All posts tagged soft heart of faith

A soft heart of faith allows the Lord’s word to profit us, in contrast to no profit due to an evil heart of unbelief in Hebrews 3:7—4:13.

The Course of Our Christian Life

New JerusalemOur Christian life begins with repentance and consummates with New Jerusalem. Although every Christian has had an initial experience of repentance, during the progress of our Christian life we might need further times of repentance.

It is sad that the New Testament has many examples of people who refuse to repent. The Lord rebuked multiple cities for this failure (e.g. Matt. 11:20-24), and large numbers in Revelation refused to repent (9:20-21) even when they knew they were under the judgment of God (16:8-11).

May we never be like those people. Lord, keep our heart soft to You every day. If we realize that we still have sin and sins, as we see in 1 John 1,and recognize that we are not sufficient in ourselves to serve the Lord, we will welcome His mercy. We are vessels of mercy, and God desires to “make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy.”

Besides welcoming His mercy, we also confess our sins, exercising to be void of offense. This is our cooperation with His mercy. When we cooperate by confessing, we have boldness to come forward to His throne of grace, where we receive more mercy and find grace to meet every need (Heb. 4:16).

Thank God for His mercy to us that we may be vessels to contain and express His riches. This is for His glory. “To Him be the glory in the church” now (Eph. 3:21). And to Him be the glory in New Jerusalem for eternity.

Graphic courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on September 21, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Preparation of New Jerusalem
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Posted by Don on September 21, 2018

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/09/21/the-course-of-our-christian-life/

Christ Loves the Church & New Jerusalem, 4

Here is the last verse of a song about Christ’s love for His wife, initially the church and eternally New Jerusalem. This part of the song begins with resurrection. Both the church and New Jerusalem are in resurrection because they exist solely in and with the resurrection life of Christ.

New Jerusalem“She beholds her Bridegroom…” This is like Hebrews 12:1-2, let us “run with endurance the race which is set before us, looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.” He is both the Initiator and the Completer. We are not capable of becoming the glorious church and city, but He will complete this process in us. Thank Him.

“His glory floods her heart.” This is happening today. In 2 Corinthians 3 we turn our hearts to the Lord and “we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (v. 18).

His open appearing in glory will be at His second coming: “they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27). But His spiritual appearing is available to us now as we turn our hearts and look away to Him.

Eventually His bride will be raptured and then come down out of heaven, “the bride, the wife of the Lamb….the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God” (Rev. 21:9-11).

 

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by Don on September 7, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in New Jerusalem is a Marriage
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Posted by Don on September 7, 2018

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/09/07/christ-loves-the-church-new-jerusalem-4/

Now & New Jerusalem: Behold His Face (5)

New JerusalemIn New Jerusalem we will see the face of God and the Lamb (Rev. 22:4). To prepare us for this, God has already “shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

In 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 the Israelites looking at the face of Moses is likened to our looking at the Lord’s face. This is for today, not waiting for New Jerusalem.

During our Christian life we should continually behold the face of Jesus Christ. Whenever our heart turns to the Lord our veils are taken away (v. 16). These veils could be our ideas about what is best, our human goals, our attitudes about people and events, our complaining about outward sufferings, or many other things. When the veils are gone, we contact the Lord who is the Spirit and experience His inner freedom (v. 17).

As a result, “we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (v. 18). Our transformation is by our looking to the Lord, beholding His glory, so that He can infuse us with it. This is our preparation for New Jerusalem, the city of glory.

Our continual (or sadly, intermittent) beholding of the Lord produces continual (or sadly, intermittent) transformation, “from glory to glory.” God’s desire, for which He predestinated us, is that we “be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). With this image and with “reflecting the glory of the Lord” we become a corporate expression of Him. which consummates in New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on October 11, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in Life and New Jerusalem, Preparation of New Jerusalem
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Posted by Don on October 11, 2017

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2017/10/11/now-new-jerusalem-behold-his-face-5/

Christ as the Riches in Christian Life

God’s unsearchable riches will be displayed through New Jerusalem. These riches are not only for New Jerusalem; they are for us to experience in our Christian life now.

New JerusalemGod’s rich mercy and kindness brought salvation to us. And the Holy Spirit has been “poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5-6). By this Spirit in us we have a daily renewing.

As the Spirit imparts the riches of Christ into us, our hearts are “being knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ” (Col. 2:2). Like prior verses, here we see that there is no separating the riches from the Person of Christ.

We can also “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Col. 3:16). This dwelling helps, and is helped by, “singing with grace in your hearts to God.” Even in New Jerusalem, Christ, the living Word, will be dwelling in us. I believe that in New Jerusalem we will still be singing with grace to God. Besides singing now, it is also good to pray and praise with the word.

Furthermore, we can call on the name of the Lord. Whether almost silently or very loudly, we can call O Lord Jesus. “There is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him” (Rom. 10:12).

All these Christian practices keep us holding our Head, Christ, and growing up into Him. This bring us to the building up of the Body of Christ by the rich supply out from Him (Eph. 4:15-16, Col. 2:19). This present, living building up is for New Jerusalem, God’s eternal building.

Bible verses quoted in these posts are from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003. The New Testament of this Bible, with outlines, footnotes, and cross-references, is at online.recoveryversion.org; this too is © by Living Stream Ministry. Besides this New Testament, many books published by Living Stream may be read online.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on October 3, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in Characteristics of New Jerusalem, Life and New Jerusalem
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Posted by Don on October 3, 2016

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2016/10/03/christ-as-the-riches-in-christian-life/

In Spirit on a Mountain, see New Jerusalem

New JerusalemWe are looking at an issue of Affirmation & Critique* on New Jerusalem. The prior post includes this sentence from The Divine and Mystical in Figurative Language: God and the writers of the Bible employ figurative language, using literary devices such as symbols, types, figures, metaphors, similes, and allegories to communicate the realities of the divine and mystical realm.

We must recognize that the Bible uses such figurative language. We must also recognize that the reality of all these pictures are God, Christ Jesus, His offices and accomplishments, His believers and their Christian experiences, and His Body.

We are familiar with parables in the gospels. Parables are not merely nice stories, they all have spiritual significances, such as the sower and seed being the Lord Himself and the word of God (Matthew 13:3-23).

Revelation is a books of signs, as stated in verse 1:1. For example, the seven lampstands in Revelation 1 are symbols of the seven churches, and the woman and the dragon in Revelation 12:1-9 portray the people of God and Satan.

The consummation of Revelation is New Jerusalem, which is also presented by the Bible in figurative language. This is why we need the Lord to carry us away in spirit to a high mountain to see New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:10-11). All the natural elements (e.g. gold, pearls, wall, precious stones, tree of life) in Revelation 21–22 have spiritual significance.

We should not use our human imagination to create images of these figures in a natural way. Rather, we should open our heart to the Lord and ask Him to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation that we may see the reality of these figures. Lord, show me New Jerusalem!

* Affirmation & Critique is a Christian Journal published twice a year and available online. It presents Bible truths in a scholarly manner, with references to and citations from a variety of publications by authors over the entire Christian era. Affirmation & Critique exhibits much appreciation for the person and work of Jesus Christ and our life with Him. The Fall 2012 issue (Vol. XVII, No. 2) focuses on New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of pdphoto.org.

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by Don on July 15, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in Books
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Posted by Don on July 15, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/07/15/in-spirit-on-a-mountain-see-new-jerusalem/

God’s Preparation for Those Who Love Him

New Jerusalem is the bride of Jesus Christ (Revelation 21:2). On one side God “has prepared a city” (Hebrews 11:16) and on the other side, the bride “has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). The two previous posts were on getting ready by loving our Bridegroom (one  two)

New JerusalemFirst Corinthians 2:9 speaks of “things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” New Jerusalem is the consummation of all the things God has prepared for His lovers.

These God-prepared things “eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart” (1 Corinthians 2:9); hence they are not natural or physical things which can be seen, heard, or imagined.

These things “God has revealed through the Spirit” (v. 10), whom we have received that we may know these things (v. 12). In this spiritual realm, the key to knowing is loving God.

To realize and participate in the deep and hidden things God has ordained and prepared for us requires us not only to believe in Him but also to love Him. To fear God, to worship God, and to believe in God (that is, to receive God) are all inadequate; to love Him is the indispensable requirement. To love God means to set our entire being — spirit, soul, and body, with the heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30) — absolutely on Him, that is, to let our entire being be occupied by Him and lost in Him, so that He becomes everything to us and we are one with Him practically in our daily life. In this way we have the closest and most intimate fellowship with God, and we are able to enter into His heart and apprehend all its secrets (Psa. 73:25; 25:14). Thus, we not only realize but also experience, enjoy, and fully participate in these deep and hidden things of God.*

Lord, draw me to love You supremely, to have my whole being occupied by You and lost in You.

Photo by Willem van Aken, courtesy of CSIRO Australia.

* Note 3 on 1 Cor. 2:9 in The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © 2003 by LSM.

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by Don on April 13, 2015  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 13, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/gods-preparation-for-those-who-love-him/

Love the Lord Jesus, Rejoice and Exult

New JerusalemWe are in a series of posts on preparation of New Jerusalem. An outstanding characteristic of New Jerusalem is that this city is the bride of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19:7 proclaims, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

Love is the critical factor for a bride preparing to be married.

In John 14:23 the Lord Jesus says to us, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” The making of this abode, in response to our loving the Lord, is part of the preparation of New Jerusalem as the eternal mutual abode of God and man.

Romans 8:28 tells us that “all things work together for good to those who love God.” The “good” here is neither outward blessings nor human success, but the accomplishing of God’s purpose as revealed in verses 29-30. Our loving of God causes us to care for His desire regardless of our human situation. And New Jerusalem is the consummation of all the “good” which God is accomplishing in those who love Him.

Second Timothy 4:8 speaks of “all those who have loved our Lord’s appearing.” This is a stark contrast to those who “loved the present age” (v. 10). If we love Him, certainly we will love His appearing. Lord, cause us to love You every day.

A song echoes this prayer:
___Lord, keep my heart always true to You,
___Never backsliding, always viewing You,
___A heart that is pure that sees only You,
___A heart that loves You and treasures only You.

Lord, keep my heart in this wonderful condition from now until New Jerusalem appears.

Photo courtesy of pdphoto.org.

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by Don on April 8, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in New Jerusalem is a Marriage, Preparation of New Jerusalem
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Posted by Don on April 8, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/love-the-lord-jesus-rejoice-and-exult/

We Can Be Perfect in our Father’s Life

New JerusalemGod sent John the Baptist to “prepare the way of the Lord” (Matthew 3:3). This “way of the Lord” extends from John unto New Jerusalem. To prepare the way is to turn men’s hearts to the Lord. Both John and the Lord Jesus exhorted people to repent, to have a turn to the Lord, to have a change of heart for the Lord and His kingdom.

After the repentance spoken in Matthew 3 and 4, in Matthew 5:8 the Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” And 2 Timothy 2:21-22 urges us to cleanse ourselves and pursue “with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

This purity comes in two steps. First is our repentance and faith—God cleanses our hearts by faith (Acts 15:8-9). This is once for all time. Second, we need the supply for a pure life day by day, because in ourselves we are not pure. Only the Lord Jesus is pure. First John 3:3 says “He is pure.” Only as He becomes our living can our living be pure.

Matthew 5:48 says, “You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” As children of the Father, we have the Father’s life, which is Jesus Christ (John 14:6). With Him as our life we can be pure (read more).

To the degree that Jesus Christ is our living, to this extent we have daily, experiential purity. Out of this living, as Revelation 19:7-8 declares, “the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure.”

The fine, bright, and pure linen given on that day is an expression of all the preparation and the living leading to that day and ultimately to New Jerusalem.

Photo by John Manger, courtesy of CSIRO Australia, www.scienceimage.csiro.au.

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by Don on March 13, 2015  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on March 13, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/be-perfect-in-the-fathers-life/

Receive the Word with Faith to Get Ready

In Matthew 24 and 25 the Lord Jesus urged us to be ready for His coming. This readiness for Him as the Bridegroom is related to preparation of New Jerusalem as His bride.

The preparation is carried out not by our own zeal or energy but by our cooperation with Him. Hebrews 3:7 to 4:13 speaks about the failure of the children of Israel to pass through the wilderness and enter the good land. Their journey is like our journey as virgins going forth to meet the Bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13). Thus we can learn from their failure.

New JerusalemHebrews 4:12 says, “the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The condition of our heart is important in our being ready for the Lord.

Hebrews 4:2 says of those who died in the wilderness, “the word heard did not profit them, not being mixed together with faith in those who heard.” When we receive the word of the Lord with faith and say amen to it, then it will be living and operative in us.

The living and operative word profits us when it nourishes our spirit, divides our spirit from our soul, and operates in our heart. The gradual nourishing, dividing, and operating get us ready for the Lord’s return and for New Jerusalem.

A song:
__Jesus is coming, now He’s on His way—
____Amen the Word of God!
__Would you be ready if He comes today—
____Amen the Word of God!
__His Word prepares us, to Jesus bears us—
____Amen the Word of God!

The word of God is living and operative!

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by Don on March 9, 2015  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on March 9, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/receive-the-word-with-faith-to-get-ready/

The Preparation of New Jerusalem

The apostle John saw a new heaven, a new earth, and the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:1-2). This post begins a series on the preparation of New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:2 does not say who accomplished the preparation of New Jerusalem as the bride. However, through this series we will see clearly from many New Testament verses that this preparation requires both God and man.

The first step in the preparation was God’s sending of John the Baptist to “prepare the way of the Lord.” This was prophesied in Isaiah 40. Verses 3-4 say, “The voice of one who cries in the wilderness: make clear the way of Jehovah; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be made low, and the crooked places will become straight, and the rough places, a broad plain.”

It seems that Isaiah, and the quotations in Matthew, Mark, and Lukmarten, by Nathan Stone, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Statione, speak about changes in the physical landscape. However, these physical descriptions are portraits of people’s inner condition. Therefore, Matthew, Mark, and Luke say that John prepared the way of the Lord by proclaiming repentance for the king-dom and the people responded by being baptized while they confessed their sins.

Another indication that “the crooked places” (and valleys, hills, rough places) refer to our heart is in Acts 8. Peter said to Simon the magician, “your heart is not straight before God. Repent therefore from this wickedness of yours and beseech the Lord if perhaps the intent of your heart may be forgiven you” (8:21-22).

The real preparation of the way of the Lord is in our hearts. This preparation begins with our repentance and our confessing our sins. In this age we cannot say we have no sin and we cannot say that we have not sinned. But, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-10). More confessing in His light brings more forgiveness and more cleansing, which means more preparation for New Jerusalem.

Photo by Nathan Stone, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, courtesy of U.S. Forest Service.

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by Don on February 11, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in Preparation of New Jerusalem
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Posted by Don on February 11, 2015

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2015/02/11/the-preparation-of-new-jerusalem/

Filled by & for Hearing, Speaking, Singing

Galatians 3:13-14, “Christ redeemed us…that we might receive the promise of the Spirit” parallels the throne of God and of the Lamb from which comes the river of water of life in New Jerusalem. In Galatians 3 we receive the Spirit by the hearing of faith (v. 2, 5).

New JerusalemTo have hearing we also need speaking. We should not depend on a select few to speak. Rather, as Ephesians 5:18b-19 says, we should “be filled in spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.”

The psalms, hymns, and songs may be directly from the word of God or may express what we see in the word of God. When we are filled in spirit and speak, others will have the hearing of faith and receive the Spirit. Then others may speak and we receive the Spirit. This mutual, spiritual speaking and hearing expresses the reality of the Body of Christ.

Colossians 3:16 is very similar: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.” The word dwells/lives in us. The word of God living in us corresponds with our being filled in spirit in Ephesians 5.

Both Ephesians and Colossians include singing—with grace, with our hearts, to the Lord.

Surely New Jerusalem will be full of the Spirit and full of the living word. There we will still be speaking and hearing the living words, the words of the faith. New Jerusalem will probably also be full of our singing to the Lord.

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by Don on September 24, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on September 24, 2014

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/filled-by-for-hearing-speaking-singing/

We Are Receiving the Promise of the Spirit

New JerusalemThe prior post paralleled Galatians 3:13-14, “Christ redeemed us…that we might receive the promise of the Spirit” with the view of New Jerusalem in Revelation 22:1, “He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

In Galatians 3:2, 14 we receive the Spirit and in 3:5 God is bountifully supplying the Spirit. We receive because He supplies. And His supplying is continuous (clearly indicated by the Greek verb). Therefore our receiving should be continuous, not once-for-all. This parallels New Jerusalem: a river of water of life is proceeding out of the throne. This river is flowing continually for our continual refreshment and supply eternally.

Our receiving is by faith (3:14), specifically the hearing of faith (3:2, 5). Whether we understand or not, we exercise our spirit of faith (2 Corinthians 4:13) to say amen to God’s word. Here is an invigorating song about saying Amen to God’s Word.

Our spirit of faith matches, in essence, the Spirit whom we are receiving. Three verses closely couple our human spirit with the divine Spirit:
• “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6b)
• “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit” (John 4:24)
• “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16)
We need to exercise our human spirit to contact and receive the divine Spirit.

This Spirit is flowing, and being received by us, as pictured by the river of water of life in New Jerusalem. Lord, keep me receiving the Spirit by the hearing of faith every day as a foretaste of the river New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Government.

 

1 Comment
by Don on September 22, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in River of Life and Tree of Life
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Posted by Don on September 22, 2014

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/we-are-receiving-the-promise-of-the-spirit/

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