want to go through with it.
For every person on
this planet, there is that fear of death. And if the Son of God were born into
this world, raised by earthly parents, He was carrying some of those same
foundations that we possess. If His parents had an influence on Him as a child,
then He had to have had the same foundational instructions that lead to the same
fears, the same struggles, the same temptations that we have had. Tempted in
all points like as we are, yet without sin. And underline, in all points.
Don’t look at Christ as something different than us. Don’t look at Him as
having some advantage over us in that He didn’t have the same passions, He
didn’t have the same struggles, because He most certainly did. He did possess
humanity. He was the Son of Man.
Now we’ve read this
text, the text where the Father comes down to deliver Him and I tried to point
out from the foundations, if you look at the next verse in line of the
scriptures that we were reading, where the Father delivers Him, when you come to
verse 15 it says,
15 Then
the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were
discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath [or spirit] of thy
[your] nostrils.
16 He
sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
Now in verse 15 what
do you think the channels of waters are referring to except channels of
thought. What about “the foundations of the world were discovered at thy
rebuke?” You see, if you can take this to Gethsemane and you see the Son of God
facing His struggles to the point of being in an agony, three times asking the
Father to take the cup, to stop this from taking place, and the Father giving
Him His answer. When the Father rebukes it doesn’t necessarily have to be in
angry tones, but the Father was answering His prayer in telling Him “no” and in
giving Him understanding of what He wanted Him to accomplish and how this was
going to be done and expecting Him to sweat blood to remain faithful, to be in
His perfect will.
Again, because that
is what brings you to perfection, when you make that stand for what is right,
and you’re developing that hearing ear and you know what the Lord would have you
do and you are learning to walk in obedience through the things which you
suffer. And He was bringing the Son of God to a completed perfection, creating
in Him that Holy Spirit, giving Him the promise of complete dominion over self,
giving Him all thought would be under His feet. And He would be completely
perfect, again, to the Father’s glory. He was making Him Lord. He had made Him
Christ, He was now making Him Lord over all. So when the Father gives Him His
answer, delivering Him inwardly to be able to go through with the perfect will
of God, it’s says “then the channels of water were seen and the
foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke.” In other words, the
Son of God was seeing Himself.
Now I want to
discuss for a minute the foundations of the world, and I want to show you some
things that this brings out. And I just pray that we have an open heart and a
willingness to grow in our understanding. If you’ll look at 1 Samuel 2:8
8
He raiseth [raises] up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth [lifts] up
the beggar from the dunghill, to set them [he sets them] among princes,
and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth
are the LORD'S, and he hath [has] set the world upon them.
Now consider with
me, “the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s. And He has set the world upon
them.” When I talk about pillars of the earth, what do you see in your mind?
What picture does that paint in your mind? Do you see the earth with pillars on
it? Or do you see the earth setting on pillars? It makes a difference. The
pillars of the earth. Does he mean the pillars that sustain the earth? Because
if that is how you see it, the earth setting on pillars, then this word “world”
is equal to “earth.” He has set the pillars of the earth and set the world upon
it. There is a difference between “earth” and “world.” You could look at
“earth” as “self” and the “world” as “everyone, every person on this planet as
being put on that pillar with it.
In other words, the
pillars, the foundations of “self,” He has put the whole world in the same
place, having the same foundations. And again let me tell you, you are
unsearchable. He has got to reveal to you. Let’s connect this with Psalms 24,
reading verse 1.
1
The earth is the
LORD'S, and the fulness thereof [of it]; the world, and they that dwell therein
[in it].
2
For [because] he hath [has] founded it upon the seas, and established it upon
the floods.
Here you have the
world, again, being founded by God, but this time we’re given another clue about
this foundation. He says, it is founded upon the seas. I can tell you now, the
seas represent the thoughts of the world. That’s something we discovered quite
a while ago. And if you take this over to Isaiah 51, verse 9, where again the
sea is defined, Isaiah 51:9
9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days,
in the generations of old. Art thou [Are you] not it that hath [has] cut
Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
10 Art
thou not it [Are you not it] which hath [has] dried the sea, the waters of the
great deep; that hath [and has] made the depths of the sea [the deepest parts of
the sea] a way for the ransomed to pass over?
11
Therefore [That is why] the redeemed of the LORD shall return [back to God], and
come with singing unto Zion [or Mt. Zion, the kingdom of Zion]; and everlasting
joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and
sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
Here, you see a
picture of Christ and it is told Him that He dried the sea and it is the sea, He
has made the sea the way for the ransomed to come back to God. But this time,
it’s without the water, the thoughts of the world. Let me tell you something.
It says here, the Lord laid the foundation of the earth and He put the whole
world upon it. But then He sent His Son who dried that sea, and again, the
foundations of the world are the sea, is the sea. The Son comes and dries up
the sea, but makes this a way for the ransomed to pass over. Those foundational
things of our lives being given us all of our lives by our parents, the things
they taught us, the pride they instilled in us, just all of the things, the
distortions that were given us, the Son of God in His life dried that. He
corrected that for humanity. But that is the way that the ransomed return to
God and draw nearer to God, by going through that bed, that foundational bed of
teaching and dealing with it.
But I’ve got to say
again, it’s unsearchable for you. There may be things you could recognize about
your past, but the depth of it, the depth of the infirmities that we possess,
there’s no way we’re going to ever see that except God reveal it to us. And
again, if you could see it, and correct it yourself, then He would never forgive
you because there’s no reason for you to be living in the condition you’re in.
I’m telling you, the time we live in is precious. This book is precious,
because it’s revealing to us ourselves and helping us see our Heavenly Father.
Let’s take these
thoughts over to Psalms 90, looking at verse 3
3
Thou turnest [You turn] man to destruction; and sayest [and you say], Return, ye
children of men. [or come back to me]
The Lord turns man
to destruction and says “return to Me.” Why would He turn you to destruction?
Because it is going through those hard things of life that cause you, that will
bring you to your knees and cause you to cry out, to recognize you need a
Savior, because you cannot deal with these things. I would pray the remnant
church in understanding that we can reach perfection, would cry out and realize
“I need a Savior.” You need the Savior to reveal yourself to you. You need the
Savior to help you understand God’s will. You need the Savior to show you this
is how it’s done. And then you need to sweat blood and deal with it so that you
can follow the Lamb withersoever He goes.
Now this scripture
again in Psalms 90, talking about the Father turning man to destruction, I’m
wondering how far back I can take that in the history of humanity. Can I look
at Adam before he fell and say that he was turned to destruction? I want you to
think this through with me. If you take, create a person who has the infinite
mind, who has a free will, give them an infinite mind, and a free will and the
conscience, and allow not only input to come from the Savior, from the Father
through the Son to us, but also input from Lucifer, don’t you think in God’s
wisdom, He recognized, He knew that man would fall? Now listen, I don’t mean in
His foreknowledge. I don’t mean He simply saw it was going to happen.
Don’t you think that
had to have been in His plan? When you think of the wisdom of God, the mighty
wisdom of God, don’t try to tell me He did not know that if He gives you a free
will and an infinite mind, He knew that mind He was creating. You know, in
Proverbs 30:15 he says,
15 The
horseleach hath [has] two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three
things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not,
It is enough [that it’s enough]:
16 The
grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and
the fire that saith not, It is enough.
To understand that
about you, that the earth that is not filled with water is never satisfied -- in
other words, you have a continual need to learn and know and grow. He has
designed you that way. And to give you this infinite mind and a free will, and
allow Lucifer to give you input, you don’t think He knew that you would fall
flat on your face, that humanity would go in the wrong direction? And let me
tell you again, I don’t mean foreknowledge. It only makes sense that that is
what would happen.
But let’s back up.
Let’s back up and look at Lucifer himself. Lucifer was also created but he was
created in a perfect environment. There was no negative input, but don’t you
think in the Father’s wisdom, recognizing the mind of Lucifer and the things
that He was putting into it, that He recognized Lucifer would stumble? Now
don’t jump ahead of me. But consider this scripture that the Father, God turns
man to destruction and says, “Return to Me.” Why would He do that? Because
it’s only through that experience of coming back, of recognizing your frailty,
recognizing you don’t possess the characteristics of God unless He gives it to
you; He helps you see yourself. That is merciful that He would do that, because
when you return to Him, you’re humbled and you recognize the folly of who you
are without Him.
Don’t you think He
did the same thing to Lucifer to show him where he would fall, where he would
go? I’m not saying the Father created all of this evil. What I’m saying is the
Father in His wisdom knew exactly what to give every created being to help them
see themselves, to humble them, but it is your decision to return to Him and to
be sealed through learning obedience through suffering. Just like Pharaoh and
the fact that he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, He knew good and well when He sent
Moses to that man Pharaoh, that when Moses spoke what he spoke, it was going to
harden Pharaoh’s heart. He knew that that was what would happen, but that
doesn’t mean Pharaoh could not have come back to the Father and said, “Help me,
I recognize what’s happening to me.”
And don’t think the
Father wasn’t telling him, wasn’t giving him that witness in his heart, just
like I know He did with Lucifer because that is His character. His character is
one of strengthening, of helping, of comforting, of compassion and mercy. But
if you choose not to accept it, that is when you will experience His wrath.
He’s got to show you who you are. You’ve got to recognize who you are and come
to that place where you admit it, where you’re willing to admit that you cannot
do this on your own. You cannot live godly, you cannot live wholly without a
holy God. And He has got to be your God. He turns man to destruction and then
He says, return to Me. He’s put the world on its foundation. The foundation of
the world is the sea. But He sent the Son to dry the sea and He says, return to
Me, this is the way, the deepest part of that sea. The deepest part of it.
This is the way you return to God. You walk through the depths. You let Him
show you yourself just like the Son of God; just like He faced in Gethsemane.
And again I want you
to think of the love of the Father, allowing His Son to be birthed a second
time, to be taught by imperfect individuals, to lay foundations in His mind that
were twisted, that were not accurate, things He had to deal with. He was made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them who are under the law. You see,
the Son of God touched our lives. He became us and He overcame and He was
victorious. It’s interesting, all of these Catholic concepts. And when I say
“Catholic” I mean universal. All of these Catholic concepts that we have been
eating on, that have plagued us all of our lives, the things, the distortions we
were taught about God. He is revealing Himself to the last generation.
It is the 144,000
who follow the Lamb withersoever He goes. It’s time to cross the sea. It’s
time to let Him reveal yourself to you. And again, I don’t mean through
psychology. That’s the counterfeit. I don’t mean understanding God through
theology, man’s theology. That’s the counterfeit. He will reveal Himself to
you and you’ll be seen through His eyes. He will reveal yourself to you and you
will be seeing yourself through His eyes. And it’s time to accept a
deliverance.
You know, the two
ways He delivers. He pulls you out of it or He delivers you in His
righteousness. He makes you slippery. He gives you a better understanding,
better insight into what you’re doing so that you can deal with it and make
those changes as He leads and guides and directs you. Think of those two ways
of deliverance and recognize for many of the problems you have in your life,
you’re already delivered. You already know what needs to be done. You just
haven’t been willing to sweat blood and deal with it. The time has come. The
Lord is revealing to us we are delivered. The Son of God has endured unto
absolute victory, having never sinned. He dealt with humanity having never
sinned. He has dried the sea. He has made that the way for us to come back to
God, but you do have to deal with it. And it is through God’s wisdom that He
made the captain of our salvation perfect through suffering because that is how
we will be made complete in Jesus Christ, facing self, sweating blood to stay in
the Father’s perfect will and putting all things under our feet.
He loves us.
Hallelujah! The Savior loves us and our Heavenly Father counsels with Him to
give us those things that we have no need what we should even ask for. That
should be another clue that you are unsearchable. You don’t even know what to
pray for as you should. You don’t know what you need. But our Heavenly Father
knows and He is giving that counsel to His only begotten Son. He knows and the
two are working together to complete us. And in the end of this thing you will
have the Father, the Son and humanity walking in a oneness that is so precious.
The world won’t recognize it. We will recognize it because it will be happening
in our very heart and we will glorify Him forever.
I pray this study be a blessing and I would ask you to go back and listen again. Really get the concepts down in your heart of those tapes, “A Fountain of Gardens” and this study. And don’t put words in my mouth. Don’t think I’m saying something I’m not. Listen again. Be clear and understand what God is revealing to His remnant church. Oh God, I pray that we be a blessing to one another; that we lift one another up to a higher plain and again that He be glorified forever.