#266.0403

(All bracketed [ ] words inserted into the following scriptures are the author’s paraphrase.)

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

I have been waiting to make this video, just to make sure that I was focused right – that I was focused in the direction the Lord would have me be, so that I don’t waste your time or my time in making these studies. You know, we’ve reached a point where I personally – I’m not sure how many people really understand the meanings of the concepts that I’m trying to share in these studies – but for me to be able to encourage you to put into practice what you’re hearing in these studies; to deal with character. You know, I try not to just make these studies doctrinal – that would be easy for me to do. We just had meetings in Texas in March, and it never fails when I go to these meetings, the Lord impresses me with something new – the Lord helps me see another door to go through, or begins to share more nuggets of understanding. Personally this stuff has come so fast, it really is hard to keep up with. It is raining so hard as the Lord is preparing His people for the second coming of His only birthed Son, Jesus Christ.

The truth is coming and happening so fast that unless you make every effort, you’re going to be lost in your understanding – you’re going to be left behind in word meanings, in scripture meanings, and if that happens to you, you’ll never know how you apply these things to your heart. So when I do a study, I know there are doctrinal things we have to cover, but if I can’t show you the practical application of it, what good is it? If you don’t let me do that, then we’re just wasting each other’s time. We’ve got to be able to see, understand what the Lord is telling us and then apply it inwardly, and changes be made. I pray changes be made in our lives – they have to be made. If we’re the 144,000, the complete body of Christ ("complete" inward), complete in that we know and understand God’s love – which brings me to this series of studies I’ve been doing on The Character of God, being able to take the Revelation, the last book, and see God’s character as He reveals Jesus to us, as He reveals His only birthed Son – not only can we see the character of the Father, but we can see our own character and go through that process of change that all of us need. Listen, it’s hard for every one of us – all of us deal with pride, and it’s just as hard for me as it is for every one of you. It is humiliating at times when I get angry, or whatever is happening to me, and I’m no different than you are. That is something I am dealing with in my own life every day, as I work with my wife, my children, people that I meet with – all of us have the same bottom line problem: We’ve been defending ourselves and finding value in ourselves, and protecting that value by means of pride.

In 2 Corinthians, Chapter 7, Paul writes:

2 Corinthians 7:1

1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Now, at one point in my life, when I would read, "let us cleanse ourselves," I would think: Well that means if I’m having a problem smoking, I’ve got to make myself stop smoking. If I’m getting angry when I shouldn’t, I’ve got to make myself stop getting angry. That was what it meant to me – to cleanse myself. Now I understand something different, something I pray is a higher revelation of God and something, I pray, that you can agree with. Thoughts produce feelings; feelings move me to action and it is God’s thought I’ve got to possess – and if I am going to cleanse my self from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, that means I recognize it in myself and I take it to the Lord, and I let Him show me how living my life with an absence of His love – not recognizing His love for me and feeling the emptiness – living my life with an absence of God’s love has moved me to fill that vacuum with a variety of things. And when these things are manifest to me, I come back to the Lord and I let Him show me: Because I had the vacuum, I learned this behavior – and let Him put it in perspective. I’ve been saying: Let Him connect the dots to show you how you came from here to here – and by means of His understanding of the problem, we will be delivered.

It isn’t that you start trying not to do it and make yourself not ... no, that’s not what we’re saying. Now I’m not saying that you just let go of the reins and let yourself go do it either, but when you recognize the problem, the way it’s corrected is on your knees before God, receiving an understanding of why you do it, not how to stop, but why you ever began it in the first place. He says: "Having these promises" – what promises? Well, looking at 2 Corinthians again, if you’ll go back to Chapter 6, I want to read a series of verses and I want you to listen for the "promises" that are in these scriptures. 2 Corinthians 6, starting at verse 14, he says:

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath [does] light [have] with darkness?

15 And what concord hath [agreement does] Christ [have] with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth [believes] with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath [does] the temple of God [have] with idols? [Now listen for the promises.] for ye [you] are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, [here’s a promise] I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall [they’ll] be my people.

17 [Because of that, or] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, [He will receive you unto what? Now get this next verse...]

18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall [you will] be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Think about it: God has the capacity to love you as if He literally birthed you, as if you were His only birthed child. That promise breaks the back of the lie that we have no value to God – but what does He say? I will walk among them; I’ll be their God, they will be my people.

I want to connect a few concepts for you that really make this stand out, but first I want to go back to some scripture that I believe Paul was quoting from when he wrote these things. It’s found in Leviticus 26, and we’re going to come right back to 2 Corinthians again. But in Leviticus 26, I want to begin reading at verse 3, and I want you to put this inward – I want you to see this spiritually, as spiritual truth. He is talking about the Promised Land, or entering into the mind of His Son and you listening, and the effect it’s going to have on you inwardly:

Leviticus 26:3-13

3 If ye [you] walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

5 And your threshing [what you receive in threshing] shall reach [will last] unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach [will last] unto the sowing time: and ye shall [you’ll] eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

6 And I will give [you] peace in the land, and ye [you] shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

7 And ye [you] shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. [Your enemies are the iniquities, the distortions you carry – you will chase them. Notice you don’t just stand still – you chase them.]

8 And five of you shall [will] chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall [will] put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. [Which according to Isaiah 55:3, He makes the covenant when you listen, it’s the everlasting covenant.]

10 And ye [you] shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. [Or in other words, when He says "old store," the old things – what if I said, "eternal truths"? You’ll understand eternal truths, from eternity past. Notice: and you’ll bring forth the old because of the new understanding He gives you.]

11 And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.

12 [Now here is what Paul was quoting in 2 Corinthians 6...] And I will walk among you, and [I] will be your God, and ye [you] shall be my people.

13 I am the LORD [YAHWEH] your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt [or gave you the born again experience], that ye [you] should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and [I’ve] made you go upright.

He wants to be your God – which brings me back to 2 Corinthians 7 and something that Paul has stated in that scripture we’ve already read. Let’s read it again – 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1:

2 Corinthians 7:1

1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

What does he mean: "In the fear of God"? I’m telling you that for you to cleanse yourself, it is the process of applying the mechanics of salvation. It isn’t simply reading the book, seeing what not to do, and trying to make yourself not do that anymore – hopefully you have seen the folly of that. To cleanse yourself of filthiness of the flesh and spirit, it is done in the fear of God.

What does he mean concerning the fear of God? What does he mean that He wants to be your God and you be His people? He will receive you; He’ll make you His child; He’ll love you as He loves His only birthed Son. Well, to see the fear of God, I’m going to ask you to turn to Isaiah, and what we’re going to do is just simply read a series of verses that, for me, it helped define this. The first one, Isaiah, Chapter 50 – I’m going to read verse 9 with this:

Isaiah 50:9-11

9 Behold, [Lord YAHWEH] the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

10 Who is among you that feareth [fears] the LORD, that obeyeth [obeys] the voice of his servant, that walketh [that is still walking] in darkness, and hath no [doesn’t have] light? ...

In other words, the answer to that would be: no one – if you’re walking in the fear of the Lord, you are obeying the voice of his servant. His ultimate servant and High Priest is His only begotten Son, and you hear the voice of that man via the conscience. It doesn’t mean He isn’t going to send someone else to you to declare His truth, but when it happens, He will give you that confidence – He’ll give you that assurance that this is of Him – by means of your conscience. No one who is listening to the voice is "walking in darkness." No one listening to the voice has "no light." But He defines walking in the fear of the Lord as equal to obeying the voice of His servant. If you have fear of God, you will obey the voice.

Now let’s take two verses and put them together: One is Job 28:28:

Job 28:28

28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Now that was one of the first verses in my Christian life I ever memorized: The fear of the Lord is wisdom. When you act on it, when you depart from evil, that is understanding. What I want to do is take that verse and compare it with Deuteronomy, Chapter 4, verse 5:

Deuteronomy 4:5-6

5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye [you] should do so in the land whither ye [where you] go to possess it.

6 Keep therefore and do them; [Why?] for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

First of all, the fear of God is wisdom – to hear the servant and do what the Lord is telling you, is wisdom. The fear of the Lord is to hear it too. The fear of the Lord is to obey what He is moving you to do. Now listen to me, I’ve got to say this: I have to believe that we have moved beyond that place of looking at this Book and saying: "That is the word of God." Now I’m not saying it isn’t, but I now can define this being the word of God – it’s the word of God as God moved on these men to write it. "The words," He says, "I speak to you, are spirit and life" – not what He spoke to Isaiah and Moses and Jeremiah – what He speaks to you is spirit and life, and you can come along and read this book and He can use this book to define your experiences, to define word meanings for you. But the word of God and keeping His commandments is through your conscience, not, again, not you reading the Book, putting your definition onto it, and then going about trying to make it happen. That is not what He is talking about. The fear of the Lord is to hear Him and do what you know He’s asking you to do.

Let’s read another verse in Zephaniah, Chapter 3, verse 7:

Zephaniah 3:7

7 I said, Surely thou wilt [you will] fear me, thou wilt [you will] receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.

Now it’s the first part of this verse, obviously, I want to key on: I said surely you will fear me and receive instruction. So again, when we talk about the fear of the Lord, we’re talking about hearing Him and obeying Him, and if you are not, then you are not walking in the fear of God. And again, at one time in my life, when I thought the Book was all there was to the word of God, I tried every way I could to do what I thought this said, and I could not do it. It was an impossibility for me, and it wasn’t until I was totally humiliated and humbled that I was willing to turn to the Lord and He revealed to me abiding in Christ.

The fear of the Lord is to hear Him through the conscience and do what He says. Now let me show you something concerning "the fear of the Lord," now that we know what it means. There is a concept concerning the fear of the Lord that cannot be neglected and I pray after we go through these texts that this cannot be denied. Now let me just simply read for you a series of verses and just relax your heart, and I pray the Lord minister to you. Proverbs, Chapter 1, talking about the fear of the Lord, verse 29:

Proverbs 1:29

29 For that they hated knowledge [it has to be God’s knowledge – they hated knowledge], and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

We’re in Proverbs – go to Chapter 16, verse 16:

Proverbs 16:16

16 How much better is it to get [that word "get" is to possess – to possess wisdom] wisdom than gold! and to get [possess] understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

Now remember, the fear of the Lord is wisdom; to depart from evil is understanding. If you possess understanding, you have departed from evil. We have seen two verses, Proverbs 1:29 and Proverbs 16:16. The first one says wisdom – the fear of the Lord is a choice; understanding – to depart from evil, that is a choice.

Looking at Isaiah 66, verse 4:

Isaiah 66:4

4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; [Why?] because when I called [or when I spoke to them], none did answer; when I spake [spoke], they did not hear: but they did evil before mine [my] eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

It is essential that we can – if we’re going to understand the character of God, if we’re going to understand His character – we have got to understand the freedom He gives humanity. You have a choice – I have a string of verses I could read declaring that, but I want to key on just a couple right now. That brings us back to 2 Corinthians 7, where we are perfecting holiness. Why? Because of the promise He has given us. What promise? The end of 2 Corinthians 6 – He’ll receive you and He’ll be your Father, you’ll be His child, He’ll be your God. Now you’ve got to understand this – Matthew 13, verse 15:

Matthew 13:15

15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed [Now listen closely, read this closely now, what He says...]; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Question: Who’s fault was it that these people were not healed? It was their own fault – it was their own doing. Had they opened their eyes and ears and believed with the heart (which is something I’ve been talking about since I started this tape) through the conscience, listening to the Lord, believing with the heart – not the intellect – believing with the heart, He said: "They would have been converted and I would have healed them." They have closed their eyes themselves. Look at the end of this chapter in Matthew 13. I want to start reading at verse 54 – I’m just going to go ahead and tie this in so you’ll see what is going on here:

Matthew 13:54-58

54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence [or From where] hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence [From where] then hath this man all these things?

57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save [except] in his own country, and in his own house.

58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Now tie this in with Mark, Chapter 6 – and there is a different slant put to this – verse 5:

Mark 6:5-6

5 And he could there do no mighty work, save [except] that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the [their] villages, teaching.

Now listen to me: This doesn’t say He didn’t do mighty works, it states He couldn’t do mighty works – He could not do them in these places. Why? They didn’t believe, and He marveled at their unbelief. This has everything to do with Him being your God. One more verse – Jeremiah 51, verse 9 – I’m just going to read the top part of it:

Jeremiah 51:9

9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: ...

One more – Matthew, Chapter 23, the end of the Chapter, verse 37:

Matthew 23:37-38

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou [you] that killest the prophets, and stonest [you stone] them which are sent unto thee [you], how often would I have gathered thy [your] children together, even as a hen gathereth [gathers] her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Would He have healed them? Yes! Could He heal them? No! Why? It’s called freedom of choice. It means, now listen, the Lord has made you ruler of your own universe and only when you start listening and obeying what He is telling you to do, only then can He say: "I am your God. You’re my people." Except He be the one governing you, ruling you – He isn’t your God – you are your own god. We’ve been through the process – calling the Bible the word of God, reading it for ourselves, defining it for ourselves, becoming our own god – claiming He is our God; we’re serving God: Why, I’m reading the Bible and doing what it says! Well, it’s only when you’re listening that He becomes your God, and He will make you His son, His daughter. He will show His love for you – that He loves you and has always loved you as much as if He literally gave you birth. He spiritually birthed you, and He loves you as much as He loves His only birthed Son – but only when you’re listening.

Now there is something about this that, for me, it is so sweet when you read these verses – Exodus 34, talking about the character of God. You see, this whole instructional thing we’ve been going through, looking at the fact that you choose – listen, you can choose over and above Him – He gives you that right, and that speaks volumes about His character, if you want to understand the character of God. Do you really want to understand the character of God? Do you really? Then you learn to obey, you learn to believe with your heart. When Moses asked the Lord to "show me your glory," and that word "glory" is just another way of saying character – "Let me see your glory" – He’s put in the cleft of the rock, and Exodus 34, verse 5:

Exodus 34:5-7

5 And the LORD [which I believe, in this instance, it was the Son of God] descended [or YAHWEH descended] in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name [character] of the LORD [YAHWEH]. [Now listen to what He says.]

6 And the LORD [YAHWEH] passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God [YAHWEH, YAHWEH God], [is] merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving ...

This word "forgiving," if you look it up, it means to lift up – and this word "iniquity": He lifts up your iniquity. I’ve got to say this now, before I go on reading this – If He is lifting up iniquity from us, He’s delivering us from it. You see, the King James boys, when they recorded this, had that Catholic mind set: "I must needs be forgiven, God will forgive me my iniquity." I’m telling you, as the remnant church, He delivers you from your iniquity – He lifts it up. In their minds, if He lifts it up, He forgave you. No! If He lifts it up, He delivers you, so you don’t have it anymore!

Exodus 34:7

7 ... forgiving [lifting up] iniquity and transgression and sin [the word "transgression" is rebellion – lifting up your iniquity, lifting up your rebellion and sin], and that will by no means clear the guilty; ...

Or in clearing, He will not clear – King James put "the guilty." Now what they’ve put in there, those two words "the guilty" are not there, but it states: "in clearing you, in the process of clearing you, He will not clear." Now let’s connect this. Since we’re in Exodus, back up to Chapter 23, and tie this in with it, because it’s all in the character of God, the glory of God, the name of God, the name of the Lord, so we can better understand "and in clearing, He will not clear":

Exodus 23:20-22

20 Behold, I send an Angel [Messenger] before thee [you] [I believe this Messenger is His Son, His only birthed Son], to keep thee [you] in the way, and to bring thee [you] into the place which I have prepared [for you – the Promised Land].

21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not [that word "provoke" is grieve – don’t grieve Him]; for [because] he will not pardon [lift up] your transgressions [rebellion – those are the same words used in Exodus 34. Why won’t He? If you grieve Him, He will not lift up your rebellion – Why? ]: for my name [character] is in him [He has My character – next verse.].

22 But if thou shalt [if you] indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine [to your] enemies, and an adversary unto thine [to your] adversaries.

Those things that bind you, I’ll bind them, if you listen. But if you grieve Him, if you don’t listen, He isn’t going to lift up your rebellion. He isn’t going to change your heart. Why? He says: "Because He has My character. He won’t do that, because He’s like Me." Stop – why won’t He do it? Why won’t He save you in spite of yourself? Why doesn’t He do that? Because you rule your own universe! And this is so sweet to me to consider my Heavenly Father – is He sovereign? Yes sir! He is so sovereign that He isn’t challenged to give you your sovereignty over your own universe. You have your own choice – you choose whether to walk in His wisdom; you choose whether to depart from evil; you choose whether you’re going to serve Him. Now can a person come in and say, "Well, Satan is stronger than God"? Listen to me, if you put Satan inward and you realize it is your own adversity to God, yes, in many people Satan is governing that person and not God, and God is big enough to stand back and say: "I’m not going to rape your mind, I’m not going to make you a puppet, I’m not going to do this without you. You’re going to be a part of this thing too."

This is how it works: The Son of God learned obedience through the things which He suffered. What is obedience? Acting on what you hear – what is that? The fear of God. You see, if the Lord asks you to do something you want to do, and you go do it, you’re not learning obedience. You learn obedience when He asks you to do something you don’t want to do, and you act on it, and you do it. Now you’re learning obedience, you’re learning – you’re choosing the fear of God – and our sovereign Father has made us sovereign, and He’s asking you to lay that down and let Him be your God. You perfect holiness through the fear of the Lord. Why? Well, He’s given me these promises that He’ll walk among us, He’ll walk in me; He’ll be my God, I’ll be His child; we will be His people, if what? You choose that direction, and I’m going to tell you right now, anybody who says: "You don’t have a choice in the matter," I just simply ask you to search your own heart. Do you think that’s accurate? Can you take the scriptures and, with the Spirit of God, believe something like that? You see, now you make a choice – if you want to be adverse to love, or if you want to know even as you are known – right here is a crossroad for you. To know Him as well as He knows you, you’ve got to understand the simple fact – He will not cleanse you except you open your heart and obey what He is saying to you. He will not rape your mind. He says: "Be aware of my Angel. Don’t grieve Him. He will not lift up your rebellion. Why? Well, He’s got My character – He has my character. He has My name; My name is in Him."

The 144,000 standing on Mount Zion, they have the name of the Father of the Lamb. You do not force a person; you do not oppress. You cannot heal a person who isn’t sick, and I want you to think of the sweetness – that is so sweet to me to think of the Father saying: "Well, My character is in Him – My character is in Him. He isn’t going to do this. My character is ...." Now if you obey, that’s another story. If you choose not to listen, well He isn’t going to lift this up off of you. "He has My character" – do you want to know the character of God? Do you really want to know the character of God? Are you serious about knowing the character of God?

You know, last week in our local meeting, I put the word "Trinity" on the board, and I said: "If I am a Trinitarian, if I am, starting with this word "Trinity," if I buy into that lie and believe the Trinity, stemming from that Trinity doctrine I could go a lot of different directions. In fact, we know the Catholic Church says that the doctrine of the Trinity is the basis of everything they believe – they start with it for every direction they go. So one direction I could choose to go is to say: If I believe the Trinity of being Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal persons – if I take that word "Trinity," my next step would be to say that Jesus equals the God. If that be true, another step would be: Then He didn’t die at Calvary – God can’t die. Then another step off of that might be: Well then, He raised Himself from the dead. And for all of these things that I’m stating here, we could go look up a verse and hang our doubt on that. We could go look up a verse that seemingly states that very thing: "Well, Jesus is the God, He raised Himself from the dead." See, all of these things, if you want to go that direction, you can choose to believe those things, and base it on what? On the Book, various verses found in the book – you can believe anything you want to believe.

When I read this in Exodus 34, this part where I left off in declaring the character of God, in verse 7, He says:

Exodus 34:7

7 ... visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Well, remember in Psalms 127: Except the Lord build the house, he labors in vain that builds it – my wife pointed out to us that in Psalms 127, that verse 1 has to be an inward thing, meaning that Psalm is spiritual – and it’s in that Psalm he says: The children are the fruit of the womb. So it puts thoughts as my offspring, what I am producing – they are my "children." And if I begin with the Trinity and work my way down to say: Well, He raised Himself from the dead – what you’re seeing there is "iniquity to the third and fourth generation." You see, those things that we’re looking at – and I believe in Exodus 34, I know the Lord is putting that inward – but we’re seeing unto the third and fourth generation of iniquity, how this distorted understanding produces iniquity. What I have laid out is doctrinal, and I know what He is speaking of in Exodus 34 is more personal than that – I know I possess distortions given me from my parents. I know my children possess distortions that I have given them, and it isn’t anything that happened to me out of meanness and spite, it’s just the way it is – we possess iniquity.

So, on the board, I had this word "Trinity" with the steps downward, and beside it I put "character" – "iniquity in my character." Doctrinal iniquity; iniquity in my character – both are true, both were true in my life – the doctrinal thing I believe, the Lord is straightening out. But let me ask you this question: Which is more important to see – the doctrinal iniquity or the iniquity of character? Well, in our group, one person said "the character," and one person said "the doctrine." Let me tell you, I know both are important to see. You’ve got to see you have iniquity in your character so you’ll know you need to be healed, but you cannot be healed if your doctrine is inaccurate, because the iniquity in your character is due to emotions. It’s an emotional thing – your sin nature is an emotional thing, and the only thing that straightens it out is the truth that there’s one God who birthed a Son; who let Him die at Calvary as a manifestation of His love for you – that will erase the foundation of that iniquity, and then go through that process with you of straightening out the crooked places. Without the doctrinal correction, your character will never be straightened out. I look at these denominational groups who are working on their characters – listen, more than that, people who go to psychologists or ... they’re putting band-aids on the problem, because the root of the problem is the vacuum that was created when you were led to think that God didn’t love you as much as He loves Jesus.

You see, there’s a vacuum there, and until you’re straightened up doctrinally, you can never correct the character – and people send their kids off to these academies, to these schools, to help the "character," when the denominational school is corrupting and setting them in stone on doctrinal confusion, so that the child will never come out of the problem. Now he’s got so much baggage he is carrying concerning that church and their creed – what they think God wants...you see? It nearly brings you to the breaking point – I mean, it makes me mad enough to just scream at what these churches are doing to people and how we, some of us more than others, have been suckered into that, thinking that was accurate, thinking that was the truth. Some of the places I myself have worked, and drug my family to – these academies – I’m telling you, it is folly. It is sheer folly to accept that – the doctrinal blunders that they give you. It is Babylon – but by God’s grace I can say to you in all assurance and confidence: Babylon has fallen. I know it has in my life and I’m going through this process now of letting the Lord correct the character and set me free.

Now this brings me to another step in this process, something we’ve got to understand, as we read in the scriptures how the Lord equates "character" to wood – then what is the difference in the reaction of the wood to fire and water, because the Lord talks about the water of His word, but He talks about fire too. You see, water will cleanse it – fire devours it, and we are in this process of going through change and letting the Lord correct us and change us for eternity. To make my point and to get into this, and by God’s grace to clarify for you, I want to ask you to turn to Genesis 6, to the time of Noah, and I want to begin reading in verse one. I want to just simply read some texts and clear up some distorted understanding that I continually hear from TV preachers and elsewhere:

Genesis 6:1

1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

Now, I didn’t go in depth in Psalms 127, but I pray that in your own studies you have taken the time to see how the Lord equates "children" to thought – "the fruit of the womb." Yes, I know your children are the fruit of your womb, literal and spiritual, but your thoughts are the fruit of your womb and your children possess your thought. Scary, isn’t it?

Genesis 6:1

1 ... daughters were born unto them,

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair;

Stop. When He speaks of "the sons of God," the Lord defines that for us in Romans 8:14 – Those who are led of His spirit are the sons of God.

Genesis 6:2

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; ...

Now, what if I put this inward? What if I just simply said: "people who were serving the Lord began to receive doctrines, thoughts of men"? Now listen, if you make this a literal verse and you put it outward, it’s still the same thing because, when a son of God married the daughters of men – of people who didn’t believe – the wife influenced the man, and just simply by literally marrying that woman, he was receiving the doctrines of men through that process of marriage and that process of daily life. Now follow along with what he says here:

Genesis 6:2-4

2 ... the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose [or began to cleave to those things of which they chose – we’re back to our freedom of choice aren’t we? ... of what they chose.].

3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh [implying you’re also "spirit" – My spirit won’t always strive with him because he’s flesh too. See, he has these fleshly thoughts, too. Now listen ...]: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days;

King James put "giant," – look the word up. The root of this word is found in Genesis 2, verse 21 – Genesis 2:21 reads:

Genesis 2:21

21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, ...

It’s the word "fall" – that’s the root of this. Every Hebrew word is based on a verb. The verb of this is "to fall" – this word simply means fallen, rebellious, apostate. Look it up – it doesn’t mean "a giant."

Genesis 6:4

4 There were giants [rebellious people] in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

What is he saying? People who were led of the spirit began to receive doctrines of men and, because of that connection – because of that union – there began to be "rebellious" people in the world, and they became men of renown. Matthew 24 – some of you already know where I’m going – verse 37:

Matthew 24:37

37 But as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe [Noah] entered into the ark,

39 And [they] knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

And I’ve got to point out what He says, verse 36:

Matthew 24:36

36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels [messengers] of heaven, but my Father only.

But here is a clue: It’s going to be like it was in the days of Noah. How? Well, people who were being led of God began to receive doctrines of men, and there began to be rebellious people in the world because of that, and there began to be men of renown – men that the world respected, who really were adverse to the love of God. Do you know anybody like that? Do you see anybody like that? Do you hear them on the radio? People that claim to be spiritual and they’re just spewing doctrines of men, and they’re helping you stay in your apostasy – and they’re adverse to God’s love; they are rebellious to His love? They think Jesus died to appease an angry God? They think if Jesus hadn’t died, God couldn’t forgive me? They think Jesus is standing between you and God, protecting you from the Father? Men of renown. Well, just like it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man.

Folks, we know it’s like that, don’t we? Well, let’s pick this up and go to 1 Peter, Chapter 3 – I want you to read this real close, because this is something that, for many years threw me – what he was saying. So when I read this, I’m just going to insert some key words, I should say, some words in key places to help this make sense, or more sense. Speaking of Christ, in verse 19, let’s read verse 18:

1 Peter 3:18-20

18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by [or given life in] the Spirit: [Now speaking of in the spirit ...]

19 By which [in the spirit] also he [Christ] went and preached unto the spirits in prison [spirits of men who are now imprisoned in their graves];

20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, ...

These men which, King James put "sometime were disobedient" – let’s leave out "sometime" – ... "which were disobedient." These people who are now in their graves, were disobedient when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah...

1 Peter 3:20

... while the ark was a preparing, ...

While Noah was preparing the ark, God was waiting or speaking to the world by means of His Son through, I believe, Noah and the fact that the man was building the boat. Let me read this again – understand these people are now dead. They are imprisoned in their graves, but he states again, Christ went and preached unto these people who are now imprisoned – these people which were disobedient to the voice of the messenger, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah. They were rejecting the message, Noah’s message – they are now imprisoned in their graves. Reading the rest of this...While the ark was being prepared...

1 Peter 3:20

... wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

Now stop – nobody was saved by water. The "water" was the problem – they were saved through the water. Now think about this: The Lord has shown me, has tried to show us – in Noah’s day, every person on this planet passed through the water. The difference for Noah and his family is that they were in a boat. Everyone else was outside of the ark, and if you go read the story of the flood, God releases water from heaven – listen – just like He’s doing today. He is releasing water from heaven. But water also came up from the earth and, when those two waters clashed, it created the flood, which took them all away. As the Lord is giving us doctrinal truth, and helping us see what is accurate about Him and His Son, and His love for you, earthly water will come up in some people creating a flood, which will carry them away from the Lord. Except you be in Christ in the ark, you’ll be carried away of the flood. Now he states here: "eight souls were saved by water." This word "by" is dia, and it means "through." They weren’t saved "by" the water, they were saved "through" the water – that’s two different things – to be saved through the water.

Now with this understanding, let’s go to the next verse. This is key, now, you’ve got to grasp what he’s saying. Verse 21.

1 Peter 3:21

21 The like figure [or this is a type. Noah being saved through the water, by being in that boat – this is a type.] whereunto even baptism doth also now save us ...

Stop – how many baptisms are there? One, according to Ephesians 4 – there’s one baptism (Ephesians 4:5) – and how does Paul define this in Romans 6? We are immersed into Jesus’ death. (Romans 6:3) What does that mean? To be taught the truth of His death immerses you into His death. There’s only one immersion, and it’s to be immersed into His death; not immersed into the church creed ... you come out now, you’re a Baptist. No – you’re immersed into His death. You are to be taught of the death of the only birthed Son, that God loves you. It is proof He loves you as much as He loves His Son – slaying the old man, according to Romans 6.

1 Peter 3:21

21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Noah passing through the water is a type, the like figure whereunto immersion into Christ’s death saves us. Noah, getting in that boat to pass through the water is like us being immersed into Christ’s death, being put in Christ in this way. Now if you’ll notice, the parentheses starts at the word – it says "not the putting away," it starts at "not" and it goes down to "conscience toward God." I want to leave out everything in parentheses, just to keep from confusing the point being made here – verse 21:

1 Peter 3:21

21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us [immersion into Jesus’ death saves us] ... by the resurrection of Jesus Christ

See that word "by"? It’s dia – it’s "through." Now collect your thoughts: Jesus has been raised from the dead and we are now living in the time of His resurrection and, by being immersed into His death, it’s like us getting in the boat and going through the water – we’re going through the time of His resurrection. What is the time of His resurrection? Notice the next verse – now notice this:

1 Peter 3:22

22 [Christ] Who is gone into heaven, and [He’s] is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

Now listen – that’s only as they believe. You cannot walk outside or go to the mall or go to the football game and look at everybody – Well everybody’s been put under His authority – look at them. No, it’s only the ones who are choosing to be put under His authority. "Angels, authorities, powers being made subject to him" as they receive Him. He has been raised from the dead – let me tell you another way of putting this – He’s at the right hand of God, receiving a kingdom, being given a kingdom. He states this – if you can see this, He’s gone into the heavens, He’s on the right hand of God. If you’ll turn to Matthew, Chapter 26, when the High Priest says unto Him, in verse 63:

Matthew 26:63-64

63 ... the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou [you] tell us whether thou [you] be the Christ, the Son of God. [And here’s what Christ said in verse 64...]

64 Jesus saith [said] unto him, Thou hast [You have] said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter [After this] shall ye [you] see [#1] the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power [That’s what Peter just said – He’s gone into heaven; He’s on the right hand of God – but then Jesus says this...], and coming in the clouds of heaven.

He isn’t talking about the second coming; He’s talking about Daniel 7:13 – let’s read this together.

Daniel 7:13

13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days ...

And you continue reading, and a kingdom is given him...this is what Peter is saying. "He’s gone into heaven, He’s on the right hand of God; angels, authorities, powers being made subject to Him." Christ says, "After you put me to death, you’re going to see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand, fulfilling Psalm 110:1 and coming in the clouds of heaven, fulfilling Daniel 7:13, after I’m resurrected." Just like Noah got in the boat and was saved through the water, you are to be immersed into the death of Christ and be saved through the reception of His kingdom.

How does He receive His kingdom? We’re in Daniel 7 – let me show you something – starting at verse 9:

Daniel 7:9

9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down [or the tribunal was set is what it actually means], and the Ancient of days [the Father] did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

10 A fiery stream issued [flowed] and came forth from before him: ...

How is the Son of God receiving His kingdom? Through fire; by means of fire. What is the difference between "water" and "fire" in relation to wood? Well, water will cleanse it, but fire will devour it. Now follow me – Deuteronomy 32, we’ve got to understand this, Deuteronomy 32:2:

Deuteronomy 32:2-3

2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD [character of YAHWEH]: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

Now listen, doctrinally speaking, if you could put one God brought forth a Son – why? To prove the Father loved humanity as much as He loved His birthed Son – why? To correct the lie humanity possessed from Eve, that we had no value. That doctrinal equation is "water" cleansing your understanding, but by taking the doctrine of "Christ is His Son; I know I can hear God and I see what the sin problem is" – those three doctrines, now, and applying that before God: I know Jesus is your Son; I know I can hear you; I know I’ve believed the lie – that allows the fire of God that He speaks to come in and consume the wood. Let me tell you something interesting: In Leviticus 1, when you look at sin offerings, the person would bring the offering to the High Priest – the person would put it to death. It was the High Priest who flayed the animal, laid it on the wood and put the fire to it – the High Priest (Leviticus 1:6-8). Now let me tell you something that I said in the last study – I mean this with all my heart, I believe this with all my heart: When you get to the place where the Lord is burning your wood and eradicating the iniquity, you’re not simply abiding in Christ – you’ve entered into the process, the ultimate process, and you are a high priest of the most High God, just as Jesus told the literal High Priest to literal Israel: "After you put me to death, after Calvary, you’ll see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of God and coming in the clouds of heaven." That man, after He was raised from the dead, He led captivity captive; brought these people before His Father, not to find "acceptance" but to show that He was grateful, to show His love for the Father.

I can prove that to you and I will – not right now, but let me keep making my point. He came back and taught for forty days and then ascended, as that picture of you and I after we have received from Him for the forty days, we ascend out of the sea into the arms of the Father, knowing His love – the sea is a lie – and at that point you too, sit at the right hand of God. Why? Because He did – the Son of Man – sitting at the right hand of God. He says in Revelation, about the seven angels in His hand, He says: "You’ll sit with me on my throne, even as I’m sitting with My Father in His." (Revelation 3:21) Well friend, if you’re sitting with Him, He’s on the right hand of God. So are you, if you have ascended out of the lie – you’re on the right hand of God, and you’re being given your kingdom by means of fire – not water. Noah was a type – He passed through the water – everybody on the planet passed through the water. Everybody is going to pass through the fire.

In 2 Peter, I just simply want to read a scripture – in 2 Peter, Chapter 3, he writes in verse 7:

2 Peter 3:7

7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

There is a fire; there is a fire to pass through. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 3, and this is key – starting at verse 10:

1 Corinthians 3:10

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon [builds on it]. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon [builds on it].

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that [which] is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation [I should say His foundation] gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13 Every man’s work shall [will] be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

14 If any man’s work abide which he hath [has] built thereupon, he shall [he’ll] receive a reward.

15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall [he’s going to] suffer [the] loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by [through] fire.

Is this saying the fire is going to save everybody? No – anyone who is saved, will be saved "yet as though passing through the fire." Everyone’s going to pass through the fire. The question is: Are you going to pass through it in Christ’s – being immersed in His death, receiving the kingdom, or are you going to choose not to listen to the Lord and the fire kindle a fire within you? Instead of it consuming the wood, it has a different effect. 

Now this concept is where I want to pick up for the next study – for the last study in The Character of God Series – the effect of not allowing the fire of God’s words to consume the character, but to kindle a fire in you.

CLOSE

The studies have to be practical; you have to see how to apply them. I pray that, again, going through these concepts, you understand the iniquity that we all possess – you understand by allowing Babylon to fall and receiving the truth of God’s love, He can correct the iniquity. I pray you’re going through that process. I’m telling you again right now, if you are not, you’re wasting your time, and I’m wasting mine even talking about it to you, because there is nothing else as important as that – to know God’s love and apply it to your heart and quit worrying about finances, and homes and clothes, and cars – not that you don’t need money; what you need is Christ. What you need is Christ for spiritual perfection.

My God shall supply all your needs; my God shall supply all your needs – needs, through His riches in Christ Jesus, through His heavenly riches that are found in Christ. All of your needs – everything else is a blessing; everything else is just an extra – your needs are found only in Christ and, by God’s grace, we’re going to go through those changes and be perfected completely in our Savior.

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