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What Difference Does It Make? (Part 7) The Mystery Of the Gospel
By Ron Webster October 2023
day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. (How can one not forgive as Christ hath forgiven us? (Eph- esians 4:32). “And he comforted them and spake kindly unto them” (Genesis 50:19-20). Our choices do make a difference to change the course of history! to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people,” to make one a people that live by right thinking in obedience of faith! And in Luke 24:46 it also states, “Thus it (compelled) Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day,” as it was written in the prophets. Perfect love produces com- passion for others in need! Without compassion one is not com- pelled to acts of mercy. Most of us are too preoccupied with our own thoughts of our daily lives that we fail to see the hand of God in everything, preserving a faithful remnant. Left to ourselves when we turn our hearts away from our Lord God and Creator, we always degenerate to our lowest state, as the Apostle Paul describes in Romans 1:17-32 as “reprobate.” It came down to this when God took the lives of all living creatures save those on the Ark with Noah and his family. Jeremiah continues the subject of God’s compassion in Lamenta- tions 3:23-26, “They are new every morning,” because we have more needs each morning: “Great is thy faithfulness.” When we, like Jer- emiah, comprehend what perfect love compels God to do for man, we can say with complete confidence, “The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him (for guidance into all truth), to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” To seek to know Him through His every word! To wait upon the Holy Spirit to guide us in all understanding of what is truth, as found in His every word: For God and God alone has forever established what is truth. (Deuteronomy 32:4). “He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.” John, in Acts 13:47, quotes the Lord as saying, “I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.” The word “light” is used as an equivalent to the gospel. In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were called out to be a light to the Gentiles nation around them, according to the Scriptures and commandment. Moses states in Deuteronomy 4:1-4, “Now therefore harken, O Is- When evil prospers, it is very easy to give up! But King David ex- presses his confidence in his Lord and Savior in Psalm chapter thirty seven with these words; “Fret not” but “trust in the Lord.” “Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” “Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.” “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous (right thinkers) forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is merciful, and lendeth; and His seed is blessed. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.” He “forsaketh not His saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.” Read this entire chapter! Don’t be envious of the foolish when they prosper. After the sons of Israel were safely provided for in Egypt, they be- came complacent even in their misery, forgetting God’s promises to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:13-21; 17:1-9. Did they also forget God’s faithfulness to Abraham in Genesis chapter twenty two where Abraham finally learned obedience by the things he suffered to trust God to fulfill what He promised, even if He had to raise his son from the dead? Abraham is praised for his faith in Hebrews 11:8-19. Even though he wavered at times, his faith persevered to the end! God always provides a way, just as the Apostle Paul states in I Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation (or testing) taken you but such as is common to man: But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be (tested) above that which ye are able; but will with the (test- ing) also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” Even with Job, who lived before Abraham, God had considered Job’s limits in Job 1:12 and again in Job 2:6. Paul additionally states in Ro- mans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His pur- pose.” His purpose has always been as stated in II Peter 3:9, “that none should perish, but all should come to repentance.” It has nothing to do with being chosen, but all to do with our choice to believe, trust, and obey His every Word! The main purpose of a faithful remnant was to be a light of truth unto all the world, first commanded in Deuteronomy 4:1-9, not to “add unto the Word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it.” But they did evil in the sight of God. The Lord spoke to Isaiah in Isaiah 8:11-15 instructing him that he “should not walk in the way of this people, nor agree with those who want a compact with Assyria, so as not to fear their fear, nor be afraid. But, Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself (for He is your God); and let Him be your fear… And He shall be your sanctuary. But for a stone of stumbling and a rock
sibilities over to the world, and now we don’t like how they are taking care of them. Long ago we turned our children’s education over to the Government. Long ago we also turned our securities only found in our Creator over to corporate executives for insurances of all kinds — home, auto, health, and even retirement, all of which are very much government regulated, and now we do not like it! In our misery, we curse our government, and the evil ones using our tax dollars to man- date how we must think and live for the “good” of all. We have rejected our King of kings as Israel did in Judges 8:22-23, and I Samuel 8:5-8 for a man to rule and fight for them. Eventually crying out for His cru- cifixion in John 19:15, because He did not throw off the Roman rule by establishing His kingdom! As with all generations, if we don’t learn from history we are doomed to repeat it. How much more do we need to suffer before we learn obedience, and walk by every Word that has proceeded out of the mouth of God? But God in His compassion, is merciful “not willing that any should perish, but all come to repentance,” giving Israel hope of a future. Isaiah 9:2, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” That light was from the beginning (John 1:1- 10), for, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him: and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3 makes a clear statement that Jesus, the Son of God, created all things, for nothing was created that He did not create; being equal with the Father both as God; His words being the essence of truth by which we know both the Father and the Son. “In Him was life (for “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed in his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7; “and the Life (of the Spirit) was the Light of men. And the Light (since the knowledge of evil was brought into the world now) shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not, (could not even begin to understand it, let alone master it)… That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world (since creation) and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own (mankind), and His own received Him not.” Generally speaking, most of creation has not received Him, the Son of God as their Lord God and Creator, to walk in the light as He is in the Light, the light of life. Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is what we must live by (Matthew 4:4)! But man is continually adding to, or diminishing from His every Word. “But as many as receive Him (the Word, every word, that none per- ish, but all come to repentance,” II Peter 3:9), to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12). For His name represents everything He is, as described by His every word, for “the Word was God.” God has given every man plenty of good reasons to believe, trust, and obey Him since creation, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them (the true Light which lighteth every man which cometh into the world, John 1:9); for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they (or we) are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19- 20). The children of Israel, “when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful: but became vain in their imaginations… changing the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man… and their foolish hearts was darkened.” (Romans 1:21-23). Likewise we today seem to be following the same path of destruction. If this isn’t enough to convince us, who name the Name of Christ, possibly even in vain, to repent and put our faith and hope in the promises of a faithful and loving Creator, instead of the world, then I don’t know what will! To question God’s description of His creation is no different than Eve questioning the command of God to not eat of the tree of knowl- edge of good and evil, even though she had no clue as to what it was to die. To question God’s Word and look for answers elsewhere, simply put, is turning our faith from the God of truth, to the father of lies as if our choice has no consequence. Read John 8:42-45. That is why God was compelled before creation (Revelation 13:8) to make it possible to justly forgive, in order to meet this very impor- tant need. Without being forgiven we have no hope! Being ignorant of the Scriptures has left the gospel still a mystery yet today, which is no excuse for falling short of eternal life. Hebrews 2:3 states, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord (even in the Old Testament), and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.” Moses warns the people twice (Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32) not to add to nor diminish from God’s Word. After the demise of the two houses of Israel, what now is God’s pur- pose for the Jewish people? First let me ask: Does God’s plan and purpose planned before creation center around the children of Israel, the Jewish people as a special chosen people, or all of mankind? God’s plan and purpose does not center on any group of people, ex- cept the saints, the faithful remnant, to be a light to the rest of the world! As I have stated many times previously, (II Peter 3:8-9) “The Lord is not slack concerning (all of His) promises, as some men count slackness!” This is not referring to creation or anything else that, “one day with the Lord as a thousand years as one day…” but is (specifi- cally referring to His) “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” This is one blatant attempt at dismissing God’s very straight forward explanation of His creation, at the expense of His long suffering. Next time, more hope through the promises of the New Covenant, and the mysteries of the promises given to Eve in Genesis 3:15. Yes, God does know our choices do make all the difference and so should we! Because many have chosen to be willingly ignorant of the Scrip- tures, the gospel continues to be a mystery to a great many yet today: Thus creating a multitude of questions with no answers. So we look to our imagination for answers, most often producing errors on both sides of every debate. Yes it does make a difference as to what we chose to believe! sin that we could all escape our eternal damnation); who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies (because this is the character of God); who satisfieth thy mouth with good things.” (Verses 9-13). “He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities;” not what we deserve, but only what we need, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9b). David also expresses his confidence in God’s work of salvation in Psalms 32:1-2 this way: ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is for- given, whose sin is covered.” Salvation from the consequences of their sins was the result of being forgiven and covered by the blood of animals. But since Christ fulfilled the New Covenant He is just to forgive and wash away, to cleanse as stated in I John 1:9. David goes onto say in verse two, “Blessed is the man whom the Lord im- puteth not iniquity (imputeth, 2803-to reckon, or consider as a fact), and in whose spirit there is no guile.” (7423-deceit). David is saying a man is blessed when God no longer considers as a fact that he has sinned, when one by faith repents, seeking His forgiveness. Also David states in Psalm 103:10-13, 17, “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He re- moved our transgressions from us.” This only happens to “them that fear Him.” Those who by faith believe, trust, and obey to turn from their wicked ways, seeking the forgiveness promised! “Like a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth (7355-to have compassion, with mercy to provide not what we deserve, but what we need to be able to do what is right) them that fear Him… But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His (right thinking) unto children’s children,” passing this hope to the next two generations. Peter states this about David and his confidence in Acts 2:25-31, “For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord always be- fore my face, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (86-“Hades,” the place of departed spirits), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.” David was confident that if the Holy One, his seed, would not see corruption neither would his soul be left in hell! (Verses 30-31) “Therefore (David) being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on His throne.” In Luke 2:25-35, Simeon a just and devout man in Jerusalem was “waiting for the consolation (3874-the comfort and relief with the com- ing Messiah) of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him, (revealing to him) that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by that spirit unto the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the law, then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, ‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast pre- pared before the face of all people.’” Yes, prepared before all people, even before creation as stated in Revelation 13:8. “A light (the gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins preached to all nations Luke 24:47) to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Is- rael,” which always was their calling the “Ekklesia” in the wilderness (Acts 7:38). The faithful ones of the Old Testament era knew the gospel as the light of truth, God’s every word, that they were to show by word and deed to the nations around them. Hebrews, chapter eleven, lists many from the Old Testament who, by faith, obeyed God for the things promised and hoped for, but did not yet see. They obeyed God, because by faith they trusted God to be faithful and true to His every word. Therefore we can rightly assume “that the worlds were formed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” of our imagination!
After Cain slew Able, God raised up Seth (Genesis 4:25). Seth was the seed that would start the line descending from Eve to bring forth the One to destroy the power of Satan in Luke 3:23-38. Gene- sis 4:26 states when Seth’s son Enos was born: “then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.” When Noah was called to build the ark, May 2024 The Apostle Paul refers to the gospel as a mystery in Ephesians 6:19, “That I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.” He also states in Romans 16:25-26, “Now to Him (Jesus) that is of power to estab- lish you according to my gospel (given to me, Galatians 1:15-18), and the
there were only two other godly men alive, Seth’s son Methuselah, Noah’s grandfather who died the year the flood came, and Lemech, Seth’s grandson, Noah’s father who died five years before the flood, to help and encourage Noah in the 120 years of building the ark. All the rest of the wicked world was taken by the flood except Noah and his family, the only ones left of the faithful remnant of which the Christ was to be born. Since the flood, Noah lived about two years short of Abram’s birth. Then about 100 years after the flood, to preserve a faithful remnant, God confounded the languages of men to slow down the spread of evil, in that He promised Noah never again destroy the world with a flood. Shem, the son of Noah, lived 148 years after Abraham was born, and died 48 years after Isaac was born. Isaac dies (Genesis 35:27-29) after the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel) were born. Since Noah died, there were still seven of the nine generations alive when Abram was a young man, as listed with those faithful (Luke 3:1-34), to en- courage Abram. Then about twenty years after Jacob was born, the last of the generations prior to Jacob except Isaac his father had all passed away. Why was the gospel still a mystery when it was made known by the prophets and the command of God? And is it still a mystery to many today? What was the gospel given in the Old Testament? First of all the word “gospel” is not used in the Old Testament, but the gospel is there. Jeremiah expresses his hope in Lamentations 3:20-27 because of the things that God has done since creation for our good to meet our every need. In humility he states, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.” Why do His compassions not fail? Because His perfect love (26-“agapa”) compels Him to provide for all our needs: As stated in Hebrews 2:17, “Wherefore in all things it (compelled) Him preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made man- ifest, and by Scriptures of the prophets, according to the command- ment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” How does Paul indicate that the gospel is made known? “By the Scriptures of the prophets,” being the Old Testa- ment Scriptures, “according to the commandment of the everlasting God.”
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God is always faithful to make a way to pre- serve the faithful rem- nant. When only Isaac and Jacob were left to encourage the sons of Jacob, God had al- ready prepared a wide- spread famine where Jacob and his twelve sons ended up in Egypt, where there was food stored up for seven years by Joseph, the youngest son that was sold as a slave by his brothers. When Jacob died in Egypt, Joseph’s broth- ers began to fear him. But “Joseph said unto them, Fear not: For am I in the place of God (to seek revenge)? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass as it is this
of offence to both houses of Israel, for a gin (a net) and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be bro- ken, and be snared, and be taken.” They continued in their blindness, becoming reprobates, until both houses of Israel were carried into captivity. Even there, God provided hope and comfort to the faithful in their captivity. I will have more on this subject later. Are we also going down this same road to destruc- tion? God continues in Isaiah 8:16-22, “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples,” the faith- ful remnant that follows God’s every Word from a heart that is set apart, sanctified to be a light of truth unto the world. And the Son of God, who said “I will wait upon the Lord, (the Father) that hideth His face from the house of Jacob. And I will look for Him. Be- hold I (the Son) and the children (the true children, spoken of in John chapter 8, of which these Pharisees were not!) whom the Lord (the Father) hath given me (John 17:12 and John 18:9) are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion. And when they shall say unto you, ‘Seek unto them that have familiar spirits (mediums), and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter,’ Should not a people seek unto their God, (than) for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word (by adding or dimin- ishing from it), it is because there is no light in them.” Are we any different today? “And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead (hard pressed) and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hun- gry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their King and their God, and look upward. And they shall look into the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dim- ness of anguish; and they shall be driven to dark- ness.” Are we going down this same road by not taking re- sponsibility for our bad choices, turning our hearts after the world? Having turned our God given respon- Why the expression “abundantly pardon?” In Psalm 103:2-22, David states his confidence in his salvation of the Lord. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who re- deemeth thy life from destruction (paid the price of rael, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor (Read Numbers 25:1-9): for all the men that followed Bal- peor, the Lord God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God (and despise the desires of the world Matthew 6:24) are alive every one of you this day.” Choices do have consequences! Deuteronomy 4:5-9, “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations (as a light to them), which shall hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so right- eous (as our guide all to right thinking) as all this law, which I set before you this day. Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy son’s sons.” Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” How can we train up a child if we are so ignorant of God’s com- mands? Isaiah 42:5-6, “Thus saith God the Lord, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that giveth bread unto the people upon, and the spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called thee (the “ekklesia” Acts 7:37-38 in the church and in the wilderness) in righteousness (right thinking that always produces right living), and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gen- tiles.” The gospel given to the Hebrew people, is what we see simply stated in Isaiah 55:6-9, which is no different than today! “Seek ye the Lord, while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord (the complete definition of repentance), and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
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